Höllengebirge crossing

Since Langwies station is no longer served, we are forced to take the bus for the last section. At the stop Langwies/Traun Aritzbachstraße, called Langwies/Traun Gh Heckawirt by the railway, we follow the bus direction and turn onto Aritzbachstraße until, after the first house on the left, the Soleleitungsweg branches off to the left. We follow this until we reach a road after about 300 m. We follow this to the right along the orographically left bank of the Aritzbach. After 300 m, we follow the path along the brook until it crosses a side arm of the brook after 1 km and leaves the Aritzbach to the left. Now the path steepens and we follow the switchbacks until we cross a forest road after 900 m. We continue along the switchbacks for another 2.4 km until we meet the Kaiserweg, which we leave on the right to go to the Vorderen Spitzalm. Before this alpine pasture, we go right into the forest, continuing uphill through the Haselwaldgasse to the right turnoff to Feuerkogel, which we ignore on the right, then after 400 m turn left into the ascent to the Großer Höllkogel. After reaching the summit, we return to the fork, follow the signpost to the Rieder Hütte, which we reach after just under half an hour.

The next morning, we head west following the signs to the Hochleckenhaus. After 4 km, we turn left onto the path to Grünkalmkogel. We are surprised by the reinterpretation of a summit cross and enjoy the view. According to the map, the path continues directly to reconnect with the trail to Hochleckenhaus. When I did the route, this was not quickly found, so I returned along the path. We follow the trail west towards Pfaffengrabenhöhe and down to the Pfaffengraben. We then climb another 300 m, passing Jägerköpfl towards Hochleckenhaus.

After a well-deserved rest, we descend the gentle meadow slope to the west. About 60 m after entering the forest, we keep left towards Geißalm/Brennerin and climb about 200 m to the transition to Geißalm. We leave Geißalm to the right and reach the fork to Aubodenhütte and Steinbach am Attersee after about 300 m. Here, after a few hundred meters, we reach the most difficult part of the tour, the exposed descent over the Stieg. Where it becomes flatter, we keep right and reach Aubodenhütte after about 300 m, after crossing a path. Just under 100 m past the hut, we turn left onto a forest road, which we soon leave again to the right to descend to Steinbach am Attersee. We head toward the church, which we pass on the right, moving directly towards the lake. The bus stop on the B152 is on the right-hand side.