Passo Gardena - Muntejela de Puez

Access to the starting point:
a) From Kranjska Gora via the Koren saddle to Austria, where at the first major junction continue left towards Podkloštro / Arnoldstein and Trbiz / Tarvisio. At the end of Podklošter, signs for Šmohor / Hermagor direct you to the right on the regional road, which takes you past the town to the end of the Ziljska Valley, or more precisely to Kötschach-Mauthen, where you turn right towards Oberdrauburg. The road continues over the Gailbergsattel Alpine pass (982 m), after which you descend into the above-mentioned town. After crossing a bridge over the River Drava, turn left towards Lienz. At the main roundabout in Lienz, turn left towards Sillian and Itali. Next we cross the national border between Austria and Itali, and we follow the main road past Dobbiaco / Toblach, Villabassa / Niederdorf, Monguelfo - Tesido / Welsberg - Taisten, Brunico / Bruneck. Just after the last mentioned town, which is passed by a bypass road, we turn left into the Alta Badia valley. Continue along the valley and turn right at La Villa towards Passo Gardena. Continue along the ascending road until you reach the Passo Gardena Pass, where you park in the pay parking area (4€ - June 2012).
b) From Nova Gorica, drive into Itali and follow the motorway to Portogruaro, where at the motorway junction turn towards Belluno. Follow the motorway to its end (do not turn towards Belluno) and then continue driving towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. When you arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo Falzarego Alpine Pass. At the Passo Falzarego (2105 m), turn right towards Alta Badia and ascend the neighbouring Passo Valparola (2192 m) before descending into the valley. At La Villa, turn left towards Passo Gardena. Follow the ascending road until you reach the Passo Gardena pass, where you park in a pay parking area (4€ - June 2012).

Path description:
From the Passo Gardena pass, head north on the footpath past the "Baita Jimmy Hütte" signs. The path leads you along grassy slopes with magnificent views of the Sella mountain range to the south and Sassolungo to the west. The path along the grassy slopes soon leads to the road. Continue to the right along the dirt road, which you will follow until you reach the Jimmy Hütte hut.
From the hut, follow the footpath north-eastwards and start climbing through the dwarf pines. The path soon leads out of dwarf pines and continues to climb quite steeply. Higher up, the path then turns to the left and is followed by a climb up to the Forcella Cier notch where we get a view to the north.
Cross the fence at the saddle and then cross the scree in a gentle descent. This path then leads to a marked crossroads where the Val de Chedul trail joins from the left.
From the crossroads, the path climbs gently again and continues to cross the slopes to the north-east. Later, the path turns slightly to the left and there is a slightly steeper climb up to the Forcella de Crespeina notch.
At the stump, where a view of most of the Puez mountain group opens up, continue straight ahead, and the path to the right leads over the summit of Sas Ciampac. The path then begins to descend and leads to slightly flatter grassy terrain. From the trail you have a nice view of Lake Lech de Crespeina and Sas Ciampac. Our route then climbs again slightly steeper for a short time, and then the relatively level path leads us to a crossroads where the path over the summit of Sas Ciampac joins us from the right.
The path continues to descend slightly and leads to another crossroads. To the right the path leads down to Calfosch, to the left the path leads into the Langental valley, and we continue straight ahead following the signs for the 'Puezhütte'.
Just after the crossroads, the path turns left and starts to climb gently northwards. A relatively level path later leads to another crossroads where the path to Sassongher branches off to the right.
Here the path again turns slightly to the left and you can already see the flag in front of you, which is located near the hut. The scenic route continues to be gentle and soon leads to the hut, which is situated on the grassy slopes below the Puezkofel peak.
From the hut, go back a few dozen metres to the marked crossroads and take the path number 1-11, following the signs "Badia Abtei, Ütia Gherdenacia". The trail climbs at the crossroads and leads to flatter terrain partly covered with grass. Here you will see the summit of Muntejela. The easiest way to reach the summit is to follow the marked path to the east side of the mountain. Leave the marked trail there and take a sharp left onto the eastern ridge of the mountain. Follow the easy ridge up to the summit, where the cairn is also located.

On the way: Jimmy Hütte (2222m), Forcella Cier (2469m), Forcella de Crespeina (2528m), Forcella de Ciampei (2366m), Rifugio Puez (2475m)

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