Parking Glanz -> Sudetendeutsche Hütte – Sweatheavy Legs

1. July 2025

 

 

8 km

1.175 m up

50 m down

5 hrs.

This is what Mapy said about the planned route. But first, we had to get there.

 

We set off early — which turned out to be a good idea. Traffic was still light. After Kitzbühel, the route was new to me and I was amazed by the stunning high mountain scenery. Before the Felbertauern Tunnel we stopped for breakfast (see above). It was a bit cloudy and chilly, but that soon changed and the sun came out in full force. After three hours we arrived as planned. The idea was to leave the car in Kals in a free parking lot and take a taxi to the starting point. That was also a good idea — even if it was a bit expensive. But with two people and no parking fees, it was manageable.

There’s only one taxi service, called Glocknertaxi. You have to book it in advance and the driver coordinates everything. He operates pretty much all season — we actually saw him driving around a few more times later on.

The starting point was a small parking area at the end of a kind of dead-end road up the mountain, which would have been hard to reach otherwise. We set off through a beautiful forest — and started sweating right away. The air was quite humid and rain had actually been forecast at some point. Plus, the elevation gain kicked in quickly — which made it pretty exhausting.

 

 

This time there are also more photos of me. In some of them, I’m very tiny — and Lydia is, too, in some shots. But we’re easy to tell apart: I’m the one with the light-colored pants and blue backpack, and she has a red backpack and an orange knee brace.

 

 

It opened up, and after the first steep climb we basically reached our first highlight: the Edelweiss meadows! I didn’t actually spot any Edelweiss there, but there were tons of other flowers. And the view was just amazing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We then rounded the corner and there was a valley and a river. That’s where we stopped for a lunch break.

 

 

 

It still looked beautifully sunny there, but now and then dark clouds appeared. So what would be smart? Rush to the top? Sit and wait it out in the nearby Alm? We decided to stay at the Alm — but in the end, it didn’t rain at all. Since it was getting later anyway, and the elevation gain ahead wasn’t getting any less, we eventually set off again. To spoil the ending: we didn’t get wet. But people coming the other way told us that when they’d been up at the hut, it had rained there. So we were pretty lucky!

The trail continued beautifully — at first gently climbing up the valley a bit, then getting steeper until we were above the treeline.

 

 

 

 

It stayed sweaty work, and despite the happiness of being in such beautiful scenery, my legs were getting heavier and I was feeling more and more worn out. But bravely, we kept winding our way higher and higher. Until we reached the alpine hut, we had hardly met anyone; after that, there were a few more people on the trail — but it was never crowded or busy at all. That really surprised me — and made me very happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lydia’s backpack was smaller than mine, but in terms of weight we were pretty similar. Before the trip, I went back and forth about whether to bring my own breakfast — meaning my Esbit pocket stove, instant coffee with a mug, and muesli. It does add up weight-wise. But considering the breakfast prices, I settled on a compromise: I brought breakfast for 3 days and planned to have it on site for 2 days. We both carried lunch in our backpacks — enough for the whole tour. But more about the food later. For now, we kept climbing higher.

 

 

 

 

And then the hut came into sight!

 

 

We were so high that there was even still snow..

 

 

 

And then we finally reached the Sudetendeutsche Hütte — and we were so happy! Not a single drop of rain, all the elevation gain conquered, and we’d had a beautiful hike. Despite my sweatheavy legs.

 

 

 

Now for the food. On the tour two years ago, I was already a bit annoyed that breakfast was always only available as a buffet, for about €14 or so. No option to pack anything to take away! That was just too much for me. I do get hungry in the morning, but not so much that a whole buffet would be worth it. And at least for me, I tend to eat more than I’m actually hungry for when it’s a buffet — just so it feels like it’s “worth it.”

I don’t really remember much about the dinners, but I think it was always just one main dish — with the option to choose vegetarian or not. That’s still the case in most huts now; often, there’s only the vegetarian version. They call it a “mountaineer’s meal” (Bergsteigeressen) and it’s actually not that expensive. But now it seems to be a trend that they always try to sell “half-board” instead — so an dinner menu with soup, salad, main dish and dessert, plus the breakfast buffet. From around €44. Not including the overnight stay (which is still very affordable for Alpine Club members — which we both are). Asking just for the mountaineer’s meal (and then without breakfast) didn’t exactly get much of a warm welcome. We often felt like we weren’t quite as welcome because of that. We still did it sometimes though — like here. Actually, the Sudetendeutsche Hütte was one of the most charming, friendliest, and most pleasant huts in terms of the people running it. Such a warm, open atmosphere. But their mountaineer’s meal, while delicious (spinach dumplings with parmesan and butter), was so small that we were still hungry afterwards.

 

 

I find it difficult. Of course, I understand that with energy, transport, staff, and other costs, the hut managers have to find ways to make it all work economically. And it’s true that prices for everything have really shot up in the last 2–3 years. But still. Plus, whenever it’s a set menu or buffet, I always end up eating too much — “because it was so expensive.”

Really, hiking in the mountains and staying in huts should be possible for everyone, including people with a smaller budget. And it still is — but at least for the two of us, we felt like we weren’t exactly the most welcome guests because of it. From what we saw, about 90% of the others had the half-board option. For me, though, it’s not just about the money — I just don’t like having to choose between way too much or nothing at all for breakfast. And at dinner, it would have been nice to be able to just get, say, a soup and salad combo sometimes. And now and then Lydia suffered a bit because hot water for tea was so expensive. Overall, food and its cost were definitely a frequent topic of conversation for us.

Back to the Sudetendeutsche Hütte: the dumpling tasted great, there was a small mishap with some spilled hot water, we had a dorm under the roof, and for me, it was a rather restless night. It had been a long day — getting used to having a hiking partner and then a snorer in the room.

I wondered what the next morning would bring.