Rifugio Padova - Cima Montanel (via Forcella di Crodon)

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. The road crosses the River Piavo on the descent and then soon begins to climb. The road leading to the hut is quite steep and very narrow. Follow this road all the way to the parking area in front of the barrier near the Rifugio Padova 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 and follow the signs for the Rifugio Padova hut. The road crosses the river Piavo on the descent and then soon starts to climb. The road leading to the hut is quite steep and very narrow. Follow this road all the way to the parking area in front of the barrier near the Rifugio Padova hut.

Path description:
At the crossroads, turn left onto the grassy slope and follow the path along the edge of the forest. The path quickly leads to a marked crossroads. The path leads straight on towards the Perugini bivouac, and we turn left into the forest, where we are directed by signs for the Rifugio Giaf hut.

From the crossroads, the path climbs through the forest and mostly runs in a north-easterly direction. Later, the path descends a little and leads us into a thinner forest mixed with dwarf pines. Here, slightly better views of the surrounding peaks begin to open up from the path. Such a path then leads us to the signposts along the way where there is also a crossroads.

The signs only indicate route 346 towards the Rifugio Giaf and the Rifugio Padova. We leave route 346 at the signs and head left into the woods on a badly beaten track. The start of the trail is marked with a sign.

From the crossroads, the path slowly turns slightly to the left and leads out of the woods into dwarf pines. There is a short crossing and then you come to a narrow strip of scree. Continue for some time on the narrow strip of scree, which is surrounded by dense dwarf pines. The higher we approach the steep walls and the scree becomes a steep torrential gully, the markings direct us to the left into the dwarf pines.

The path then climbs quite steeply and for some time passes through the rather overgrown dwarf pines. When you come out of dwarf pines the path straightens out a little and leads you to a scree slope. The path continues along the left-hand side of the scree below the eastern slopes of the summit of Crodon di Scodavacca. The path is sometimes a little less visible and is marked with red dots. The increasingly visible path continues along the scree and turns slightly to the left at a higher altitude. There is a final climb up to the Forcella di Crodon.

At the notch, continue northwards and descend slightly down the ravine. The path here briefly follows the right-hand edge of the ravine and then turns right onto a ledge. Follow the ledge for a short distance and then cross the exposed slope to the north-east. The shelf is quite wide, but some caution is needed as there is a lot of rubble on the path. From the shelf the path then leads us to the scree on which we descend. The path here turns to the left and soon leads us to a crossroads on terrain that is partly covered with grass.

At the crossroads where we join the path from the left of the bivouac Montanel continue to the right where we are also directed by the inscription on the rock. From the crossroads the path runs northwards and leads us to the grassy slopes below the summit of Montanel. 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.

You can either descend along the ascent route or pass the Montanel bivouac towards the Rifugio Cercena hut. From the hut, it is then about an hour's walk along the road to the starting point at Rifugio Padova.

On the way: Pra di Toro (1300m), Forcella di Crodon (2340m)

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