On the stone bars, Ratten

Up to Hauereck we mainly orientate ourselves on the Montanweg (yellow boards or blue-white markings), then on trail no. 740/02 or route no. 742. Please be sure to check the refreshment options including opening times BEFORE the hike. On the way back you can order a SAM shared taxi to the Eichtinger snack station to “Station Alm/Großmarker, WZ 4300” and save yourself a 5 kilometer journey. Start: GH Albert, Rats town center We start at the overview board in front of GH Albert and head north. We turn left up Rotkreuzweg, now go uphill and have a beautiful view of rats. After the second information board of the Montanweg, the climb becomes flatter, the forest road leads past a few houses. We come to an asphalt road, go uphill to the right and shortly afterwards turn left, following the markings “Path no. 9”. A little way through the forest to a house, here we continue to the right, past the “Dirndlhof” to the intersection. At the intersection we continue left on the asphalt road to the Hotel Ponyhof, where we take path no. 9 leave. We go straight past the pony farm buildings and continue on a gravel path. We go to the intersection with the yellow signpost “Montanweg”, here we turn left, walk slightly uphill through the forest and use the blue and white markings to orientate ourselves.

We walk 1.4 km on the asphalt road to the intersection just before the “Berbausiedlung” district. At this intersection we turn right and come to GH Willenshofer/valley station of the Hauereck lifts. The path continues behind the Willenshofer GH, along the gravel road we go uphill for about 2.6 kilometers to the unmanaged Hauereck refuge. From now on we are on the main hiking trail over the Fischbach Alps, turn right and hike comfortably uphill along the wide, wooded mountain ridge. (Trail no. 740/02). Soon we will see the first wind turbines. At an alpine area we reach the parking lot on the Ratteneer Alm, we continue directly to the Steinriegel. The descent leads past the parking lot again, then we turn right and towards an alpine hut. We follow the path and come to the barrier at the toll station, the Eichtinger snack station is unfortunately closed. We now walk a short distance along the asphalt road until we turn left onto hiking trail no. 742a turn. The gravel road goes continuously downhill, past a few farms, until we come back into the forest. At a large campsite we follow the yellow signposts further through the forest. During the grazing season the hiking trail is rerouted; the yellow markings lead us back to the original path. Downhill and along the asphalt road we come to the “Ratten” sign and turn right at the next intersection, always heading out of the valley. Shortly before the sports field we turn right, go over the stream and after a short climb we come to the church. Now a few more meters downhill and we are back in the center of Ratten, our starting point.