Mittagskogel circular route

From the car, follow the paved road through a ditch to the hamlet of Outschena. There, a path branches off to the left (signpost former Annahütte). This path now ascends through the forest up to a forest road. After a few meters, an old forest road branches off to the left. You now hike upwards with an easy to moderate incline, crossing the new forest road several times. After passing a ditch, the partially passable hiking trail finally turns into a footpath, which steeply rises to the former Annahütte (ruined), which lies directly on the border with Slovenia. From here, the path becomes clearly more alpine. Over several short and steep ascents (some rope protections present), you reach a notch between the Kleine and Große Mittagskogel. Now, you cross a exposed section secured with a steel cable into the Mittagskogel west flank. Further on, the hiking trail leads upwards through the debris-strewn slope until you reach the summit ridge slightly south of the cross and walk the last few meters almost flat to the highest point.

For the onward route, cross the well-trodden hiking path on the Austrian side from the summit heading southwards down to a small notch. Here the hiker turns left and follows the partly timber-secured path downwards. After a somewhat demanding streambed crossing, continue with only slight altitude loss along the slope to the left (north) up to a broad saddle. From here, you reach in a few minutes the slightly elevated Bertahütte (refreshment opportunity). From the hut, a path leads downwards through steep forest to the north towards Faaker See (Hotel Mittagskogel). From about 1100 m above sea level, continue descending on the forest road to a junction (Illitsch Raut). Here, follow hiking trail 603 to the left (west) and after a stream crossing reach the starting point.