Rifugio Bai de Dones - Averau (via Rifugio Cinque Torri)

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, cross the national border between Austria and Itali and follow the main road to Dobbiaco/Toblach, where you turn left towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. Once in Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo Falzarego Alpine pass. The road starts to climb steeply above Cortina d'Ampezzo, and we follow it for some time, more precisely to the point where, just before a sharp right turn to the left, the road branches off and we quickly reach the large parking lot at the Rifugio Bai de Dones hut. From Kranjska Gora to the starting point is 208 km.
b) From Kranjska Gora via Border crossing Rateče to Trbiz / Tarvisio and then on the motorway to Udine. Leave the motorway at Tolmezzo, from where we continue driving towards Ampezzo and on to the Alpine pass Passo della Mauria (1298 m). The road then starts to descend and leads into the Cadore valley, where we continue to the right towards Auronzo di Cadore. At the next crossroads follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo. When you arrive in Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo Falzarego Alpine pass. The road starts to climb steeply above Cortina d'Ampezzo, and we follow it for some time, more precisely to the point where, just before a sharp right turn to the left, the road branches off and we quickly reach the large parking lot at the Rifugio Bai de Dones hut. From Kranjska Gora to the starting point is 198 km.
c) From Nova Gorica, drive into Itali and continue on the motorway to Portogruaro, where at the motorway fork you turn off in the direction of 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. The road starts to climb steeply above Cortina d'Ampezzo, and we follow it for some time, more precisely to the point where, just before a sharp right turn to the left, the road branches off and we quickly reach the large parking lot at the Rifugio Bai de Dones hut. From the border crossing to the starting point is about 230 km.

Path description:
From the parking lot, head east on route 425 following the signs "Cinque Torri, Rifugio Scoiattoli. At the start, walk along the dirt road for a few metres, then signs point you left onto a well maintained footpath. Here you initially walk on slightly boggy ground, but the path then quickly leads into the woods and then past Lago Bai de Dones. After the lake, the path turns slightly to the right and descends a little. This path then leads us to a crossroads where route 424 joins from the left.
At the crossroads the path turns right again and soon starts to climb through the forest. The path climbs through the forest for some time and then joins an asphalted road.
The road continues to climb, with views opening up, especially towards Tofana. Later, the path leads to a marked crossroads where an interesting path called Trincee branches off to the right, passing through restored military trenches and featuring interesting sights from the First World War.
At the crossroads, we continue along the road, which soon opens up to beautiful views to the south. Here the road turns to the right and soon leads to the Cinque Torri hut. Just before the hut, we are joined on the left by route 437 from the Ponte di Rucurto bridge (the road to the Passo Giau pass).
From the hut, follow the signs "Rifugio Scoiattoli" and start climbing in keys up the slope on the south side of the Cinque Torri towers. The ascending path soon leads to a marked crossroads.
To the right is a circular path around the Cinque Torri towers (Giro delle Torri), and we continue left towards the Scoiattoli hut. From the crossroads, the path becomes less steep and then crosses the slopes to the west. Another path soon branches off to the right towards the towers, and we continue on the lower left path, continuing to cross the slopes. When we reach the west side of the towers, the path from Passo Giau joins first from the left and then the Trincee path from the right.
The path offers increasingly beautiful views in all directions and is followed by a short climb along a mostly grassy slope to the Scoiattoli hut. From the Rifugio Scoiattoli hut, which offers a fine view of the Cinque Torri, turn right after the Rifugio Nuvolau and Rifugio Averau signs. The way forward is along a stone road, or a much more pleasant parallel mountain path, which climbs up the left-hand side of the road. After a moderate climb of just over 20 minutes, over a scenic, and at first still grassy, slope, the path splits into two parts (the crossroads is unmarked).
The left-hand path, which continues on a moderately steep slope, leads to Nuvolau, while we continue on the right-hand path, which joins the above-mentioned road. Continue along the road, which leads to a small valley between the peaks Nuvolau and Averau, and we continue along it until we reach the saddle between the two peaks, where the Averau mountain hut is situated.
From the hut, turn right and follow the mountain road. After a few metres, the sign "Ferrata Averau" will direct you upwards to the left. The path then first crosses the scree on the eastern side of the mountain and soon turns to the left where you enter the climbing part of the route. At the start of the climbing route, climb steeply along a ropeway over a steep wall and then reach a fork in the route. The left-hand, slightly easier route climbs vertically on scree through a vent. The right-hand path also climbs almost vertically, but there are no steel cables. It should be noted that the left-hand path is often wet and the snow also stays a little longer. After a short steep section, the two paths rejoin and there is a steel cable crossing to the right. The climbing part of the route is quickly over and you soon reach the less steep summit slopes of the mountain. In the last part of the route, the trail is no longer difficult and soon you reach a very scenic summit.
Rifugio Bai de Dones - Rifugio Cinque Torri 1:00, Rifugio Cinque Torri - Rifugio Scoiattoli 30 minutes, Rifugio Scoiattoli - Rifugio Averau 30 minutes, Rifugio Averau - Averau 45 minutes.

On the way: Lago Bai de Dones (1895m), Rifugio Cinque Torri (2137m), Rifugio Scoiattoli (2255m), Rifugio Averau (2413m)

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