Capanna Alpina - Ütia de Gran Fanes

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 (possibly right) towards Cortina d'Ampezzo. At all subsequent junctions, follow the signs for Cortina d'Ampezzo.

In Cortina d'Ampezzo, follow the signs for the Passo di Falzarego Alpine pass. Follow this ascending road to the pass and then turn right towards Passo Valparola. From the pass, descend towards the Val Badia valley. As the road levels out, you will see a large parking lot on the right, as well as a restaurant and a bivouac. We continue along the main road for a few 100 metres and then, just after the bridge crossing the Rü Sciare stream, turn right towards the Capanna Alpina restaurant. Follow the road to the end and park in the large parking lot in front of the restaurant. During the summer months, there is a charge for parking. The price for one day of parking is 5€ (July 2019).

From the coastal side. 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 Cortina d'Ampezzo at the next junctions. Continue as described above.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue past the Capanna Alpina restaurant on the macadam road, which is closed to traffic. The road then leads quickly to a plain where there is a crossroads. Route 20 to the right leads to the Ütia Scotoni hut, while we turn left onto route 11 and follow the signs for Col de Locia and Fanes.

From the crossroads, we walk for some time on a gravel path, which crosses a stream over a bridge in between. The path becomes a little narrower and leads into dwarf pines and then into a sparse forest. Here the path also starts to climb a little steeper. A little higher up, the path turns left and then climbs along a fence on a slightly steeper slope. The path here offers beautiful views to the west, where the Sella mountain group is clearly visible. The path then crosses a grazing fence and leads to flatter terrain along the undistinguished summit of Col de Locia, which is on our left alongside the path. There are also some benches at the top.

The path turns slightly to the right here and descends gently at first before crossing a small stream. The trail then follows a wide and gentle valley, mostly to the north. For a while the path continues along the dwarf pines and then leads to vast grassy slopes. This path then leads to a marked crossroads where a path branches off to the right towards Lake Lech de Legacio and on towards the Lagazuoi hut.

At the crossroads, we continue straight on across the vast meadows, which are also grazed by cattle in the summer months. The path begins to descend gently again and, with magnificent views, leads us to another marked crossroads.

This time, the path branches off to the left towards the peaks of Conturines and Lavarela. We continue along the wide path until we reach the mountain pasture of Malga Gran Fanes, where there is a marked crossroads. The Fridensweg / Via della pace (Path of Peace) leads off to the right, and we continue straight ahead, reaching the Ütia de Gran Fanes hut in a few minutes, which we can already see in front of us.

On the way: Col de Locia (2069m), Ju dal'Ega (2157m)

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Lago di Limo ( 20 min), Bivacco Baccon Barborka (1 h 40 min), Vallon Bianco (2 h 10 min), Bivacco della Pace, Furcia Rossa III (2 h 20 min)

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