Parkplatz Innerfragant - Duisburger Hütte

Access to starting point:
From the Karawanks Tunnel, we follow the highway towards Salzburg to a highway junction where we turn left towards Spittal. From Spittal we drive towards Lienz. A little after the highway ends, at the settlement Möllbrücke, we turn right towards the settlement Mallnitz and the Alpine road Großglockner. We follow this road to the settlement Kleindorf (a little after the settlement Flattach) where signs „Mölltaler Gletscher“ direct us to the right onto an ascending road towards the lower station of the cable car. We follow this road all the way to the large parking lots at the lower station of the cable car.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the asphalt road which is closed to traffic. After a short ascent on the road, signposts direct us to the right onto the footpath „Richard Helfer Weg“. On the footpath we also avoid the tunnels on the road through which walking is forbidden.
From the junction, we start to ascend somewhat more steeply through the forest on a relatively poorly trodden path. Higher up, we join the road for a short time and then turn right again onto the footpath marked with Knafelc blazes. The path mostly ascends through the forest and crosses a few shorter clearings. Later, the path brings us to somewhat steeper slopes from which we occasionally get a view of the waterfalls of the Astrombach stream on the other side of the steep valley. On a shorter traverse where the slope is very steep, a rope also assists us. The path here is not overly demanding, but caution is needed because due to bushes and high grass we might not notice that beside the narrow path the slope is very steep. The path then turns left from the steep slopes and starts to ascend somewhat more steeply. On such a path through the forest, we soon reach the mountain road.
We continue right on the road, which descends slightly and brings us to a marked junction near the lake Wurtenspeicher. We head left onto the cart track and after a short ascent reach the lake. Near the lake there are also benches and a table.
The cart track that runs along the lake soon ends, and we head left onto the footpath. The path further mostly crosses the slope above the lake towards the north in a gentle ascent, crossing a few smaller streams in the process. Later, the path turns somewhat to the left and ascends in zigzags for a short time. This is followed by traversing somewhat steeper slopes, where we bypass a smaller rockfall. Some caution is needed here. Later, the increasingly scenic path becomes less steep and proceeds towards the north. We still need to pay attention to where we walk because beside the path there are quite a few deep holes. The path then descends slightly and brings us near the lake Mernigsee.
Here the path turns slightly to the right and crosses a stream, then starts ascending the slope above the lake. We walk north again and soon cross the slope below the chairlift that leads to the hut Weißseehaus. The path then turns left and follows a short ascent on the slope left of the ski slope. Later, the path runs across the ski slope and brings us to a mountain road where there is a junction.
To the right slightly downhill it is only a few tens of meters to the intermediate cable car station (Mittelstation), to the left the road leads to the hut Weißseehaus, but we cross the road and continue straight across the ski slope. The path on the ski slope starts to ascend somewhat more steeply and a view towards the lake Weißsee also begins to open up. The path slowly turns to the right and brings us to a somewhat flatter section of the ski slope. From the left, the path from the road running along the lake Hochwurtenspeicher joins quite unnoticeably. Here the path turns right from the ski slope onto a track that brings us near the circular cabin cable car. Further on, the path runs slightly left of the cable car and follows the final ascent to the hut Duisburger Hütte from where there is a very nice view of the surrounding peaks and lakes.

On the way: Wurtenspeicher (1695m), Mernigsee (2040m), Mittelstation (Mölltaler Gletscher) (2234m)

Trip can be extended to: Eisseehaus ( 40 min) , Baumbachspitze (1 h 30 min) , Schareck (1 h 45 min)