Crossing the Hochschwab Massif

Today I'll take you on a beautiful hiking adventure. This was my best mountain experience in 2019. Together with two mountain companions, we decided to take on the challenge and cross the Hochschwab massif. How did we manage? You'll find out in the rest of this post.

The Hochschwab region is one of my favorite areas for hiking. A wide selection of trails of every difficulty level and the peace and quiet on them are definite advantages. Besides that, I love the local abundance of wildlife - Hochschwab is the largest habitat for chamois in Europe. And it's not just them that are found here in large numbers - you'll also find plenty of wild boar, roe deer, marmots, and ibex. They're easy to encounter during a hike and often aren't skittish at all - see for yourself:

Today's adventure is special. To follow exactly in my footsteps, you'll need two cars, which is a certain logistical challenge. We leave one car at Grüner See (paid parking 4 EUR per day), and drive the other to Seewiesen on the other side of the massif. That's where we start the hike.

To reach the destination of the first day of travel, the Schiestlhaus hut, we have two options - either the lower trail leading through the Seetal valley and the Voisthaler Hütte refuge, or the upper route, along the plateau called Aflenzer Staritzen. I chose the second option, of course, and I recommend it to you too. The views are quite impressive, and the route is very varied. The only downside is that for about 6 technically straightforward hours of hiking, we won't encounter any refuges. 

We spent the night at Schiestlhaus near the highest point of the massif. It's a modern yet atmospheric refuge. The food is somewhat unusual for such a place. The menu features many vegetarian dishes and Mediterranean cuisine. All meals are beautifully and tastefully presented and taste even better.

Thanks to the proximity of the Hochschwab summit (2277 m above sea level), we managed to catch both sunset and sunrise. Waking up wasn't the easiest, but it was definitely worth it! 

After sunrise, we decided to get some more sleep, which was a good decision. After a hearty and delicious breakfast (I recommend adding it to your overnight stay!), we set off on the next part of our hike.

On the second day, the route first led to the private Häuslalm refuge (about 3 hours), then through the beautiful Sonnenschien alm to Grüner See (another 3 hours). When planning, it's worth checking whether Häuslalm is open. During the season, it's only open from Wednesday to Sunday.

Here too, the views were very diverse, and the hike was marked by solitude. During all those hours, we met at most 3 people. These are the trails I love most - no one disturbs the mountain vibes flowing through my soul! 

We reached the car tired but extremely satisfied - two days away from civilization with such views can work wonders. 

I recommend you try this adventure for yourself. Feel the spirit of these mountains and reset your mind, just as we did. You definitely won't regret it and you'll probably thank me for it ?