Steinwand Crossing

Starting point is a (free) parking lot (at 1,150m) at the Bienenlehrpfad Lesachtal (46.679462, 12.795479) of the village Obergail (as an alternative, there are also parking spaces at the Mühlenstüberl).

From the parking lot, hike southwards along the gravel forest road (Obergailer Talweg) – towards “Schönjöchl-Raudenspitze” (signpost at the first fork near the rest area) further into the valley.

After about 45 minutes, you reach the livestock gate of the Obergailer Alm (1,426m). You then reach a fork (right, nearby, are very nice huts) – here you have a very good view of the upcoming crossing – from where your path continues for about 400m towards southwest (to the right) along the forest road before you turn right onto the trail towards Schönjöchl-Edigon.

You reach a forest path after about 150 vertical meters and continue hiking left along it, shortly afterwards turning right onto the marked hiking trail (or alternatively follow the forest path directly under the idyllic Enderberg hut to refill your drinking water at the fountain in front of the hut or enjoy a drink cooled in the fountain – please bring small change for this nice gesture).

The marked route now steadily ascends through a very beautiful high valley, where after a little less than about 3 hours walking time (since start of the route; or 1.5 hours after the Enderberg hut) you reach Schönjöchl (2,295m). Already here you have a great view of Monte Avanza as well as Monte Peralba and Raudenspitze (which you can reach directly from Schönjöchl via the right trail).

You follow the markers and now hike left (eastwards) over the clearly visible path towards Edigon. At about 2,460m you reach a small notch with a fork (memorial plaque and older signpost - 46°38.8164` 12°46.6120`) – here you can continue your way directly via the Alpine trail or invest a few additional minutes and vertical meters to also climb the rewarding summit of Edigon.

Sharp right the ascent mostly goes over block terrain (50 vertical meters, difficulty 1-) onto the ridge before you cover the last meters to the summit of Edigon (2,511m) over sometimes exposed terrain.

The total walking time for the first 1,360 vertical meters, from the parking lot to the summit of Edigon, is about 3.5 hours (the section from Schönjöchl to Edigon summit takes about 40 minutes walking time).

The path to the Alpine Trail of Steinwand goes past the small notch, right of the rock block, where the route then leads over trails of varying demands and surface conditions, as well as rocky sections (sometimes with short climbing passages), towards Hochkopf (end of the Alpine Trail).

After passing the ridge summit Il Basto at 2,426m, the path goes into the very steep south flank to then become somewhat less demanding again and continue directly on the border ridge.

In the last third of the Alpine Trail you will face both a somewhat more demanding rock step and then the most challenging part of the stage – a rock ascent. You will need at least some climbing experience to overcome this section. The next few minutes to the summit of Hochkopf you hike near the ridge over significantly easier terrain.

About 3 hours after reaching the first summit of the route (Edigon), you will reach the summit plateau of Hochkopf (2,520m) – and thus the end of the Alpine Route – with a breathtaking, cross-border 360 degree panoramic view (Glockner group, Venediger group, Sexten Dolomites, Gailtal Alps…) and a very special “summit cross”.

From the summit of Steinwand (Hochkopf), you follow the marked hiking trail through the steep, grassy southeast flank of Steinwand to the notch Passo dell`Agnello (46°38.5479` 12°47.6731`) - between Steinwand and Letterspitze.

Here you have the option to descend left (northwards) into the Obergailer valley or ascend to the summit of Letterspitze (2,463m). The ascent (about 70 vertical meters) to Letterspitze partly goes over cable-secured sections (difficulty A/B) to another very nice summit cross with a magnificent view, which you reach about 25 minutes after the summit of Hochkopf. Overall, the “extra effort” (time for ascent and descent) for climbing the (additional) summit of Letterspitze is about 25 minutes.

Your return path initially leads back to the notch (Passo dell`Agnello), from where you then descend on the north side (to the right if coming from Letterspitze) through a rather steep gully at the start (partly with scree). The trail leads in numerous switchbacks as well as over a wide, scree-covered flank and meets at about 2,040m the hiking trail of Obergailer Joch – we keep left here (westwards). The path now flattens somewhat and leads through a beautiful high valley to Knolihütte (1,812m), which we reach about 1 hour after starting our descent (from the notch).

Shortly after the hut you reach a fork (46.652160°, 12.788942°), where you turn right (straight ahead the flat hiking path section of the Karnisch Höhenweg would lead you back to Enderberghütte), to reach the junction to Hundstrichsee (1,600m) after about 10 minutes. The few additional minutes walking to the Hundstrichsee, as a final tour highlight, offer a rewarding alternative for further descent.

From here the hiking trail continues into the valley of Obergailer Alm and finally leads back into the forest road via which we reached the livestock gate of the Alm at the start of our tour.

After about 2 hours total descent time – from the notch between Letterspitze and Steinwand – you reach your starting point again (parking lot Bienenlehrpfad).