AAC(UK) Online Newsletter

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Trekking through history:
the Karnischer Höhenweg

By Kath Checkland

Like many people, we joined the Austrian Alpine Club (UK) for the insurance. However, we were soon impressed with what the Club offers, and have enjoyed training courses and attended a number of AGMs. It is the Newsletter, however, which has probably had the biggest impact. We were experienced Alpine long-distance walkers, but had stuck to the Swiss and French Alps, enjoying routes such as the Alpine Pass Route and the Chamonix to Zermatt Summer Haute Route. The Newsletter offered us a glimpse of the Austrian Alps. We were particularly taken by the hut profiles, and the photographs in the annual competition. Clearly there was more to the Austrian Alps than we had imagined.

Our first trip on the Stubai Rucksack Route was a great success, and so in 2019 we looked for a new route. Published in 2018, John Hayes’ Cicerone guide to the Karnischer Höhenweg caught our attention. Not only did it promise interesting limestone scenery on the edge of the Dolomites, but it also offered the opportunity to walk through history. The full route covers 169 km on the Austrian-Italian border, along the main ridge of the Karnischer Alpen. For most of that distance it also follows the line of the World War 1 front line, where the Austro-Hungarian Empire dug in and confronted the Italians.

The route starts in Sillian in the Lesachtal, which we reached easily by bus from Innsbruck. It was early September, and we got up on the first morning to mist and heavy rain. The first day of the trek follows a fairly narrow ridge, but with visibility nil and probable snow we decided that this was to be avoided. Instead we caught a bus up a side valley, and approached the Obstanerseehütte directly. It was a steep, wet slog and by the time we reached the hut it was snowing. The welcome, however, was warm. The following day we joined a German party in a snowy ascent of the Roßkopf Pass. We had no ice axes or crampons, but the snow was soft and we felt perfectly safe kicking steps. We were following the ‘bad weather variant’ marked in the book, eventually reaching the ridge at the Hintersattel. We were rewarded with our first view of the impressive trench systems, which we were to follow for the next 6 days.

The weather improved over the next few days and the snow quickly melted. We relished the spectacular limestone scenery and the narrow ridge walking, with views into the Sesto Dolomites on one side and the Hohe Tauern on the other. Trenches accompanied us all the way, with sporadic dug outs and shell holes. At points along the front line one or other of the protagonists man- handled their big guns up the ridges opposite, seeking to gain the advantage of higher ground. Information boards highlight points of interest, both historical and geological, including one multi-coloured mountainside composed of limestones from three different geological eras.

The huts were as welcoming and comfortable as the AAC(UK) newsletter had promised, and none were busy. We saw no other Brits, although a Hut Warden told us that the publication of the English language guide had significantly increased their UK visitor numbers. The full route takes 8 - 10 days, with the guidebook offering two alternatives: an Austrian route, on the north side of the border; and an Italian route, crossing over into Italy after the Wolayerseehütte (960m). This latter route is slightly longer, but has the advantage of walking through the ‘open air museum’ at the Plöckenpass. We were keen to visit the museum, but had only a week. More importantly, the guidebook describes the Refugio Marinelli as ‘the best hut in all of the Alps’: clearly not one to be missed! We solved the dilemma by following the Italian route for a day and a half, before cutting back to the Austrian route to finish. From the Wolayerseehütte the Italian route drops down before cutting across a hillside towards a seemingly blank vertical wall. The book describes this as ‘sustained cables’, and suggests that no special Klettersteig equipment is required, but the notice at the bottom counsels the use of a harness and we wished that we had brought ours with us. It would certainly be something to avoid in bad weather, but the conditions were good and we thoroughly enjoyed the 100m or so of climbing to a notch in the ridge. Refugio Marinelli (2120m) lived up to its reputation, and the following morning we quickly descended to the Plöckenpass and the road. A café at the top of the pass supplied a welcome coffee and the owner let us leave our rucksacks, allowing us to enjoy a load-free afternoon exploring the amazing museum, including an intricate series of trenches, caves and tunnels, both Italian and Austrian. The trenches are only tens of metres apart in places, and on a warm sunny day it was hard to imagine how bleak and miserable it must have beenin the winter. More soldiers died of hypothermia and pneumonia than were shot, and the caves were surely needed.

After the museum we cut back down to the Austrian route and, after another ridge walk and night in a comfortable hut, we descended to the valley, catching a series of buses and trains back to Innsbruck. The best moment of the trip came as we passed a final trench system on our last day. My foot hit something metallic on the path and I picked up a used bullet casing. Imagining a modern hunting remnant, I looked at it more closely, and was astonished to find 1915 stamped on the base alongside a manufacturers mark. Back home we cleaned it up and confirmed that it was indeed a World War 1 bullet casing, manufactured by an Austro-Hungarian company that still exists. Hard to imagine how it managed to lie beside the path for 100 years without being found, but it provided an exciting end to a marvellous trip.

Day 1 Looking north towards the Hohe Tauern from Obstanserseehütte (2304m)
Photo Kath Checkland