Puez refuge and Val Longia ring

Val Longia (Langental) is a 6km hollow that extends straight into the heart of the Puez-Odle group. With this excursion we first travel along the valley floor, then go over to the left to reach the balcony.

From the car park (1600 m, €5) in Val Longia / Wolkenstein (ruins of an ancient castle not far away), we start walking at the bottom of the long Val Longia among very green meadows, shorn by ravenous herbivores. All around, vertical rocky towers crowned with fir trees. Near Pra da Ri , we take path 16 which goes up on the left. Little by little, Sassopiatto appears at the end of the valley. A final uphill stretch zig-zags along the slopes of a spectacular vertical wall - making a bit of horns, let's hope no stones fall.

Verticality competition between Sassolungo and Val Longia — who will win?

Having reached the top of the geological "step" of Val Longia, we left the bulk of the difference in altitude behind us. Now we walk on a slight slope on a grassy balcony up to the Puez Refuge ( Puezhütte, m2475, 2:45 hours ).

Still on a slight slope, we continue up to the Forcella de Ciampei (2366 m) and then climb over to the Pares de Crespeina ( 2528 m, 1.30 hours ) passing through the beautiful Lech de Crespeina . The Toto Massi starts here — there is a pinnacle in the shape of a chess knight, and a huge boulder in the shape of a whale.

The descent from Pares de Crespeina into the Val de Chedul. Instead of taking the path along the valley floor (on the meadows in the photo) we first pass through the Jeuf de Cir with the scree path on the left of the photo.

Once the boulder hunt is over, we descend into the beautiful Val de Chedul, parallel to Val Longia. But instead of descending directly into the valley, we keep high with the path on the left, to reach the Jeuf de Cir ( m2462, 20 minutes ). From here we can admire a bizarre rocky notch 20 or 30 meters high (Danter la Pizes on the maps), and behind it the rocky wall of the Sella Group - perhaps one of the most beautiful views of the Sella Group, with the verdant Gardena Pass immediately below.

The bizarre pinnacle seen from Jeuf de Cir. Behind him, the wall of the Sella Group.

However, we do not descend from this side, but from the Val de Chedul behind us - we follow it in its entirety down to the car park (1600 m, 1.45 hours).