This years autumn is extremely warm and sunny and the forecast for the last weekend of November was great again, so quarter past four in the morning i started the drive towards Goldberg mountains, which are part of austrian Hohe Tauern National Park.
At 7 o'clock i arrived to parking Lenzanger (1550m) which is located app. one and half kilometre before Kolm Saigurn. It was quite chilly, but the sky was cloudless and the first sun rays were hitting the peak of Hoher Sonnblick.
After packing my backpack i make me on the way and in only 15 minutes i reach the Naturfreundehaus in Kolm Saigurn, where the local dog welcomes me. The hut warden came out and we gave a short small talk about local mountains and current snow conditions.
Behind the hut i started to gain the height. Up to about 1700m the path is completely snowless (this is very unusual for end of November) and above that i walk only partly on rests of light frozen snow - one can only dream about snowshoeing below 2000m. After less than 2 hours walk from the car i stay by the (of course closed) Schutzhaus Neubau hut in the height of 2175m and enjoy a wonderful view towards the Rauriser valley.
early in the morning on parking in Kolm Saigurn, Hoher Sonnblick in the back |
zoom towards Niedersachsenhaus (2471m) |
the snow and sun variation |
Just a few tens of meters above the hut i can finally put my snowshoes on. In the beginning the snow was a little bit too hard, but as i start to gain the height before reaching the Knappenhaus (historical hut which was used by goldminers in the 19th century) it's getting better and above 2400m i can enjoy windpressed powder snow. I could walk on snowshoes almost up to the Fraganter saddle (2754m), where opens a nice view towards the south. I took a break and was watching the skiers on the slopes of the Mölltaler glacier ski resort. I had decided to climb the peak Herzog Ernst Spitze (2933m), which was right above the saddle.
on the snowshoe track |
ski resort on the Mölltaler glacier |
Fraganter Scharte (2754m) |
The way from the Fraganter saddle up to Herzog Ernst was almost snowless, so i walked up to the peak by foot. There was a wonderful view around from the top - Rauriser valley, Gasteiner valley, Schareck, Hoher Sonnblick and also the highest peak of Austria - the Grossglockner. After a short pause i make me on the way down, because the days are already very short and i want to be back by car before the night comes. The descend was much faster than ascend so short before 4 PM i'm back on the parking and drive home to Linz. Great day in the high mountains again!
Schareck (3123m) |
view from the peak of Herzog Ernst Spitze towards Hoher Sonnblick |
and towards Rauriser Valley |