A few months ago just few days before the lockdown was decided, I had a trip to Hintersee and I decided that one day I should have gone and visited Schärtenspitze peak. You cannot avoid to notice this moutain from the lake for its striking triangle shape. So here I am. Let´s travel to Berchtesgadenerland, the land of the legends, for a wonderful tour that will bring us to approach the most northern Glacier in the Alps, enjoy a top view from Schärtenspitze peak and have a relaxing time at the pretty and colorful Hintersee lake.
Schärtenspitze is geographically part of the Hochkalter Group within the Berchtesgaden Alps.
At 2153 m it gives with good weather excellent views of the surrounding higher peaks, such as the Blaueisspitze, Hochkalter and west Wall of Watzmann plus a great Eagle view of Hintersee. The climb to the summit after Blaueis hütte has some parts with a fixed rope to pull yourself up to, which is necessary in some parts.
First we Will get to the Blaueishütte. From the parking lot you follow a short stretch of the wide road to the southwest. A yellow sign will soon indicate that you have to turn left into a somewhat narrower path that goes through dense forest. You soon come across a wide forest road which you have to follow a good bit uphill to the right. Then a yellow sign points the Blaueishütte away from the street. From now on we are on a road that leads uphill in mostly a pleasant slope. Without any orientation problems, the path leads us to Schartenalm in the forest. Behind it it becomes flatter and you go down a short distance. You come around a corner and suddenly the view of the Hochkalter Kar, still high above us and framed by steep rock faces, becomes clear. It continues for a while on the driveway until we turn left into a footpath before the material cableway. This leads over some wood and rock steps in the sparse forest, then in the Latschen area to the Blaueishütte.
From the Blaueishütte at 1,680 m, you first hike only slightly uphill on the marked path towards the Blaueis glacier. The path winds up through huge boulders. You soon pass a fork to the right. Before reaching the glacier the trail splits up in three: to the summit of Schärtenspitze, to Hochkalter, or to the glacier.
Follow the ascent towards the glacier until it turns left near a huge boulder and leads to the foot of the Schartenwand. One crosses the green, rugged slopes steadily ascending in the serpentines that are already visible from the hut. The beautifully embedded Blaueishütte is always in view. The winding ascent path leads steeply in a long ascending crossing in a northerly direction, but always well secured up to the ridge, where you turn north again and reach the summit cross of the Schartenspitze 2,153 m in a few minutes. The view is terrific, you could always see the Blue Ice Glacier while climbing, Ramsau and the Wimbachtal, from which the west face of Watzmann attracts attention and Hochalter. The way back to the Blaueishütte runs on the ascent path.
