Erschbaum - Große Kinigat / Monte Cavallino (Klettersteig)

Access to starting point:
From Kranjska Gora over mountain pass Korensko sedlo to Austria, where at the first larger crossroad, we continue left towards Podklošter / Arnoldstein and Trbiž / Tarvisio. By the end of the settlement Podklošter signs for Šmohor / Hermagor point us to the right on a regional road, on which past the mentioned settlement we drive to the end of the valley Gailtal, or more precisely to the settlement Kötschach-Mauthen, where we turn right towards the settlement Oberdrauburg. The path ahead leads us over an Alpine mountain pass Gailbergsattel (982 meters), after which we descend into the mentioned settlement. After we cross the bridge through river Drau, we continue left towards the settlement Lienz. In the main roundabout in Lienz we continue "left" in the direction of the settlement Sillian and Italy. Few kilometers before Sillian in the settlement Tassenbach we turn left in the direction of the settlement Kartitsch into a valley Tiroler Gailtal. We continue through the settlement Kartitsch and then in the settlement Erschbaum we turn right downwards on a narrow road which after a short descent crosses a wooden bridge and it brings us to a crossroad of forest roads. In front of the crossroad near the sawmill is also a parking lot where we park.

Path description:
From the starting point, we continue on the road and at the crossroad, we continue left following the signs »Erschbaumertal, Zum Klettersteig Gr. Kinigat«. The road is officially closed for traffic (prohibited traffic in both directions – forest road), but a big majority continues to drive and saves a good hour of walking.
The road at first is not that steep and runs through the forest towards the east. At the crossroads, we follow the signs for Erschbaumertal and Große Kinigat. The road later turns to the right towards the south and runs mostly by the stream upwards. Higher the forest becomes thinner and a view starts to open up towards the peaks Kleine and Große Kinigat.
At the end of the valley Erschbaumertal where there is also a smaller parking lot the road ends and we continue slightly left on a footpath. The path here starts ascending a little steeper through larch forest and it brings us to a crossing at Tscharrhütte.
We continue left following the signs »Gr. Kinigat«, and right leads the path towards the mountain hut Obstansersee Hütte. The path further is again a little less steep and it brings us to another crossing.
Straight leads an easier path on Große Kinigat, and we go right following the signs »Zum Klettersteig Gr. Kinigat«. Further our path is marked with red dots and is a little worse beaten. After that, the path soon turns a little to the right and starts ascending steeper on the scree. Such a path then brings us to the entry of a climbing part of the path.
Here we must equip ourselves with a helmet and self belaying, the use of climbing gloves is also recommended.
Climbing path is already in the initial part extremely demanding and few times almost vertically ascends on relatively smooth plates (difficulty D). Further, the difficulty is mostly C/D and D. On vertical ascent where we also get help from rare stemples (D), the path becomes slightly easier (B) and brings us on Kartitscherköpfl where there is first suitable place to rest.
From here the path from a narrow notch for a short time again vertically ascends (D), and then becomes a little less steep and is most of the time ascending by the ridge (B). In between path once again slightly steeper ascends and then it brings us on the west side of the ridge, where a view opens up towards the summit Kleine Kinigat. Here the path crosses exposed slopes (difficulty to C) and again brings us on the eastern side of the ridge where the climbing path soon ends.
The path is then ascending on the scree and it brings us to a crossing where from the right side joins the western path over the peak Pfannspitze. At the signposts, we continue left and after a short ascent a view opens up towards the summit Große Kinigat. From the right then joins the east path and only a short ascent follows to the scenic summit.
The described path is extremely demanding and it is appropriate only for experienced mountaineers with enough strength in arms and mandatory self belaying.
The shortest path on which we can descend is the path which bypasses the peak on the eastern side and then descends into a valley Erschbaumertal (difficulty A/B). The second option is that from the peak we continue towards the west and we descend over the peak Pfannspitze and saddle Rosskopftörl (difficulty A/B).

On the way: Tscharrhütte (1935m), Kartitscherköpfl (2290m)