Technical difficulty: 3/10
Fitness: 4/10
Objective danger: 2/10 (higher when wet)
Landscape: 9/10
Busy: 2/10

Beautiful loop in Schmirntal over two summits and a mountain lake. Due to its western orientation, it is ideal for a sundowner.

guest post by Benni Brugger

Starting point: Parkplatz Wildlahner
Ending point: Parkplatz Wildlahner
Length: 15km
Vertical: 1350m
Speed: Start and end on forest road, some runnable trail in between, hiking in steep and sloping parts

Route:

We start our tour at the hiking parking lot in the Wildlahnertal near Schmirn, at the end of a short gravel road. Parking here is (still) free, but there is an option to leave a voluntary donation for maintenance in a small box.

While in winter one follows the forest road on the opposite side of the stream up the valley, on our round tour we turn to the left side of the valley after a few hundred meters, where a partly steep gravel path later transitions into a narrow trail. This route is recommended only in dry conditions, as the path runs along a steep, grassy slope above a small gorge. At the end of this section, after a continuous ascent, we reach a wide stream bed and turn left, towards the east, facing the end of the valley, to a well-marked ascent. This leads us to a small plateau with a picturesque shepherd’s hut – an ideal resting spot before the final few meters to our first summit, the Westliche Schöberspitze. This peak is already clearly visible from here, and we aim for the saddle to its south. We ascend through unmarked, partly pathless, and increasingly steep terrain, under the curious gaze of numerous sheep. Upon reaching the saddle, we turn left over slightly sloping and rocky terrain and make the final meters to the summit in a curve, approaching it from the north. 

At the summit, we enjoy the beautiful view to the south, towards the nearby rocky giants Olperer and Fußstein. Returning briefly from the summit to the saddle, we spot our next goal, the Ramsgrubnersee. We reach it after a descent of about 200 meters in elevation through a gully filled with scree, where the trail is now well-marked. We pass the beautiful mountain lake to the east and continue, with gentle ups and downs, along the grassy ridge towards the north, heading for the Jochgrubenkopf. In doing so, we bypass the Schönlahnerspitze and Riepenkopf on the (south)western grassy slopes. After many runnable meters along the trail, we reach the Jochgrubenkopf with its summit cross, a first-class panoramic mountain with great views over the Tux Alps and Schmirntal. With good timing, we can enjoy the sunset over Wipptal or the Schafseitenspitze from here.

The descent initially leads us back into the western flank, where we rapidly lose height on a narrow trail between avalanche barriers, and finally traverse northwards into the alpine terrain of the Seealm. If doing the tour as a sunset loop, you should pass through here before darkness falls, as the cows tend to follow the light from headlamps. We follow the forest road from the alpine pasture for two switchbacks and take a shortcut on a forest path at the third switchback, which rejoins the forest road before Töldern. The final meters lead us along the Schmirnbach and finally back into the Wildlahnertal to our starting point at the parking lot.

Pro tip: If time is limited, the round can be significantly shortened by taking a trail that leads from the starting point to a depression north of the Ramsgrubnersee, skipping either the first or second summit.

Photos by @bennibru