Distance: 16.8km (203.08km), time spent: 10:04.
Weather: A thin veil on the sky.
Does waking up in the morning with a wish to do something, but feeling unable to muster the energy to do so, seem familiar to you? That is how I felt when I woke up this morning, last night I went to sleep with a dream of going up to the summit of the Glungezer in the morning to watch the sunrise. Waking up, my eyelids felt heavy, discarding the idea. What a wonder it is then when I can walk right out the door of the space capsule and straight into the sunset outside. The sky is coloured purple, red, pink, vermilion, yellow and more, just burning, filling me with energy. So much that it draws me away from the cabin and into its fiery embrace. Despite being a marvellous sunrise, the sky is not clear, but I do not think it will lessen the experience of the walk today any.
Sunrise from the Glungezer Hütte.
Fiery sunrise.
It was chilly in the space capsule during the night, although it did not maintain the temperature in space of course. It made for a good night of sleep. Described as a seemingly endless series of peaks, Der Traumpfad from the Glungezer Hütte takes the hikers across what is known as the 7 Tuxer Summits 7 Gipfel Tour. The seven summits are Glungezer (2677m), Gamslahnerspitze (2640m), Kreuzspitze (2746m), Rosenjoch (2796m), Grünbergspitze (2790m), Grafmartspitze (2720m) and Naviser Sonnenspitze (2619m). The route never stays below 2000m. Not necessary to mention, but I am excited about the prospect of hiking today. As it turned out, it was to become a day consisting of just as many ups and downs in feelings as it was on the route itself.
Glungezer gipfelkreuz.
The Glungezer I can easily check out of the list, accessed by a short hike up from the cabin. I walked up to the summit yesterday as well, taking a sneak peek at the terrain I would be walking over today. Rough and barren terrain, an undulating rocky ridge with the promise of slow walking, but most all of promises of a great hike with equally great views. All the way in the back, the massif of the Olperer and the Gefrorene-Wand-Spitzen. At my back the Karwendel Alps are silently saying goodbye to me.
The Hintertux massif, Gefrorene-Wand-Spitzen, Olperer and the Hintertux Glacier.
The seven Tuxer summits ridgeline.
Navigating today should be fairly easy, with red-white-red blazes to follow, but in bad weather it would be a different matter. The path is everything from a smooth line clearly visible ahead and good to walk on, to rocky, uneven and sometimes obscure. I quickly catch up with Lucas, who started out earlier than me, and we walk fairly together from then on. Ahead of us on the ridgeline, we can see a few other moving dots.
Lucas at Kreuzspitze with its destroyed summit cross.
Although the sky is carrying a thin veil across its face, the views are marvelous, consisting of a patchwork of peaks everywhere in the horizon. Deep valleys fill the sides of the ridge. The going is slow at times, due to the terrain, but progress is still steady. Some of the summits are shy and inconspicuous, bearing no marks of being a summit, other than standing taller than its surroundings. Most of the summits do feature the usual gipfelkreuz (summit cross) though and some crosses are found at a pass. The reasoning for when putting up a cross, or not, on a summit or pass I do not know. The next summit after Glungezer, Gamslahnerspitze, carries nothing denoting you are on its top.
At Rosenjoch, the highest point of today, the Karwendel Alps all in the background.
At the top of Kreuzspitze, we find the summit cross lying broken on the ground, destroyed by lightning during a heavy thunderstorm. Rosenjoch is the highest summit of the traverse, at 2796m, both the ascent and descent feature fixed cables. If there is anything negative to be found about this hike, it might be that the constant climbs up and down through the grey and rocky scenery could be a tad monotonous in the end, but there really is not anything negative about it all.
View west from the ridge.
The path and the Hintertux massif.
Not on Der Traumpfad, but hiking on the ridge is also a Dane on the lookout for geocaches. According to him, there are about 140 of them hidden around on the ridge. From time to time, I can see him bending down and search under a rock to find a hidden cache.
Sunlight through the Grünbergspitze gipfelkreuz.
After passing over the Grünbergspitze and Grafmartspitze, stopping for lunch at the former summit, the trail descends down to the grassy pass of Naviser Jöchl (2479m). Good to see some green colors after a long hike in grey. Closer now is the bulk of the Hintertux Glacier, Olperer and Gefrorene-Wand-Spitzen, in a couple of days I will be hiking behind those peaks. Rising up from below, are the green mountain valley of Navistal. Lucas is at the pass, having continued further when I stopped for my lunch break.
Descent towards Grafmartspitze.
Situated above Naviser Jöchl is Naviser Sonnenspitze, its cross visible from the pass. The summit is not on the trail, but will be on my path, climbing up is fairly easy. That is, if you only climb up to one of the two crosses at the top of the peak. The actual summit of the peak is at the top of a precarious cliff, accessible by a technical climb aided by ropes. Not long ago, a woman had died while trying to climb it, losing her grip and had fallen down. Unusual for me, I leave that scrambling alone and goes up to the more accessible cross above. From where the views of the ridgeline that I have crossed over are fantastic. I can see people walking high up there.
Looking down at the valley below from the ridge.
Icon at Naviser Jöchl.
The next section is an interesting one. Here Der Traumpfad goes through a military firing range and it is advised to check out when there will be military exercises here beforehand. I had done so and there should not be any until a two days’ time. Quite contrary to the info, there is an exercise going on. Sharp and loud noises from firing are heard and two army personnel are greeting us at the edge of the firing range. We can go no further and have to wait for the exercise to be over, the time estimate unknown. Quickly the crowd of hikers increases as more and more appear, coming down from Naviser Jöchl.
Naviser Sonnenspitze above Der Traumpfad.
This is the first time I experience anything like this on a hike. In the end, I had to wait for about two hours before being allowed to continue walking. Thankfully, Josef is there too and is brewing up some coffee for us while we wait. Somehow, Martina and Lucas had been able to keep on walking. We could not ask for better views though, while being in a waiting line. From time to time, loud bursts of guns firing are heard, occasionally we can see people moving around in the terrain and army vehicles drive on the road ahead.
View from Naviser Sonnenspitze.
When we finally are allowed to move on, I am eager to get moving again. Yellow signposts warns about that you are entering a dangerous restricted military area. The path and terrain are more gentle here than over the ridge, moving across a grassy and slowly undulating landscape. Below us we can see the army gathering its troops. The trail kicks me out onto a military gravel road, which it will follow almost all the way to the Lizumer Hütte.
Waiting on the army...
Walking through the military firing range.
Walking on gravel tracks is not always what hikers enjoys the most, but think of it. It is far better to walk on the worst part of the scenery and look out from it, than walking outside of it and looking at it. The scenery around is great. I pass by military posts, several summits, a small lake (Klammsee). The trail only leaves the road for a shortcut where the military road goes in long and winding turns. At a time, a small procession of army vehicles pounders by, dust in its wake. On the final descent towards the cabin, the trail finally leaves the road.
Navisertal.
Lucas and Martina greets me at the hut. They had been lucky and had got permission to cross the military firing during a longer break, on the terms of no dilly-dallying on the way. Appearing without a booking makes the people working at the hut raise their eyebrows, but they manage to find a bed for me. I share a room with three others who are going in the opposite direction, they will go to the Glungezer Hütte tomorrow.
Klamsee and the military road besides it.
I should think that the problems I had with the army was over when I left the military firing range, but it is not. Standing at the bar to get a beer, I notice a large group of people coming up from the army camp below. To which I get the following respons, 'Oh shit, they are early today'. Apparently the soldiers are going to the hut for food and beers after the exercise of the day is finished. Eventually this leads to the fact that I (and other guests) have to wait even longer for my dinner. Quite ironic in a way. Not only did we have to wait for a long time to get hiking, but we also had to wait for a long time to get any food. And not only did they make a lot of noise at the range, they make a lot of noise here too. So much that I escape out to get some peace and quiet, only for them to follow shortly after. I share a table with Dieter and Karin, a couple also doing Der Traumpfad, they had walked up from Wattens.
Wattentaler Lizum below.
For all the great walking of today, the evening was a little bit of a downer, although there is not much to do about it other than to laugh. A superb ridgewalking is too good to discard due to this. Tomorrow will be another exciting day, in both scenery and also in the terms of it being possible to walk. The weather forecast is uncertain, warning lights are flashing for a thunderstorm, possible from the morning on. Eventually everything calms down at the hut and some peace and quiet are restored.
The Lizumer Hütte.
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