Pleisenspitze

From the station in Scharnitz, proceed to the federal road. Follow it to the left and cross the Isar. Just before the next church, turn left into Hinterautalstraße and go under the railway line. Now either follow the road parallel to the Isar (passing parking lot P2) or, more pleasantly, continue along the Isar on a footpath on the left. After both routes meet again at an Isar bridge, the smaller parking lot P3 is passed. On the paved road, continue into the Karwendel. Soon a path branches off to the right into Gleirschtal and shortly afterward a trail to the left into Karwendeltal. After crossing the Karwendelbach, the road ascends noticeably into Hinterautal and reaches the inn Wiesenhof located on a ridge. Just before it, the path forks; turn left here. The path goes straight uphill and the paving ends already at the first hairpin. The well-maintained road now leads mostly gently uphill. At the beginning of one of the very rare straight sections, there is a junction at point 1141 (Alpenvereinskarte), which is best remembered for the return journey: later this leads over to the Karwendelsteig. Otherwise, the main path continues, well signed, mostly winding uphill with occasional nice views towards the steep cliffs of Brunnensteinspitze. Further on, short unmarked paths are offered repeatedly to shorten some of the long path's switchbacks. Only just before the forest boundary at the Pleisenhütte does the view open up more, especially to the Gleirsch-Hall chain and the Erlspitz group, best enjoyed from the terrace of Pleisenhütte. Directly behind the terrace a trail begins, leading now through the larch zone and increasingly rocky terrain. At the soon reached fork, turning left, the trail leads into Vorderkar. But before leaving the larch zone, it turns right to the Hinterer Pleisengrat, whose ridge height is not fully ascended. Now heading north again, the ascent continues quite evenly with a constant view of the summit. Only near the summit does the trail pass over scree, but shortly after easily reaches the fairly broad summit plateau. The almost unobstructed 360-degree view is impressive, only interrupted by views into the next peaks of the main chain.

The descent follows the same route back to Scharnitz. It is recommended to take a detour to the Karwendelsteig. At the junction at point 1141, known from the ascent, turn sharply right from the descent path. The subsequent forest road leads easily north. After the deeply cut water channel ends, the forest road ends soon. A trail continues in the same direction and descends to the Karwendelbach, which is crossed on a wooden bridge: the view on the waterfalls of the Karwendelbach is especially great in the afternoon when the sun shines into the valley! On the other side of the Karwendelbach, the trail ascends a bit again and reaches the crossing road that opens the Karwendeltal. Follow this road to the left out of the valley. Staying on the main path, the first buildings of Scharnitz are reached. The paved road begins here, leading down to a junction. Turning left there, you reach parking lot P3 and the Isar bridge known from the ascent. Then follow the familiar path back to the station or the car.