Bachwinkl - Großer Hundstod

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving on the Tauern highway. Further, we drive through the Katschberg Tunnel and later also the Tauerntunnel; we follow the highway towards Salzburg only to the exit for Bischofshofen, from where we continue driving on a four-lane road towards the already mentioned town. From Bischofshofen, we follow the signs for Zell am See and then for Saalfelden. Through Saalfelden, we continue straight on the main road; a little before the sign that marks the end of the town, we turn right onto a narrow road where the signs »Pabing - Bachwinkel« direct us. When driving through the village, we then follow the mountain signposts towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte. The signposts then direct us left onto a macadam road. We park on a large parking lot before the bridge.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on a macadam road which is further closed for traffic. We walk on the mentioned road and at the crossroads, we follow the signs for the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte. The road in the beginning crosses two streams and then brings us to a gate.
Here we continue right on a footpath and we start ascending a little steeper through the forest. Higher, for a short time we again join the road, which brings us to a marked junction. At the junction, we continue left on a footpath following the signs »Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte - 412«; further on the road leads the path towards the mountain pasture Steinalm and path 412e (Seilbahnweg) towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte.
From the junction, we then ascend mostly in zig-zags through the forest from which a view rarely opens up towards Saalfelden. Higher, the path turns right and then crosses slopes towards the northeast. The path here runs through the forest the whole time, and along the path there are occasionally also benches to which names have been given. Such a path then brings us to a junction at an altitude of 1345 meters.
At the junction, we continue slightly right following the signs »Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte - 412«; left lead paths 412a and 412d also towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte, right downwards leads path 412e back towards the starting point. From the junction, our path still crosses slopes towards the northeast for some time, then turns left and starts ascending a little steeper again. The forest becomes a little thinner and from the path views to the nearby peaks start to open up. Higher, the forest is replaced by dwarf pines and there follow a few more ascents to the hut.
At the hut, we continue past the cargo cableway to a junction at which we continue left following the signs »Ingolstädter Haus«; right leads the path to Persailhorn. Further, a gentle path crosses slopes towards the northeast. Soon, a path branches off left downwards towards the mountain pasture Weißbachlalm; we continue straight and continue crossing the slopes below peaks Persailhorn and Achselhorn. Later, the path turns slightly left and in ascent crosses mostly grassy slopes. At some places where the slope is steeper, a steel cable also helps us. Higher, the path starts to ascend a little steeper and with the help of some fixed safety gear brings us to the notch Weißbachlscharte where there is a junction.
On the notch, where a view opens up towards the north, we continue straight and start descending; right leads the path towards summit Mitterhorn. The path here runs along the northern slopes towards the east and then brings us to a junction. From the notch Weißbachlscharte to the mentioned junction, we descend approximately 100 elevation meters.
At the marked junction, we continue left towards hut Ingolstädter Haus; straight leads the path towards hut Kärlinger Haus, sharply right towards hut Riemannhaus. From the junction, the path runs towards the northwest and soon descends a little more. Further, the path runs on relatively gentle mostly rocky terrain and occasionally rises and falls slightly. Later, the path named Eichstätter Weg turns somewhat to the left and starts to ascend slightly steeper. Here the path leads past some abysses and soon a view towards hut Ingolstädter Haus also opens up. Such a path then brings us to a junction where left branches off the path towards summit Schindlköpfe.
We continue right at the junction and there follows a relatively gentle traverse to hut Ingolstädter Haus.
At the hut, we continue towards the north following the signs »Hundstod 2594m«. Initially, a still gentle path quickly brings us to rocky slopes where we start to ascend. The path, from which we have a nice view of the nearby peaks, continues ascending and leads us past some abysses. Such a path then brings us to the notch Hundstodscharte where there is also a junction.
We continue right following the signs »Hundstod«; left leads a climbing path along the southwest ridge. From the junction, the path becomes somewhat more demanding and ascends on steep slopes for quite some time. At some places the path is also slightly exposed, so some caution is needed. Higher, the slope becomes slightly less steep and from the left side a more demanding path along the southwest ridge soon joins us. We continue slightly right and there follows an ascent on a rocky slope to the summit, which we already see ahead of us.

On the way: Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte (1752m), Weißbachlscharte (2259m), Ingolstädter Haus (2132m), Hundstodscharte (2210m)