Distance: 25.4km
Difficulty: Hard
Max. Altitude: 1811m
This hike has been completed on 25th July 2020.
Probably our hardest hike this year. This was meant as a preparation hike to train us for the Triglav in Slovenia, which unfortunately we couldn’t climb in the end because of the bad weather. Anyway, this hike was worth the fatigue, featuring one of the longest suspended walking bridge in Europe, beautiful crystal alpine lakes and challenging peaks to climb.
Our adventure started at the parking lot of the Highline179 bridge (4 euros for the day). There we bought the tickets to cross the bridge (8 euros per person, return ticket) from the vending machines. Then we started our climb in the direction of the Ehrenberg castle and the bridge.
The bridge is one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in Europe, being 406m long and at a height of 114m. Crossing it is quite an experience. One can definitely feel it swinging, even if it's made of solid steel.
On the other side of the bridge we find the ruins of Fort Claudia, a small fortress from the XVII century. From the Fort we took the forest road in the direction of the Heiterwanger lake, which we reached after about one hour walking.
Then we walked aside the lake on the footpath, up to the little channel connecting the Heiterwanger See with the Plansee. There we turned left (there are no signals so be careful) and started our ascent for the Tauernspitz.
The ascent is quite challenging, starting with a steep climb in the forest, to continue later on the side of the mountain and, eventually, on a ridge connecting the three peaks, Schrofennas, Tauern and Zunterkopf. The altitude gain is significant, about 900m in 3.5 kilometers, often walking on a narrow path. We would suggest it only to people with steady feet.
At the top of the Tauern, we stopped for our lunch break, with great view over the two lakes and the surrounding mountains. Then, we started our descent on the other side of the mountain, reaching the main Planseestraße road. We walked on the side of the road in the direction of the town of Reutte for a few hundred meters, turning left on Tauernweg forest road.
We then followed the forest road back to Forst Claudia and, finally, we crossed again the Highline179 bridge to get back to our car and end this long hiking day.
