View-packed Alpine hike.
The route proceeds across easy to moderately difficult steep paths and forest paths, ascents are moderate and only somewhat steeper on short sections. However, with some 1,200 metres of ascent, this route requires a decent level of fitness. You pass countless Alpine pastures along the route. With a bit of luck you might meet the ‚Alpine writer‘, Sepp Kahn, at Untere Lärchenbergalm. In his diaries, he recounts the life of an Alpine dairyman. The highest point of the tour: the Lodron, with its 360° views – from the glacier-bedecked Hohe Tauern to the Wilder Kaiser – is one of the best viewing mountains in the Kitzbühel Alps.
The stage starts at the Raiffeisenbank in the centre of
Kelchsau. Initially follow the
signposts for
Lodron, 3,5 h, path number 79. A short section takes you on the asphalt
road down to
Kelchsauer Ache. Now proceed across a
bridge and continue in three
bends up to around 1,090 metres altitude, before the
forest thins out, and the path bends into the forest. Continue
uphill on this path until a steep path on the
left proceeds into a
forest.
The road now proceeds
uphill along a
ridge (keep to the red-white- red ground markings and to follow the
signposts for
Lodron). The steep path continues across a short section through a deforested area, at whose upper end you come to a
forest path (1,275 m). Continue to the
right here on a
forest path (
Lodron, path number 79), passing the
Vorder- and Hinterölbankalm, until, after around three kilometres, you reach
Untere Lodronalm (1,486 m).
There is a short section with
two bends on the
forest path, bearing
left on to a steep
path heading to
Lodron, Ramkarkopf. Through terrain that is
forested throughout, then on open
Alpine meadows, hike direct to the
Lodronalm (approx. 1,700 m).
Just before an Alpine pasture, bear
right on a
steep path, continuing to
Lodronjoch (1,914 m).
Pay careful attention to the ground markings in this section (some are painted red-white-red on stones or wood pegs). The terrain has been much trampled by cattle, which makes the route outline often quite difficult to make out.
From
Lodronjoch there is just a short section to the
summit of the same name (1,925 m), with its
impressive cross.
Return to the
ridge on the
same path and follow the
signposts for
Westendorf, with a
short section up on the
mountain ridge.
The steep
path now branches off to the
left (
Lärchenbergalm), with a section down along a
pasture fence, and you are soon back in open
Alpine pasture area again, on a consistently even route. Get your bearings here using the
ground markings again.
After a short time you will come to
Oberkaralm (approx. 1,700 m). At this point, bear
left through a small
trench (
Steinberghaus, 79) and on the steep path on an even ascent, head to the next
signposts for
Lärchenbergalm, Steinberghaus. Continue now through
Alpine terrain, steadily
downhill to
Untere Lärchenbergalm (approx. 1,480 m). Between the buildings on the
Alpine pasture, continue left on a steep
path that soon leads into the
forest.
When you reach the
forest path, follow it
down in
two bends, until just after
Wallernalm (1,160 m), taking a
left again on a steep
path (
Steinberghaus). Follow this
path, in part
down through
forest, and the final 500 metres or soon a forest path direct to
Steinberghaus.