Pfitscher Tal / Val di Vizze - Hochfeilerhütte

Access to the starting point:
Drive through the Karavanke Tunnel into Austria, then continue to Spittal and on to Lienz (the motorway ends a little after Spittal). We continue along a relatively nice and wide road through the Drava Valley, which leads us into Itali. The road continues past Dobbiaco/Toblach and Brunico/Bruneck. We continue on the main road and then join the motorway towards Austria (direction Brenner, Innsbruck). Instead of the motorway, you can also continue on a parallel road. Leave the motorway at the exit for Vipiteno / Sterzing. At two roundabouts, turn right and follow the signs for Pfitscher Tal / Val di Vizze. Just after the second roundabout, turn left towards the aforementioned Pfitscher Tal / Val di Vizze. Continue following the signs for the valley and the Pfitscher Joch / Passo di Vizze pass. The road becomes very narrow, but is still asphalted at first. As the road turns left towards the last houses in the village of Stein / Sasso, continue right along the narrow dirt road towards the Pfitscher Joch / Passo di Vizze pass. Follow this road to one of the two car parks. The walking route starts at a bend at another slightly smaller car park.

Path description:
At the starting point, take the wide path behind the "Hochfeilerhütte" signs. After only a few dozen metres, you reach a crossroads where you turn right down a slightly narrower path towards the Hochfeilerhütte hut. After a short descent, cross the bridge over the Oberbergbach stream and then climb up the well-maintained path. Continue climbing through the forest and soon cross a fence to reach a marked crossroads.

The path to the left leads to the Hochferner bivouac, and we continue to the right, following the "Hochfeilerhütte" signs. The path then crosses slopes with bushes and slightly overgrown grassy slopes, mostly in a gentle ascent, and leads us to the vicinity of mountain pasture Bichl where there is another crossroads.

A path branches off to the right towards the Gliederscharte notch, and we continue to the left, following the signs for the Hochfeilerhütte hut. We continue to climb quite steeply and from the path we start to get beautiful views of the surrounding peaks. We continue to climb along the well-trodden path, which runs along bushes and slightly overgrown meadows. The path then turns slightly to the right and then crosses relatively steep slopes high above the Gliderbach stream for some time. Later, crossing a pasture fence, the path leads to slightly wider grassy slopes. Here the path climbs a little steeper up the grassy slopes for a short time, then turns slightly to the right again and crosses steep slopes to the east. In some parts where the path crosses steep slopes, we are also helped by a steel cable. Soon we come back to the less steep slopes from which the view opens up for the first time towards the Hochfeilerhütte hut. The path then descends a little and crosses a few streams via a bridge.

The path begins to climb again and the less well-trodden path from the Gliederscharte notch joins us from the right. We continue to climb along the increasingly scenic path, cross another stream and the path leads us to another marked crossroads.

To the left is a direct path to the top of the Hochfeiler, and we continue to the right towards the Hochfeilerhütte hut. From the crossroads, the path continues eastwards and climbs gently most of the time. The trail descends slightly for a short distance, and then there is a final climb up to the hut.

On the way: Bichl (1838m), Unterbergalm (2200m)

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