Salzstiegelhaus - Altes Almhaus (via Rappoldkogel)

Access to starting point:
a) Highway A2 Klagenfurt - Graz we leave at the exit Packsattel, and then we follow the signs for Graz and Pack. At the settlement Stampf we leave the old road towards Graz and continue driving in the direction of the settlement Hirschegg, and from there follow the signs for the ski slope Salzstiegel and the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus. In the last part, we follow the macadam road to the parking lot at the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus, which is situated by the mountain pass Hirscheggersattel.
b) Highway A2 Graz - Klagenfurt we leave at the exit Modriach, and then we follow the signs for the lake Packer Stausee and the settlement Hirschegg. From the settlement Hirschegg we follow the signs for the ski slope Salzstiegel and the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus. In the last part, we follow the macadam road to the parking lot at the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus, which is situated by the mountain pass Hirscheggersattel.

Path description:
Signposts at the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus direct us across the road pass to the eastern side, where we follow the signs for Rappoldkogel, Altes Almhaus and Gaberl. Initially we walk on a fairly gentle rough macadam road, which after a few minutes of walking leads us to a junction by crossing a pasture fence.
Here we continue slightly left on a footpath leading toward the summit of Rappoldkogel (slightly right on a grassy cart track to the mountain hut Altes Almhaus), which guides us for a few minutes along the upper edge of a pasture before entering a forest, where it crosses the end of a forest road. Just a bit further, the path splits: slightly left onto a path over rocks requiring a steady step, slightly right onto a regular path through the forest, which on a short section especially when wet is also dangerous due to slipping.
After a few minutes both paths merge, and the forest along the fairly steep path begins to thin so that we continue the ascent amid increasingly beautiful views. The path further leads us past several granite towers and we arrive at Rappoldkogel, where a cross is located and from where a view opens in all directions.
From the summit we continue right and begin to descend along the southeastern ridge of the mountain. Lower the path temporarily flattens, then enters a forest where it begins to descend steeply, lower the path gradually flattens and in a gentle descent we reach a junction at the saddle separating Rappoldkogel and Schwarzkogel.
Here a path joins us from sharply right, which leads below the summit of Rappoldkogel, but we continue slightly left toward the mountain hut Altes Almhaus (slightly right Großebenhütte), where we begin a moderate ascent on a macadam road. Higher we leave the forest, the road turns somewhat left and passes onto the slopes of the summit Wölkerkogel, where it flattens and in the final part also gently descends. The scenic path running along pastures we then follow to the mountain hut Altes Almhaus.
Starting point Rappoldkogel 1:25, Rappoldkogel - Altes Almhaus 1:10.
The description and pictures refer to the condition in October 2024.

On the way: Rappoldkogel (1928m)