Winklertal - Monte Vancomun / Hochspitz (via Winkler Jocb)

Access to starting point:
Over the border crossing Korensko sedlo we descend in Austria, and there in first larger crossroad we continue left in the direction of village Podklošter / Arnoldstein. In the mentioned village, we will get to a roundabout, where we continue right in the direction of "Hermagor". Further, we drive on a wide road which leads us through the valley Gailtal. At the settlement Mauthen we continue left in the direction of the mountain pass Plöckenpass, and after few 100 meters right in the direction of valley Lesachtal. Further, we drive on narrower and quite winding road which we follow to the village Untertilliach. Only a little after the mentioned village (at the second bus stop) left downwards at first still asphalt road branches off. The road then crosses a bridge, after which from the left side joins wide macadam road. We continue straight for approximately 50 meters and then we come to the next unmarked crossroad, where we continue right on the bottom "main" road which only few meters ahead brings us to the marked crossroad. This time we continue left in the direction of "Hochspitz and Oberalm" on an increasingly bad road which higher brings us to an unmarked crossroad in front of which is a smaller parking lot.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on the road to hut Gartlhütte at an altitude 1600 meters. From the hut, we then continue on the mountain road which leads us through the valley towards the south and brings us near the stream Winkler Bach. For some time we are ascending by the stream and then the road turns to the right and is long time ascending in zig-zags upwards. The road is mostly ascending on grassy slopes, only occasionally brings us in thin forest. On grassy slopes in the summer time also livestock is grazing. Such road we then follow all the way to the mountain pasture Oberalm at an altitude 2160 meters.
From the mountain pasture where ends mountain road we continue on a footpath which at first crosses grassy slopes below the mountain Reiterkarspitz, and then turns to the left and starts ascending towards the saddle Winkler Jocb. Ascent towards the saddle runs on a grassy terrain, and by the path, we will also notice some remains from the first world war.
On the saddle, we continue to the left following the signs “Mitterkarbiwak”. After that, the path turns slightly to the right and crosses grassy slopes below the summit Cima Manzon 2328 meters. The path here runs on the south slopes and soon brings us near the saddle Val Mezzana / Mosser Sharte 2226 meters. On the saddle is also unmarked crossing. We continue on a marked path which leads on grassy slopes on the south side of the peak Gamskofel / Cima Mezzana 2420 meters, and left lead unmarked paths on the north side.
The path further still crosses grassy slopes below the summit Gamskofel. On this part, the path is not that steep and only rarely slightly ascends. Here we can usually also see many marmots, and from the path there is a nice view towards Dolomites and our destination Hochspitz, which we already see in front of us. Such a path runs all the way to a saddle Hochspitzsenke / Val Carnia 2314 meters. On the saddle, we continue left following the signs “Mitterkarbiwak” and we start slightly descending on an old military mule track below the slopes of the peak Hochspitz. The path then brings us to a crossing, where we continue right following the signs “Hochspitz”.
From the crossing, the path then ascends a little steeper and brings us on the ridge where we continue right. The path further runs on a ridge, which is on some spots also slightly exposed. In the last part, the path turns to the left on the eastern side of the mountain and then follows only a short ascent to the top.

On the way: Gartlhütte (1600m), Oberalm (2160m), Winkler Jocb (2248m), Mosser Sharte (2226m), Hochspitzsenke (2314m)