Starting point: Kreuzeckbahn (1207 m)
Time of walking: 3 h
Difficulty: easy marked way
Difficulty of skiing: easily
Altitude difference: 951 m
Altitude difference (by path): 951 m
Map:
Access to starting point:
Drive to Spittal an der Drau in Austria and take the exit for Lienz. Follow the regional road via Lendorf, after which drive a few kilometers and then take a right turn in the direction of Möllbrücke, Mühldorf and Obervellach. After Mühldorf comes the place Unterkolbnitz, in which the road branches left to Kreuzeckbahn (the junction is signposted). The road goes through this small place and crosses the bridge. Soon after the bridge you arrive at the lower train station of Kreuzeckbahn. The ride to the upper station takes 11 minutes (from 605 to 1207 meters). The opening hours are from June to the penultimate week of September every day from 9 am to 5 pm (as of the year 2017).
Path description:
Leave the upper train station of Kreuzeckbahn and continue above the accumulation lake to the road which should be followed upwards. The path soon turns past a several-hundred-year-old larch (growing there since approximately 1770). At this point always follow the signs for Mernik Alm or Kleiner Salzkofel or Großer Salzkofel. From the road we soon enter the forest and along numerous described sights and some piquant local thoughts finally step onto the road again and orient ourselves according to the signs on the path. When we come to the barrier across the road, we have the option to step onto the footpath immediately or continue 100 meters along the road and then step onto the footpath (the latter option is more recommended due to the undergrowth). The path through the forest leads to the Mernik mountain pasture.
The path continues through the Mernik Alm according to numerous signs for Salzkofel. To the right of the path a nice viewpoint is soon passed, then the ascending path across the pasture turns into the forest. In continuation the road is crossed, then a spring is passed, finally through increasingly sparse larch forest it arrives at the pasture and the abandoned hut Mösernhütte at 1777 meters.
From Mösernhütte continue left on the path upwards, where we soon enter the forest again. The forest soon starts to thin until it disappears. Somewhere toward the forest edge it is necessary to turn right on the path (the junction is marked). The path then ascends ever more steeply along a locally less pronounced ridge to the summit of Koppen at 2158 meters, where a nice view of the surroundings opens up.
Timeline of the path: start – Mernik Alm, 1492 m (50 min); Mernik Alm – Mösernhütte, 1777 m (50 min); Mösernhütte – Koppen, 2158 m (1h 20 min)
Pictures:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71