We had a great time in the Odle portion of the Odle-Puez Nature Park and now it was time for the Puez portion; specifically the Puez-Odel Altopiano (high level plateau). In normal summer conditions we could’ve hiked over a high forcella from the Odles to reach the Puez plateau. But you guessed it, snow changed our plans. We had exited the Odles at Passo delle Erbe and spent the night in San Martin. In the morning we took a short bus ride to La Villa, rode the chairlift part of the way up, and hiked the never ending hike to Rifugio Puez. When we got close to the plateau the trail veered to the northwest and paralleled the plateau; teasing us with a view of the top, but taking the “scenic route” to get up there. This section was a series of rock gullies, the narrower ones still choked with snow. Just when we thought we certainly had to be near topping out at Ciampani, another snowy section would come into view and we would all proclaim “really?!”. It was worth it though - the views from Ciampani were wonderful, particularly of the Fanes and Tofane groups. It wasn’t far to Rifugio Puez and we settled into our space in a dormitory room (multiple three story bunkbeds), enjoyed some refreshments, and Steve hiked up to Col de Puez. Rifugio Puez is remote enough that they receive all their supplies by helicopter. Accordingly, dinner was basic, but filling. And apparently Norah had worked up an appetite since she polished off two salami plates and most of a kaiserschmarrn.

To take advantage of the day hikes accessible from Rifugio Puez we stayed two nights. On our second day we set out to climb Sassongher, a prominent peak southeast of the rifugio. We met a couple who had attempted to climb Sassongher about a week earlier and they encountered a lot of snow. Luckily, from what we could see the mountain was clear of snow. We did encounter snow as we hiked across the plateau, but it was mostly avoidable. When we got our first good up close look at Sassongher, it looked intimidating. But Norah was dead set on climbing it so we gave it a go. About twenty minutes from the top we encountered a via ferrata section on which we did not feel comfortable taking Norah (see, we’re not always crazy!), so Steve and I each went to the summit separately. Fantastic views! And although Norah did not technically reach the top, she still did an awesome job hiking that day.

On our third day we planned to exit to Colfosco and catch a bus. There were two buses and we thought the earlier one was pushing it and decided we could kill some time in Colfosco while waiting for the later bus. But when we were hiking, we spied a cable car in the distance and thought with the help of the cable car, we could reach Colfosco for the early bus and have more time at our next destination. We all engaged in a little bit of trail running and hustling through town and we made it. We rode the bus to Passo Pordoi to access the Viel del Pan and its superb views of Marmolada, Queen of the Dolomites.

Book times and elevation gain/loss for our hiking:

La Villa chairlift (1790m) to Rifugio Gardenacia (2050m): 260m/583 ft elevation gain, 45 minutes
Rifugio Gardenacia to Ciampani (2668m): 618m/2027 ft elevation gain, 2 hours
Ciampani to Rifugio Puez (2475m): 193m/633 ft elevation loss, 30 minutes
Rifugio Puez to Sassongher (2665m): 329m/1079 ft elevation gain, 154m/505 ft elevation loss, 2 hours (+ return)
Rifugio Puez to Colfosco chairlift (1852m): 623m/2043 ft elevation loss, 2 hours

Total: 9 hrs 15 min, 1361m/4465 ft elevation gain, 1299m/4261 ft elevation loss