Salzstiegelhaus - Großenberg (Packalpe)
Starting point: Salzstiegelhaus (1543 m)
Starting point Lat/Lon: 47.06818°N 14.87182°E 
Time of walking: 2 h 55 min
Difficulty: easy marked way
Difficulty of skiing: no data
Altitude difference: 609 m
Altitude difference (by path): 810 m
Map:
Access to starting point:
a) Leave the A2 highway Klagenfurt–Graz at the Packsattel exit, then follow the signs for Graz and Pack. At the Stampf settlement, leave the old road towards Graz and continue driving in the direction of the Hirschegg settlement, from there follow the signs for the Salzstiegel ski area and the Salzstiegelhaus mountain hut. In the last part, follow the macadam road to the parking lot at the Salzstiegelhaus mountain hut, which is situated by the Hirscheggersattel pass.
b) Leave the A2 highway Graz–Klagenfurt at the Modriach exit, then follow the signs for Packer Stausee lake and the Hirschegg settlement. From the Hirschegg settlement, follow the signs for the Salzstiegel ski area and the Salzstiegelhaus mountain hut. In the last part, follow the macadam road to the parking lot at the Salzstiegelhaus mountain hut, which is situated by the Hirscheggersattel pass.
Path description:
Signposts at the Salzstiegelhaus mountain hut direct us left towards the southwest in the direction of the Peterer Sattel saddle and the peaks Speikkogel, Ameringkogel and Großenberg, where we initially walk on a macadam road, then quickly turn right onto a cart track. The cart track we follow moderately ascends, and at the crossing of the grazing fence we turn left towards Ameringkogel. Next follows some easy walking, then we moderately ascend on a grassy slope where a ski slope runs in winter. When the forest along the path ends, we quickly ascend to the indistinct peak Rosseben, where the reservoir Salzstiegel Almsee is nearby.
We bypass the lake on the left side, then in a gentle ascent we reach a marked junction.
At the junction, a path branches off to the left towards the Peterer Sattel saddle, but we continue straight and bypass the nearby wind power plant on the left side. The path ahead starts to ascend more steeply on an increasingly panoramic grassy slope. Higher up, we cross a grazing fence and the path flattens; a little further, we reach an indistinct ridge where the path splits. Sharply to the left, an unmarked path branches off leading to the nearby secondary peak of Speikkogel, where a cross and a stamp box are located, while the marked path continues straight towards the unmarked main summit of Speikkogel, which we reach in a few minutes of further walking.
From the summit, we continue on the marked path heading west, which leads us along a wider ridge. After a few minutes of descent, we reach a marked junction on a smaller saddle between Speikkogel and Hofalmkogel.
Here we continue slightly to the right (slightly left to the Weißensteinhütte hut and Obdach) and gradually begin a gentle ascent. After some ascent we reach the eastern secondary peak of Hofalmkogel, then continue on the marked path which turns northwest and after a slightly steeper ascent brings us to the panoramic Hofalmkogel, which is not particularly marked.
From Hofalmkogel we begin to descend towards the northwest, reaching the saddle with the neighbouring peak Weißenstein in a few minutes of descent. From the saddle, we initially ascend moderately, then steeply for some time along a grazing fence. Higher up the path flattens, and on the left side, among numerous wire fences, we notice the highest point of the Weißenstein peak.
A few steps ahead we notice hiking signposts, and we continue slightly to the left of the signs for Ameringkogel.
We continue on a poorer, partly pathless marked trail which bypasses Ameringkogel on the left side. Further on, several smaller footpaths merge into one relatively easy-to-follow trail, which continues to traverse the scenic western slopes of Ameringkogel; when a little further we reach the saddle between Ameringkogel and Großenberg we proceed straight towards the summit of Großenberg (sharply to the right Ameringkogel). Further on we first ascend gently, then moderately, and follow such a path all the way to the nearby summit.
Starting point - Rosseben 0:30, Rosseben - Speikkogel 0:45, Speikkogel - Hofalmkogel 0:35, Hofalmkogel - Weißenstein 0:30, Weißenstein - Großenberg 0:35.
Description refers to the condition in July 2023, pictures are from various periods.
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