Steinberg Zireiner See Marchspitze | 2004m

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Rofan is a mountain of contrasts. In the south, gentle meadow slopes reach up to the peaks, easily accessible via a cable car and a dense network of hiking trails. The north side, on the other hand, breaks off almost vertically in impressive walls, a forbidding rock bastion that seems almost not reachable. But for those who are not afraid of long hikes, there are loopholes in the Rofan castle, steep cirques that lead inside of it.

From the car park we follow the asphalted road straight ahead over the Grundache valley. The Grundache faces north and has created a small canyon in its lower part with cliffs carved by erosion. Where it squeezes through a gorge, a tunnel has been blasted out of the rock for the road. The north side of Rofans slowly appears on the horizon. We reach then a rugged creek valley. The path splits again: to the right a sign points to Schauertal and Zireiner see. We hike high above the Grundache gorge to the meadows of the Kühlermahdalm, then cross a stream with a waterfall and branch off left onto a narrow path. It leads flat along the wooded slope until we meet a signpost again. Now it goes left uphill along a stream. A steep path finally leads up the slope to a forest road. On the right we come to a fork in the road and choose the road on the left, which soon turns into a trail and leads uphill along a romantic brook. Balancing over stones, we follow the markings across the stream and climb over a ridge that separates two stream valleys to the meadows of the (uncultivated) Schauertalalm. The Schauertal is rightly named: the ascent can get terribly hot. Countless small hairpin bends meander uphill through mountain pines. A spring gushes out of the ground 20 minutes below the saddle. Then it goes up a sloping grass slope in a direct line to the Schauertalsattel and on the other side along the left edge of a swampy hollow. We are on the famous Adlerweg. Our climb meets the path that leads from the cable car mountain station at Sonnwendjoch and leads west to the shore of Lake Zirein, the right place to rest and enjoy. A very special treasure: soft grass full of flowers around Lake Zirein invite you to linger. The smoothly polished east face of the Rofanspitze is beautifully reflected upside down in the clear mountain water. The Zireinsee is a small paradise.
No wonder shepherds and hunters ascribed so much scenic beauty to the work of a sea maiden. She is said to have transformed the shore of the lake into a lovely garden and fed the trout with grains of gold. Such grains were also said to be found in the stomachs of cows that had quenched their thirst in the lake. And sheep are said to have got golden teeth from drinking there. After a good break at Zireinersee, we then walk along its left bank and climb uphill over alpine pastures and through mountain pines. At a fork, the path to the Bayreuther Hütte branches off to the left. The further path leads up to the Marchgatterl on the right. From here shortly we climb the summit of the day: Marchspitze (2004m). There, at the highest point of the tour, an impressive view opens up over the rock formations of the Rofan. At the very back, the Hochiss, the highest Rofan summit, stretches its rocky outcrop into the sky. 

For the descent we go straight through the pasture gate to a junction. The path to the right via the Angeralm is a little shorter. But the impressions while walking under the Rofan Walls are so grandiose that an encore is worthwhile. To do this, we keep to the left and shortly afterwards pass the Marchalm, where fresh spring water quenches our thirst. We follow the sign "Ampmoosalm" downhill to the left to the idyllic Hirschlacke, framed by boulders, above which the cliffs of the Rofanturm tower into the sky. Then we climb briefly to a saddle below the Rofanturm, walk above a basin filled with boulders towards the Hochiss and hike down to the shingle-covered Ampmoosalm. The path now turns north and leads between the alpine huts into the Eselkar, which is framed by rock faces. It winds increasingly steeply, first through mountain pines, later through larch forest and finally leads over a stream. Shortly thereafter we cross a flat meadow and continue descending to a bridge. We remain there on the right side of the stream in the direction of Steinberg.

It is a long tour that requires a certain level of fitness, but is rewarded with a magnificent and mostly lonely mountain landscape, beautiful lakes and a summit rarely visited.

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By public transport:
    Train station near start point: Brixlegg (9.9 Km from start point)
    Bus stop near start point: Steinberg a. R. Kirche (874 m from start point)

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Route statistics

Highest point 2004m
Total gain 1262m
Total loss 1240m
Duration 08h16m
Distance 21.0Km
Rating 1338

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Marco

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