Plockenpass - Cima di Mezzo / Keller Warte (via Rifugio Marinelli)

Access to the starting point:
From Trbiž / Tarvisio, take the motorway to Udine. Leave the motorway at the exit for Tolmezzo. Follow the signs for Austria and the Passo di Croce Carnico / Plockenpass. On the Italian side of the pass, park in a large parking lot.

Path description:
At the parking lot, take the narrow road marked Rifuggio Marinelli (route 146). After a few dozen metres, you will reach a crossroads where you turn right onto a military mulatier, which you then follow up through sparse woodland and meadows below the steep slopes of mountain Creta di Collinetta (2238m). The military mulatier becomes a track and soon you will reach a crossroads where the path to the top of the mountain branches off to the right.

We continue on the left path, which crosses the grassy slopes in a slight ascent and leads us to a small plain. An unmarked trail from mountain pasture Collinetta di Sotto joins us from the left, and just after this we reach a marked crossroads where the trail to Cresta Verde (2150m) branches off to the right. Continue along the 146 towards the Marinelli hut, which is still less than two hours away. Here the trail becomes a bit steeper and climbs through lightly overgrown bushes and tall grass. Once out of the scrub, the path becomes more level and a path branches off to the right to Creta di Collina (2659m).

Here, crossing quite steep slopes, we start to descend and some fixed safety gear is helpful. A slightly more challenging descent through a natural window and crossing steep slopes covered with nettles follows, leading to a junction.

The right-hand path leads to Cima di Mezzo (2713m), and we continue on the left-hand path towards the hut. The path climbs again through meadows and just before the hut we join a dirt track (route 148). Here we will also see the Laghetto di Plotta lake along the way. The cart track then ends shortly and it is only a few minutes' climb to the hut.

At the hut, head north-west, following the Monte Coglians markers, and start climbing over slightly steeper grassy slopes. The path quickly leads to an unmarked crossroads where the Sentiero Spinotti path branches off to the left towards the Lambertenghi-Romanin hut. Our route here turns right and climbs up to a grassy ridge. The path then passes slightly left of the ridge again and rejoins it below the summit of Pic Chiadin. The summit is just a few metres off the path.

Just after the summit, the path descends slightly and, after a short, slightly exposed ridge, leads into a whole new world. The grass-covered slopes are almost instantly replaced by bare rock. Here the path also leads us to a marked crossroads.

The path to the left leads to the Monte Coglians summit, and we head right towards the Cima di Mezzo summit. From the crossroads the path turns right and climbs up the grassy slope for some time. The path then turns slightly left and leads to the eastern slopes of the mountain. The path here soon becomes slightly flatter and climbs gently along a mostly boulder-strewn slope to the north. The path is mostly not visible in this part, so you have to pay a little more attention to the markings. This trail goes all the way to a notch on the eastern side of the Cima di Mezzo, where it joins a marked trail on the right, which runs along the ridge below the summit of Creta Monumentz. The stump on which the Tibetan prayer flags are placed can also be reached from the north by a very difficult trackless path from cirque Vallone della Chianevate. There are also some ropes at the back of the access.

At the notch, take a sharp left and start climbing steeply up the rocky slope. The path then climbs quite steeply for some time and leads to the southern slopes of the mountain. Here the path turns to the right and climbs up a fairly steep slope to reach the summit.

From the summit, which also opens up a view of the main peak, we first descend a little and then there is a final easy climb to the lookout peak.

On the way: Laghetto di Plotta (1970m), Rifugio Marinelli (2122m), Forcella Monumenz (2307m)

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