Himmelschrofen crossing

From the Renksteg car park we follow the bends of the paved path up to the Golfclub Oberstdorf. There, a gravel path branches off to the southwest. This ends at the so-called Schloßwies. Immediately to the left of the entrance gate, the trail begins up to Himmelschrofen. At first, in the dense deciduous forest, we gain altitude quickly. Above a distinctive sinkhole, the trees begin to thin out. The path is narrow and often leads over grassy slopes. Two wire ropes facilitate the crossing of rocky terrain. Despite a noticeable traverse into the Trettach valley, the path loses little of its steepness.

We reach a meadow slope. At the upper end, the path dips into a wooded area and becomes very easy and pleasant for a short time. Afterwards, we climb up to a narrow ridge section. It becomes airier again. We cross the avalanche barriers. After a few minutes, we leave the trees and enter the Laschen. Always along the ridge, we climb over to the cross of Himmelschrofen.

After an extensive summit rest, we follow the ascent path a little way back down. For the descent onto the east wall path, we have two options. We can use a grassy gully between the dwarf pines. Those who do not find this continue further down until an avalanche barrier can be seen shortly below the path on the right. Here there are footholds for descending.

We traverse the basin southwards. Always above the dwarf pines, we find a cairn and shortly afterward first trail signs. We follow these over to the ruined Vorderen Ringersgundalpe. Behind this, the further course of the east slope path is clearly visible. Below the Hinteren Ringersgundalpe, already descending, we encounter the junction to the Vorderen Wildegundkopf. On the former cattle drive path, we quickly lose altitude in numerous switchbacks. In the lower section, the path is partly earthy and slippery depending on the weather.

Upon reaching the Trettach, we follow it downstream to the Truppersoy bridge. We leave the paved path to the left. After a few minutes, we reach the Christlessee. We circle it counterclockwise to the Cafe Christlessee. We cross the Trettach and walk over Dietersberg down to the power station. On the other riverbank lies again the Golfclub Oberstdorf. After the familiar road bends from the ascent, we are back at the starting point.