Stage 1 - Mayrhofen to the Karl von Edel hut
Starting from Mayrhofen, my first day's walk was an uphill slog to the Karl von Edel Hut (wasn't too bad once I'd got above the tree-line), was refreshed by a Großer Bier and a plate of Bergsteigeressen and slept well.Stage 2 - Karl von Edel Hut to the Kasseler hut
Awoke in the morning to a beautiful clear sky and set off on the long hike to the Kasseler Hut. This is the toughest stage of the Berliner Hohenweg, crossing 7 spurs (known as the Siebenschneidenweg). Lots of ups and downs, and a section involving the use of fixed cables. Took me 9 and a half hours to get to the Kasseler hut, great views along the way, with the Großer Löffler the dominant aspect. |
| Karl von Edel hut |
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| me, at Popbergschneide (Großer Löffler in background) |
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| Großer Löffler, from Nofortenschneide |
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| looking back along the Siebenschneiderweg, from Sonntagkarkanzel |
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| Wollbach Spitze and Kasseler hut, from Sonntagkarkanzel Side trip to the Wollbach Spitze. Had a go at climbing one of the big mountains on this tour, unfortunately I didn't quite achieve this, got as far as the summit rocks and couldn't find a safe way to the top (all of this after plodding up snow slopes and crossing a Glacier), so had to turn back. Was a good walk though and I got some great views.  Grünewand Spitze  Wollbach Spitze  Großer Löffler from Wollbach Spitze  Stangenjoch, Wollbach Spitze  looking down the Ostliches Stillupkees  summit rocks, Wollbach Spitze  Hintere Stangen Sitze, from Stangenjoch  Großer Löffler from Ostliches Stillupkees  Stangenjoch  Wollbach Spitze Side trip to the GigalitzStage 3 - Kasseler hut to the Greizer Hut This was a relatively straight-forward stage, following the lower slopes of the Großer Löffler, then a crossing of the Lapen Scharte with a steady descent to the Greizer hut  Sieben Schneider  Wollbach Spitze  Berliner Spitze, Großer Mörchner  Mörchen Scharte  Schwarzenstein, Greizer Hütte After 4 glorious days the weather turned, and it was foggy and raining when I woke up, stayed around the hut for a few hours, then at around midday it started to improve and I decide to go out for a walk with the Gigalitz in mind. The Sun came out for a bit and I thought I would be in for a good day, but then it began to rain quite heavily and I contemplated turning back, it soon stopped though and I pressed on and got to the top (involved some scrambling and was quite exposed). No sooner had I got to the top I heard a rumble of thunder, saw a flash of lightning...could even feel the electricity buzzing in my hair. Made my way back down as quickly and as safely as I could, managed to avoid being struck by lightning, just got totally soaked. Hanged up all of my wet gear in the drying room at the hut, the look on the face of the Hüttenwirtin was a picture when I told her where I'd been, she said "it's good that you don't tell me this before..!" Had a hot drink to warm myself up, not many folks made it to the hut that night.   The Greizer Hütte The weather did not improve for the next two days, in fact it got a lot worse; a lot of snow fell and I barely set foot of the hut during this time. A few more walkers arrived, despite the bad weather. The cheery family that run the Hut took good care of me, their food was delicious. I did get somewhat bored being stuck in the Hut though and was glad to continue the trek when the weather improved. Stage 4 - Greizer Hut to the Berliner Hut After a few days of bad weather, conditions improved and I continued my tour. Was joined today by some German lads that I'd met at the Greizer Hut. To begin with, we had to descend quite a bit then cross the valley before the steep climb to the Morchen Scharte. The snow that had fallen during the past few days was quite deep, but thankfully there were footsteps to follow (I wouldn't have liked to have been the first one to cross the pass after that snow). We had a drink of Schnapps at the summit, then made our way down towards the Berliner Hut, stopping at the Schwarzsee on the way.            Schwarzsee video clip      Stage 5 - Berliner Hut to Furtschaglhaus After another bad weather stay spent cooling my heels in the hut, I had a nice day (needed it too) for today I was going to be crossing the Schönbichler Horn - the highest point on the trek. Posed for a photograph, then set off on my way.  Furtschagl Spitze and Schönbichler Horn from Berliner Hütte  Got some nice views down the valley, before starting the ascent to the Schönbichler Horn  Olperer, from Gletscherweg Lehrpfad  Großer Möseler  Großer Möseler  looking down the valley to Alpenrose Hütte  Berliner Hütte and Zsigmondy Spitze and as I got higher up the views got even better...  Furtschagl Spitze                   Schönbichler Horn panorama (part 1) Schönbichler Horn panorama (part 2)    This was one of the best days of the trek, good weather, superb views and a challenging walk. Met 2 lads from Germany on the way up (Nils and Daniel), walked with them for a few days, was nice to have some company along the way. Stage 6 Furtschaglhaus to Olperer Hut This was only a short stage, staring with a descent to the Sclegeis reservoir, we had plenty of time so we stopped at a restaurant for a drink. It started to rain whilst we were in there so we stayed for lunch, and played cards for a while. The rain did not stop, and we had a rain-soaked plod up to the Olperer hut. The Olperer hut was superb, recently re-built - it's very smart inside, lovely rooms and a restaurant/lounge area with big windows and a great view. Excellent food and a variety od Schnapps on the menu - I recommend the Zirben Schnapps!  Furtschagl Spitze from Furtschaglhaus  Furtschaglhaus  waterfall, below Furtschagl Spitze  Speicher Schlegeis  Speicher Schlegeis, from Olperer Hütte  Goats, outside Olperer hut Stage 7 - Oplerer Hut to Friesenberg Hut This was only a short stage, just a morning's walk in the snow. Not much up and down on this stage, I would have done a side-trip to the Hoher Riffler but the weather was so bad (more snow) so we just stayed in the hut.      Stage 8 - Friesenberg Hut to Gams Hut Awoke to a beautiful, clear morning. Superb views to the Hochfeiler  view of the Hochfeiler  Hochfeiler  Großer Greiner  Schwarzenstein and Berliner Spitze from Friesenberg Hütte       |
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