Edelweiss - Monte Volaia / Wolayer Kopf (path 176)

Access to the starting point:
From Trbiz/Tarvisio, take the motorway to Udine/Vidmo. Leave the motorway at the Tolmezzo exit. At Tolmezzo, you also leave the road leading to the Passo di Croce Carnico / Plockenpass and head towards Villa Santina. In Villa Santina, at the roundabout, go straight ahead following the signs for Ovaro, Sappada. Follow this road until Forni Avoltri, where turn right after the Collina signs. Follow the asphalted road to Collina. After the end of Collina, continue for a few hundred metres and you will see the Edelweiss hut on your left. Park in the parking lot on the right-hand side of the road near the hut.

Path description:
From the parking lot, return along the main road to the small bridge where you will see an information board marking the Sentiero Naturalistico Troi di Corvats trail. Take the relatively wide trail and start climbing through the forest. At a small hut in the woods, the path turns left and a little later joins the slightly wider cart track. The cart track crosses a stream, and then you have to be a bit more careful. When the cart track turns left, leave the wide cart track and head left up the narrow lane. The fork is slightly less visible and not particularly marked. The path to which you are heading is otherwise marked with the usual markers.

From the crossroads, we then climb up the narrow path and soon a slightly better-maintained path joins us from the right. We continue to climb through the forest, and here and there a short clearing opens up some views to the south. A little higher up, we come to a slightly longer unpaved lane, which we climb steeply. Higher up, the path turns left and then, mostly ascending, crosses slopes where there are many fallen trees. The path then climbs up the right side of the valley, high above the Rio Chianaletta. Here, too, you have a view of the saddle and the grassy slopes on the south side of the Sasso Nero. Later on, you will get quite close to the stream bed and cross it to the left. Here the path turns into a lane of sparse woodland, and then climbs up a mostly grassy slope with increasingly sparse trees. This path then leads to the abandoned mountain pasture of Casera Chianaletta where the path is slightly less visible.

At the ruins of mountain pasture the path turns sharp left and then ascends a slightly steeper slope to the south. When a wide grassy ridge is reached, the path turns sharp right again and continues for some time along the ridge, from which magnificent views also open up to the west. The ridge then ends and the path leads us to an undistinguished saddle. Here we initially continue slightly to the right, and then the path leads us to steeper slopes. The path then continues, mostly crossing steeper grassy slopes to the left. In the wet, the slope is also somewhat dangerous for slipping. The path also climbs slightly a few times and then leads us to a crossroads where the path from the stumps of Forcella Ombladeet joins us from the left.

After the crossroads, the path turns right and then climbs for some time in switchbacks on an increasingly scenic slope. The grass then ends and we then climb up the rocky slope to the WWI-era military ruins located along the ridge below the Sasso Nero peak. From the ridge we also have a wonderful view of the Austrian side towards Monte Coglians and the other nearby peaks in the mountain group.

Here the trail turns left and becomes more difficult. The path continues along the left side of the ridge and crosses exposed slopes on a ledge. The path is not protected, so a little more caution is needed. Continue to cross the exposed slope, along the way you will notice a few more military tunnels and ruins then the path leads us to a small notch and tunnel where it used to end protected climbing route from the Austrian side. The route is now closed, as indicated by the signs.

For some time we continue to cross the steep slopes on the west side of the ridge, then the path turns slightly to the right and starts to climb steeper. The climb is quite steep and you have to use your hands to help you up. Climb for a while and then the path turns to the left and then crosses again. The path is very narrow in places, and there is occasionally some rubble on the way, so caution is still needed. The path then starts to climb again and on the last steeper climb you have to help yourself again with your hands. When you reach the ridge, continue right and you will quickly reach the summit.

You can either descend along the ascent route or via the Forcella Ombladeet notch on route 141 towards Collina. From Collina, follow the road back to the starting point at the Edelweiss hut. The trail is still a little rough and is sometimes difficult to follow.

On the way: Casera Chianaletta (1814m), Tacca del Sasso Nero (2351m)

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