Winklertal - Monte Vancomun / Hochspitz (via Winkler Jocb)

Access to the starting point:
Cross the Korensko sedlo border crossing and descend into Austria, then turn left at the first major crossroads towards Podklošter/Arnoldstein. In the village you will come to a roundabout, where you continue to the right in the direction of "Hermagor". Continue along the wide road that leads through the Zilj valley. At Mauthen, turn left towards the Plockenpass and then, after a few 100 m, turn right towards the Lesachtal valley. A short distance beyond the village of Untertilliach (at the second bus stop), the initially asphalted road branches off to the left and continues along a narrow and rather winding road. The road then crosses a bridge, after which a wide dirt road joins on the left. Continue straight on for about 50 m, then you will come to the next unmarked crossroads, where you turn right along the lower "main" road, which leads you to a marked crossroads just a few metres further on. This time continue left towards "Hochspitz in Oberalm" on the deteriorating road, which leads you higher up to an unmarked junction in front of which there is a small parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot, continue along the road to the Gartlhütte hut at 1600m. From the hut, continue along the mountain road which leads south along the valley and brings you close to the Winkler Bach stream. The road climbs along the stream for a short distance before turning right and climbing upwards in switchbacks for a long distance. The road climbs mostly on grassy slopes, only occasionally leading into a sparse forest. In summer, cattle graze on the grassy slopes. This road is then followed all the way to the mountain pasture Oberalm at an altitude of 2160m.

From mountain pasture where the mountain road ends, continue on the footpath, which first crosses the grassy slopes below the Reiterkarspitz, then turns left and starts to climb towards the Winkler Jocb saddle. The climb up to the saddle is on grassy terrain, and you will also see some remains from the First World War along the way.

At the saddle, continue to the left after the "Mitterkarbiwak" signs. The trail then turns slightly to the right and crosses the grassy slopes below the summit of Cima Manzon 2328m. The trail here follows the southern slopes and soon leads to the vicinity of the Val Mezzana / Mosser Sharte saddle 2226m. There is also an unmarked crossroads at the saddle. We continue on the marked trail which leads along the grassy slopes on the south side of Gamskofel / Cima Mezzana 2420m, with unmarked trails on the north side to the left.

The trail continues to cross the grassy slopes below the summit of Gamskofel. In this part of the trail it is relatively gentle and only rarely climbs slightly. Here we can usually see many marmots and the path offers a good view towards Dolomites and our destination, Hochspitz, which we can already see ahead of us. This trail goes all the way to the Hochspitzsenke / Val Carnia 2314m. At the saddle, continue left after the "Mitterkarbiwak" signs and start to descend gently on an old military dirt track below the slopes of the Hochspitz summit. The trail then leads to a crossroads where you continue to the right after the "Hochspitz" signs.

From the crossroads the path then climbs slightly steeper and leads to a ridge where you continue to the right. The path continues along the ridge, which is slightly exposed in places. In the last part, the path turns left to the east side of the mountain and there is only a short climb to the top.

On the way: Gartlhütte (1600m), Oberalm (2160m), Winkler Jocb (2248m), Mosser Sharte (2226m), Hochspitzsenke (2314m)

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