Karwendel High Trail (Trail 3): Solsteinhaus - Pfeishütte

Description

The third stage of the Karwendel High Trail leads from the Solsteinhaus down along Trail 213 toward Möslalm. When the trail junction at the ‘Wilde Iss’, take the Gipfelstürmerweg trail (215) eastwards and head past the Wilde-Iss-Jagdhütte hut. The trail snakes along a green ridge featuring trees and mountain pines as it leads you up to the ‘Hippen’ peak. After a brief descent, you are then faced with a very steep ascent along passages secured with ropes that bring you to the Frau Hitt ridge. This is located to the west of the prominent Frau Hitt rock needle. CAUTION: even in early summer, the Frau Hitt cirque may feature a very large amount of old snow that remains icy into the morning (risk of falling: Snowline Spikes and sticks provide optimum protection). Legend has it that the rock needle represents a woman on a horse. The descent from the Frau Hitt ridge starts out very steep and subsequently follows the Schmidhubersteig trail, crossing picturesque mountain pastures on the way to the Seegrube restaurant (1906 m). After a refreshing break at the Seegrube, you take trail 216 as it makes a steep ascent to the Hafelekarhaus (2269 m). The Goetheweg trail (219) then leads you south below the Hafelekarspitze and brings you to the Pfeishütte. You begin by following the trail, which leads to the Mühlkarscharte gap via the Gleirschjöchl without any major variations in elevation. On the way to the Mühlkarscharte gap, you are able to savour the breath-taking views of the Alpine city of Innsbruck and the Inntal valley. At the Mühlkarscharte gap itself, the trail shifts to the north face of the Nordkette mountain range and offers a panorama of the craggy Karwendel mountains. The trail snakes its way up the Mandlscharte gap (2314 m) before heading back down to the Pfeishütte. After completing the final section of the trail, which heads past a large number of mountain pines, you reach the Pfeishütte – the end of the third stage on the Karwendel Höhenweg trail.

Emergency tip:
As this is a very long and demanding stage, mountaineers can stay overnight at the Höttinger Alm as an exception if need be! In this case, following the ascent to the Frau Hitt ridge, mountaineers must not head in the direction of Seegrube but walk along trail 215 towards Höttinger Alm.

Variant (1):
Since the stage is very long, as mentioned above, we recommend a break with an overnight stay in the unique city of Innsbruck, which can be reached from the Seegrube in 20 minutes with the Innsbruck Nordkettenbahnen.

Bad weather variant:
If the weather is not optimal, you should take trail 213 from the Solsteinhaus to the Möslalm and then climb to the Pfeishütte.