Around the Gosaukamm

by Sue Bramall

The start of our walk was the car park below the Aualm, which saved schlepping up a tarmac road for two hours from the town. Our objective on the first day was to reach the Gosausee, at the far end of the Gosaukamm, a series of imposing granite peaks, before stopping overnight.

There was a steady drizzle as we set off and the granite towers of the Bischofsmütze (Groáe 2455m and Kleine 2428m) were shrouded in mist. We could see the only pit stop on our route, the Hofpürglhütte, nestled on a promontory, a steep but direct hike up to 1703m.

View of the Bischofsmütze and Gosaukamm

The visitor book at the Hofpürglhütte indicated very few other Brits had been this way, but in the boot room we encountered a semi-naked Englishman. On asking him if the six hour estimate for the day was reliable, he replied that he could not say "as he had only ever run the route".

From the Hütte it is a gentle stretch on the Linzer Steig (601/612) where you have a chance to enjoy the view of the Almsee and valley before route 612 branches left for a 300m climb to the Stieglpass at 2012m. Whilst I had anticipated this to be the most hair-raising part of the walk, it was well marked, well maintained and there was ropeLjwire at the most precipitous places.

It was raining steadily and the clouds were low, so there was not much opportunity to enjoy the view at the pass, before descending through a steep gulley into the Stieglweg. We chuckled as we wondered how mountain man had run down that. I found the most effective way was to toss my sticks down several feet to free my hands and then shuffle down on my bottom. Andy spotted a couple of chamois, and I won a five EUR bet as first to spot a marmot, photographing two furry faces before they scampered off to hide.

The Stieglweg emerged onto the wooded under-cliff above the valley. From the map, we had expected to look down on to the lakes, with the Hinterer Gosausee and the river leading to the main Vorderer Gosausee. Whilst the angle of the slopes prevented that particular view, we caught the sunlight on the edges of the Dachstein glacier across the valley.

The next couple of hours were a pleasant level-ish walk through the woods with terrain alternating between granite rockfalls and knotty roots in peaty soil. As the Gosausee came into sight, we took route 623 left, the yellow sign indicating that our overnight accommodation was less than an hour away, even though it was a long slow climb with lots of zigzags. After a pleasant evening in the bar at the Gablonzer Hútte we fell asleep to a sound track of cowbells beneath our window.

Almsee and Bischofmütze
Photos by Sue Bramall

Our return trip next day around the other side of the Gosaukamm followed route 601A Austria Weg. Continuing on the under-cliff, we enjoyed the views of the immaculate wildflower valleys and villages to the west.

As we ambled along a level path, we noticed a rather steep zigzag on the other side of the valley, disappearing into an even steeper rocky gully which our little guide did not mention.

As we got onto the zigs and zags the path turned to quite fine shale with very little shrubbery to stem a fall. I was relieved to reach the rope-wire as we climbed up the final steps. We discovered that it was called the Schwarzkopf pass as we arrived at the top, from where the path traverses the under-cliff at a high level. With far-reaching views, we headed around to join route 611, before drop- ping down on route 632 to the Sulzkarlalm where we enjoyed a platter of cold meats, cheese and black bread, with a white wine spritzer and bier, chatting with a couple who had collected at least a kilo of wild mushrooms in the woods below.

The final stretch on route 607 was a kind finale to our mountain adventure. Strolling through the meadows, past Jersey cows and stopping to stroke the Haflinger horses we returned to the Aualm.

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