Mittagskogel Curcuit

After exiting your car, you follow the paved road through a trench to “Weiler Outschena,” where you take a left, following the signs to “Annahütte,” where you take a forest road up into the woods.  After a few minutes the forest road branches off and you have to follow it to the left.  This trail will take you on mild to moderate climbs, always going up.  After a large passage through a trench, the trail takes you to a steep footpath, ending at Anna hut (closed).  You are now on the Slovenian border.  From here the trail takes on a markedly alpine character.  After a few short but steep climbs (cables are available to hang onto), you arrive in a saddle between the small and large Mittagskogel, where you head up the west side of the Mittagskogel.  This is a difficult portion, but is secured by steel cables.  The rubble-enforced path leads you further up the western flank of the mountain until you reach the southern end of the summit ridge, where the path becomes a bit flatter until you reach the highest point of Mittagskogel.

To continue, you cross the well-marked trail on the Austrian side to the downwards to the south into a small crevice.  You take a left here and follow the wood-enforced trail into the valley.  After a challenging riverbed crossing, you walk a few more meters downwards and arrive at a large crevice on the left (north).  From here you will be at the Bertha hut in mere minutes, with Carinthian specialties awaiting.  From the hut you take a steep path down to the north in the direction of “Faaker See” (Hotel Mittagskogel).  At about 1100 meters above sea level, you begin your final descent along the forest road until you reach a crossroads (Illitsch Raut.).  Here you must follow path 603 to the left (west), where you will cross a stream and arrive back at the starting point.