Rifugio Cercena - Cima Montanel

Access to the starting point:
Access from Gorenjska: Via Border crossing Rateče or Predel to Trbiž / Tarvisio and then along the motorway towards Udine to the Tolmezzo exit. From Tolmezzo, follow the road towards Ampezzo and the Passo della Mauria mountain pass. The road then descends and leads to a crossroads where you turn left towards Belluno. Follow the main road through the Piave valley only as far as Domegge di Cadore. In the town mentioned above, turn left and follow the signs for the Rifugio Padova and Rifugio Cercena huts. The road crosses the river Piavo on the descent and then soon starts to climb. The road leading to the two huts is quite steep and very narrow. When you reach the crossroads near the Rifugio Cercena hut, the signs point you sharp left and it is only a steep climb of 50 metres to the hut. Park in the large parking lot next to the hut.

From the coastal side: Take the motorway towards Venice/Venezia. At Portogruaro, leave the motorway towards Venice and turn right on the motorway towards Pordenone. At the next motorway junction near Conegliano, turn right towards Belluno. The motorway ends near Belluno and we continue towards Auronzo and the Passo Mauria at the next junctions. Follow this road to Domegge di Cadore. In the aforementioned town, turn right downhill and follow the signs for the Rifugio Padova and Rifugio Cercena huts. The road crosses the river Piavo after descending and then soon begins to climb. The road leading to the two huts is quite steep and very narrow. When you reach the crossroads near the Rifugio Cercena hut, the signs point you sharp left and it is only a steep climb of 50 metres to the hut. Park in the large parking lot next to the hut.

Path description:
At the end of the parking lot, turn left onto the footpath after the signs "Biv. Montanel". The path leads quickly into the forest and then ascends the slopes northwards to a crossroads at mountain pasture Dalego.

At the marked crossroads, bear hard right and follow the signs for the Montanel bivouac. The trail then starts to climb slightly steeper towards the south-east. The trail here crosses relatively steep slopes on the ascent and continues through the forest. Despite the forest, we occasionally get beautiful views of the Dolomites through the trees. The path then turns to the left and soon leads to another marked crossroads.

The path leads down to the left towards the Rifugio Eremo dei Romiti hut, and we continue to the right towards the Montanel bivouac. The path becomes a shade less steep and leads us out of the forest onto slightly steeper slopes covered with dwarf pines and larch trees. Here we also get very nice views to the north. The path crosses steep slopes for a short distance before turning right and climbing for some time up the Val Moni valley on the east side of the Colle dell'Elma. The path initially follows the right-hand side of the valley below the steep rocky slopes of the summit. The path then follows the centre of the valley and climbs through the dwarf pines and a larch forest. Later, the path turns right again and leads to the ridge on the south-eastern side of the summit of Colle dell'Elma.

Here the path turns to the left and the trees become a little thinner, so that from the path we have better and better views to the west side, where the peaks of Civetta, Pelmo and Antelao stand out. Further along the path, it is mostly along dwarf pines and some larch trees. This path goes all the way to a grassy plain on which there are two bivouacs. The smaller one is permanently open and the larger one is locked.

If you use a map for orientation, be careful, as some maps have the bivouac marked in the wrong location.

At the bivouac, where there are also signposts, continue slightly to the left, following the signs "Cima Montanel, Cima Herberg". The trail then leads through a short lane of larch forest and dwarf pines and soon leads into the valley on the north side of the Crodon di Scodavacca and Cima Herberg peaks. The path here follows the left-hand side of the valley with a fine view of the precipitous ridge of these peaks and the vast scree below. We continue to climb up the left side of the valley and when the terrain flattens out a little the path leads us to a crossroads.

To the right, the path leads over the Forcella di Crodon notch towards the Rifugio Padova hut, and we continue left towards the Montanel summit, where we are also directed by the inscription on the rock. From the crossroads, the path heads north and leads to the grassy slopes below Montanel Peak. Here the trail turns right and starts to climb steeply up the grassy slope. The trail is less visible in this part, but the cairns are helpful so that orientation is not difficult. However, once you get below the rocky slopes of the summit, the trail becomes more difficult. The sign "cima" directs us to the right to a narrow ledge on which we cross a precipitous slope. The path then turns left and there is some easy climbing to a narrow notch. There is then a very short, more difficult climb out of the notch, but it is not exposed. The route then turns left and there is some very easy climbing to the summit.

Descend via the ascent route or via the Forcella di Crodon notch to the Rifugio Padova hut. In this case, you have just under an hour's walk by road from the Rifugio Padova to the starting point at the Rifugio Cercena. A considerable part of the route towards Rifugio Padova also passes through the overgrown dwarf pines.

On the way: Fienili Dalego (1315m), Bivacco Montanel (2048m)

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