Untere Valentinalm - Rauchkofel

Access to the starting point:
After crossing the Rateče or Predel border crossing, drive to Trbiž/Tarvisio and then continue along the motorway towards Udine/Vidmo. Leave the motorway at Carnico and follow the signs first to Tolmezzo and then to Austria and the Pso di Croce Carnico Pass/Plockenpass. From the pass, descend to the Austrian side, and after a few kilometres you will see signs for Untere Valentinalm, which will direct you to the left onto the ascending road. Follow the road to the mountain hut on the mountain pasture, near which there is also a parking area, where you park.
Access from the Ziljska Valley (Austria) is also possible.

Path description:
From the parking lot, take the road closed by a ramp towards Lake Wolayer See. Soon, a marked trail branches off the road to the right and then crosses the mountain road several times. After about 1 hour's walk, you will reach mountain pasture Obere Valentinalm, where a shepherd's hut stands.
From mountain pasture, which offers a fine view of the walls of the Kellerspitzen (2769 m) and the partly grassy Rauchkofl, continue slightly to the right on a less visible path, which soon joins a wide path that leaves the road just 10 m before mountain pasture. When the two paths merge, the path is completely laid out and leads into a beautiful high mountain valley surrounded by mighty walls. At first wide and grassy, the valley soon narrows a little, curves slightly to the left and leads to the vast scree of Monte Coglianso. The valley, along the edge of which the mountain path also runs, slowly turns to the right. Higher up the valley, the path retreats slightly to the right, where it crosses the slopes of the Rauchkofle in a moderate ascent. After a two and a half hour walk from the starting point along a rugged and scenic route, the saddle Valentintörl is reached, where the crossroads are located.
Just a few metres before the signposts at the saddle, you will see a torrential ravine on the right. The marked path leading to Rauchkofel climbs up the ravine. The ascent of the torrential gully is aided by some fixed safety gear (the fixed safety gear is in a rather poor state of repair in July 2009), which are not strictly necessary in dry conditions (this part is also exposed to falling rocks). After a short ascent, the steepness eases and the path leads us out of the gully onto a folded and extensive grassy slope. At the end of the grassy plain, the path turns slightly to the left and after a few minutes of further walking joins the normal path from Wolayer See.
Continue to the right on a relatively steep path that climbs over the grassy slopes of the mountain. Higher up, the path turns slightly to the left and leads to the main ridge. Continue slightly right on an increasingly steep path which continues to climb over very steep grassy slopes. The path then leads us to a rope tower, which we then use to climb to the top of the peak in a few minutes of further walking.

On the way: Obere Valentinalm (1540m), Valentintörl (2138m)

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