Overview
Monte Mulaz is located to the north of the multi-pinnacled nnorthern chain of the
Pale di San Martino Group in the Dolomites and is thus a natural lookout peak to view the chain. With the
Marmolada-, Bocche- and
Lagorai Groups nearby the setting cannot be better. While the summit is not difficult to ascent it still is hard to get to - either the ascent routes are long or the gained altitude is huge. You'll probably have to take into account both. The best starting point for ascending Monte Mulaz is Passo Valles to its north. However you have to get to the far (southern) side of the mountain to get to its top.
Monte Mulaz is a typical Dolomite summit. It is nearly 3000m tall, shows some very impressive northern and western faces but has an accessible south side from which you reach the top by a scramble. Consequently the views of the mountain differ very much, depending from which side you look. The most common view is from the north but here Monte Mulaz blends in with the slightly higher northern chain of the Pale. You could call it almost invisible.
Despite the long ascent routes Monte Mulaz is one of the most popular mountains of the Pale di San Martino Group. On a fine summer day you'll have to share the trails with lots of people. Many of them stop at Rifugio Volpi al Mulaz but still the summit can be quite crowded. Don't look for solitude there. When we climbed Monte Mulaz we were fogged out on the summit - during the descent it started to rain heavily. Still we met some ten people on the top. And we had started real early!.
As I didn't see anything on the summit my favourite recollection is the eastern route towards the summit. You pass the mountain on its eastern side and head for the Focobon Valley, cut deep into the rock between Mulaz and the Focobon Group. There you'll find the Campanili dei Lastei di Focobon, Cima Zopel, Cima di Campido and Cima Focobon towering directly above you with north faces that reach up to 600m in altitude. You crane your neck until it hurts! Surely awe inspiring!
Finally - after having been fogged out on the summit I tried to get as many shots of the mountain as possible. It eluded me - always clouds tried to hide it, no matter from where I looked.
:-(
Panoramic View
M. MulazC. di CampidoC. FocobonCamp. FocobonLe ZircolleC. Val GrandeC. dei BureloniCamp. Val StrutC. VezzanaCimon della PalaPala di S. MartinoLa RosettaCamp. PradidaliC. BallSass Maor / C. della MadonnaC. della Stanga The northern chain of the Pale di San Martino Group as seen from Passo Lusia. Hide / Show annotations
There are several trailheads the best of which is at Passo Vallès. Malga Venegiota is another option and for the long haul you can start at Falcade and hike up the whole Focobon Valley (1800m elevation gain!). All three trailheads are connected with each other by SP81 which climbs across Passo Vallès.