Stage 2: Via the Salzsteig in the Volkzein

Follow old tracks

It hasn't always been as lonely here as it is today. We follow the Salzsteig trail in the Winkeltal valley, which leads up to 2.583 meters above the Villgrater Joch to Hopfgarten. We leave the high valley and climb back up via the Brunnalm to lofty heights to the Hofer Kreuz.

In between, spectacular views of Poseidon's Spear, the Sichelspitze, the Defereggen Valley, and the Kristeiner Valley reveal themselves. At some point, the summit cross of the Gölbner peak appears, and ancient stone-walled cattle pens tell of wild animals and of shepherds and their flocks who spent the summer here long ago. At the very top, views open up to the south and north, revealing the great mountains of the Eastern Alps, the Großvenediger, the Großglockner, and many more, in all their glory.

The trump card in the game is the summit of the Regenstein (2.891m).

Directions

From the Reiterstube, head up the valley on the left side, past the Mooshofalm (1.530m). Pass the Niederbruggeralm (1.600m) on the left bank of the stream until you reach the road again towards Volkzein. There, at the Brunneralm (1.630m), trail 58 points the way up. First you reach the Unterarnalm and then the Oberarnalm (1.960m). From the Oberen Arnkasern, the trail leads uphill to the Bodenhütte. Following trail no. 323, an old cattle track leads you up a moderately steep grassy slope, and after a short, boulder-covered valley, you reach the trail markers. At the trail marker, follow trail no. 23 to the Mitterberg and from there trail no. 24 to the Hoferalm. A little way after the Hoferalm, the trail points right up to the Villgrater Joch (2.583m) (Hofer Kreuz). From the Hofer Kreuz cross, the same descent follows, and a sign on a cairn points to the Volkzeiner Hut (No. 324). Following trail No. 324, we climb gently to a stone cattle pen and later to a shoulder of a slope. Behind it, a magnificent terraced area stretches out, leading us to the Leisacheralm. Descending through alpine pastures and meadows, we can already see the Volkzein pastures below in the valley, where we can stay overnight at the Volkzeiner Hut.