Yesterday, the two of us with our younger daughter were also on Grosser Hafner, for her first 3000m peak😊. I was debating whether to combine it with a bike as Samuel suggested, or on foot from the valley following the variant recently published by Zapp, and the dog could also come along😊. Still, the cycling variant has been tempting me since Samuel's post, so we did this version, but we extended it a bit, as we left the car a bit lower, at the Fallbach waterfall, where the road already starts to gently ascend, and with the bike we went to the top, to the Kolnbrein dam, as we were also interested in seeing it.
For the tunnels, it's mandatory to have lights on the bike, especially for the first one, which is over 500m long and completely unlit and quite claustrophobic. It's particularly annoying because in the morning, forestry trucks drive up the road and their rumbling overtaking in the dark tunnels is really not pleasant. That's why it's really important to be well lit on the bike, and best to move aside to the edge for them. The road is really picturesque and is itself an interesting cycling destination.
At the hotel at the top above the dam, we leave the bikes and then continue on foot. The initial traverse to Krumpenkar alpine pasture is quite annoying, constantly up and down, gaining almost no height, plus it's very muddy and churned up by cows, so it's hard to move quickly. As a result, it drags on, especially on the way back it's somewhat 'excessive'. On the way up, we didn't go all the way to Kattowitzer hut, we traversed about 500m earlier through the grass upwards and joined the path from the hut at 2550m. From the hut, you quickly reach the ridge. The ridge is more demanding at the beginning, where there are some ropes (interesting that it's rope instead of cable), then you come to the known part with upright stones (we also added two😊), where the ridge widens and is undemanding to the top. I agree with the comments that the 'very difficult' trail marking is exaggerated, as the ridge is only somewhat more demanding in the initial part, where it's also narrower and more exposed. The 'difficult' marking would be quite appropriate. However, the ridge is not completely undemanding, as in the initial part it's still quite airy and has a few sections where you need to grip the rock more.
Although it was clear, due to desert dust there were no beautiful views. There were quite a few people on the path and summit, including quite a few Slovenians. In the morning, tolls weren't collected, which pleased a group of four nice young men from Carinthia that we met. We returned past the hut, the prices are surprisingly affordable (beer 5.5 eur), and there's neither a road nor a cable car up. At the hut there's also a trough with running water from the stream (with a 'typical' sign that the water is not drinkable), and there are also quite a few streams on several parts of the path, so water can be refilled in many places. When we were back at the dam, we also went on a tourist tour of the dam and the viewing platform, which is quite adrenaline-pumping.
The tour is very beautiful, dynamic and scenic. But it's also quite strenuous, as it totals 2400m elevation and 50 km, of which 34 by bike and 16 on foot. Time-wise, the route drags on. To the top from the car we needed 6 hours, which was about an hour more than I planned, the difference came from the annoying traverse from the dam to Krumpenkar pasture, where in each direction you 'lose' at least an hour. The bike descent is enjoyable, but in the afternoon on the way back it's quite busy, some tunnels are also alternately one-way, so you have to wait at traffic lights for 10min or more.