Parkplatz Innerfragant - Herzog Ernst Spitze

Access to the starting point:
From the Karavanke Tunnel, follow the motorway towards Salzburg to the motorway junction where you turn left towards Spittal. From Spittal, drive towards Lienz. Shortly after the motorway ends, at Möllbrücke, turn right towards Mallnitz and the Großglockner Alpine road. Follow this road to Kleindorf (just after Flattach) where signs "Mölltaler Gletscher" direct you to the right on the ascending road to the lower funicular station. Follow this road all the way to the large parking lot at the bottom of the funicular.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the asphalted road, which is closed to traffic. After a short climb along the road, signs direct you to the right onto the "Richard Helfer Weg" footpath. The footpath also avoids the tunnels on the road, which are forbidden to walk through.

From the crossroads, you start a slightly steeper climb through the forest on a relatively poorly beaten track. At a higher level, join the road for a short distance and then turn right again onto the footpath, which is marked with Knafeljč's markings. The path climbs mostly through the forest and crosses a few short clearings. Later on, the path leads us to slightly steeper slopes from which we occasionally get a view of the waterfalls of the Astrombach stream on the other side of the steep valley. On the shorter crossing where the slope is very steep, we also have a rope to help us. The path here is not too difficult, but you have to be careful because the bushes and tall grass can make it hard to see that the slope is very steep along the narrow path. The path then turns left from the steep slopes and starts to climb a little steeper. Following this path through the forest, you will soon reach a mountain road.

Continue right along the road, which descends gently and leads to a marked crossroads near Lake Wurtenspeicher. Bear left at cart track and after a short climb you will reach the lake. There are benches and a table near the lake.

The footpath along the lake soon ends and we turn left onto the footpath. The path continues northwards, mostly on a gentle slope above the lake, crossing a few small streams. Later, the path turns slightly to the left and climbs briefly in the keys. It then crosses a slightly steeper slope, bypassing a small boulder. A little caution is needed here. Later, the increasingly scenic route becomes less steep and runs northwards. You still have to be careful where you walk, as there are a few deep holes along the path. The path then descends a little and leads us to the vicinity of Lake Mernigsee
Here the trail turns slightly to the right and crosses a stream, then begins to climb the slope above the lake. Walk north again and soon cross the slope below the chairlift leading to the Weißseehaus hut. The path then turns left and there is a short climb up the slope to the left of the ski slope. Later the path follows the ski slope and leads to a mountain road where there is a crossroads.
To the right, slightly downhill, it is only a few tens of metres to the Mittelstation, a footpath leads straight down the ski slope to the Duisburger Hütte hut, and we turn left onto the road to the Weißseehaus hut, which can already be seen ahead. From the crossroads we climb up a scenic tarmac road with cattle grazing alongside in the summer months. The Weißseehaus is soon reached along the scenic road.

From the hut, continue along the road, which descends gently and then briefly passes by the Weißsee lake. The road then climbs again and turns slightly to the right, leading to the large artificial lake Hochwurtenspeicher. The road follows the edge of the dam to the right side of the lake where the asphalt road ends.

Here, a footpath branches off to the right towards hut Duisburger Hütte, and we continue along the dirt road by the lake. Soon we come to a crossroads where the road to the Duisburger Hütte branches off to the right. We continue along the left-hand lay-by road, which runs along the lake the whole time. With beautiful views of the peaks above the lake, the road leads us to the north side of the lake where there are several crossroads.

We turn right (north-eastwards) to follow the signs "Fraganter Scharte". From the crossroads the path runs along the ski slope by the stream for a while and then turns sharply to the left and starts to climb steeply. As you get a little closer to the steeper slopes, the path turns right and then climbs cross-country all the way to the Fraganter Scharte notch where there is a crossroads.

At the ridge where the view opens to the north and the Hoher Sonnblick summit, turn right to follow the signs "Herzog-Ernst, Schareck". From the crossroads, the trail runs north-eastwards, climbing mostly in switchbacks up the slope of the Herzog Ernst Spitze. Higher up, the rocky slope becomes a shade steeper, but the climb is still relatively easy. Following this route, you will soon reach the aforementioned summit of Herzog Ernst Spitze.

On the way: Wurtenspeicher (1695m), Mernigsee (2040m), Mittelstation (Mölltaler Gletscher) (2234m), Weißseehaus (2381m), Weißsee (2365m), Hochwurtenspeicher (2417m), Fraganter Scharte (2753m)

We can extend the trip to the following destinations: Schareck (1 h)

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