Sudetendeutsche Hütte -> Kalser Tauernhaus – Happinessflooded Heart

2. July 2025

 

 

6,7 km

200 m up

1.090 m down

2:40 hrs.

According to Mapy, this is the short, direct connection between the two huts. The official description of the Glocknerkrone trail actually recommends taking a worthwhile detour here. At first, we thought we’d decide at the trail junction, but in the end, we’d pretty much already settled on the shorter option that morning — and we dawdled around a bit.

I got up early because I hadn’t slept well and went for a little walk before breakfast. It was wonderful — such a calm, beautiful atmosphere with blue sky, little clouds, the lake behind the hut, and mountains all around. I took a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The little lake wasn’t very deep, but it was tempting enough for Lydia — she jumped right in. I made myself a coffee and had my muesli outside, thinking what a great start to the day it was. The hut slowly emptied out as everyone set off, and we chatted a bit with the hut team and wandered around some more — we really weren’t in any rush. Apart from the tiny mountaineers’ meal, I’d say this hut is absolutely worth recommending!

 

 

 

At some point, we finally tore ourselves away from that beautiful spot to discover more beautiful places — and we weren’t disappointed. First, the trail gently climbed up through grassy slopes, then we reached another lake and the terrain turned to scree. Even more lakes appeared. That’s my kind of landscape!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I climbed higher and kept stopping to take it all in, I felt incredibly happy. These moments are priceless — they’re some of the most beautiful things I know in life, and yet I always want more and more of them. Not long after, we reached the pass and took a long break just to sit and watch and watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The peak around which the clouds are swirling is the Großglockner — at 3,798 meters, it’s Austria’s highest mountain. It’s quite popular and, according to Wikipedia, has over 5,000 summit climbers each year. You can read more about the Großglockner at german Wikipedia. We didn’t want to climb it, but it was quite dominant in the area — not just visually, but just dominant in the area.

 

Speaking of the “area”, we were hiking in the Hohe Tauern. That’s a national park there — one of only six in all of Austria, which I didn’t even know beforehand. It’s not only Austria’s largest national park, but the biggest in the entire Alpine region. Pretty impressive — and also incredibly beautiful.

At some point, we tore ourselves away from the pass and continued hiking through this amazing scenery, always heading downhill. It stayed beautiful and varied the whole way. We saw very few people throughout the day, which felt a bit strange. I didn’t mind at all that the route was short — the sweaty climb the day before had worn me out a bit, and I was really happy to have plenty of time and space to soak up the landscape.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The trail climbing up along the slope — that would have been the detour route, but by then it was already too late for us.

 

 

Down there at the very bottom is where we wanted to go, where those few little houses stand. It’s a bit of a leg workout, but we had plenty of time. Walking through those alpine meadows is just wonderful anyway.

 

 

 

 

Then we wandered a bit among the trees, and then, we were already in the valley.

 

 

 

That were a lot of pictures, but I also have the urge to capture and share many variations when it looks so beautiful. I really enjoyed the day.

At the Kalser Tauernhaus, we were greeted by a gentleman with a somewhat different sense of humor. That happens sometimes. Not quite as cozy as the night before — but in return, we got a really great, large, and delicious mountaineer’s meal:

 

 

The house felt spacious, and we had plenty of room in a four-bed dorm with two bunk beds and one other guest — who didn’t snore. It was nice to have a bit more comfort. The other guest was wandering the mountains with very little gear, a bit unplanned, groaning about the effort but still in good spirits. He also shared an important tip with us: there was a bus that could significantly shorten tomorrow’s very long route. Plus, rain was forecast — another reason to take the bus.

With a full belly, mountain bliss, and the bus info, I happily fell asleep. Would the next day go as we thought? No, not quite…