Draßnitz - Kl. Hochkreuz

Access to the starting point:
From Spittal, drive to Lienz or vice versa, but only as far as the village of Dellach. In the middle of the village, you will see signs pointing to the right (from Spittal, from Lienz to the left) in the direction of Oberdraßnitzer Alm. Follow the ascending road in the junctions in the direction mentioned above and follow it to the ramp (approx. 1300m) from which further driving is also forbidden.

Path description:
From the ramp, continue along the road, which quickly leads to a junction of two roads after two successive sharp bends. Continue along the road on the left in the route mountain pasture Untere Draßnitzalm. The road climbs through the forest for a while and soon leads to a beautiful viewpoint, from which you can see two alpine waterfalls.
From the viewpoint, continue along the road, which crosses one of the two waterfalls via a bridge at a higher level. Shortly after the waterfall, the road leads out of the forest to the mountain pasture Unterdraßnitzer Alm.
From mountain pasture, follow the path to the right towards the summit of Hochkreuz. The path goes immediately after mountain pasture into the forest and climbs moderately on cart track. After a few minutes, you approach a stream, which you cross over a bridge. On the other side of the stream, the path climbs steeply and leads us through scrub to uncultivated marshy slopes. From here on, the otherwise marked path disappears. We have two options for continuing. We can continue along the marked trackless path (slightly right) or we can climb up along the stream (slightly left). The latter is easier in terms of orientation, despite being unmarked. The two "paths" merge at about 2200 m (this place is identified by the high-mountain cirque). From here onwards, in both cases, continue to the sharp left and follow the very few markings occasionally seen on some of the larger rocks. After a few minutes of moderate ascent, we start to turn slightly to the right again. If we are lucky, the "path" will lead us right to the lake. From the lake, continue slightly to the left and after 15 minutes of climbing on the easier, pathless ground, you will reach Hochleitenk.
From the top, continue slightly to the right, first down the ridge and then steeply up the poorly visible path. After a short steep climb, you reach the summit of Hochkreuz, from which you have a fine view.
PS: Orientation on the trail is difficult, so only set off in good weather.

On the way: Unterdraßnitzer Alm (1673m), Eckensee (2481m), Hochleitenk (2581m)

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