Hohe Tauern, Austria
Day 1 Friday 15th June 2018
Kleiner Zunig 2,442 m
One of Matrei's nearest peaks, offering a stunning panorama over the Lienzer Dolomites, the Venediger Group and the Tauerntal, Iseltal and the Virgental Valleys.
The long ascent of Kleiner Zunig, 2,442 meters, is partly on woodland tracks, with trees providing some shelter on hot days. The Zunigalm hut provides a well deserved coffee break half way up the ascent.
Getting There: From Matrei, join the Virgental road and turn right towards Prägraten am Großvenediger. Go over the small bridge and pass the turning on the left sign posted towards the Schwimmbad, then take the next left sign posted Ganz. Follow the road up, following signs for Parkplatz Guggenburg, then after a number of tight hairpins park in the roadside car park just after the water mill and a small bridge.
Grade: Very Hard
Distance: 13 Km (8 miles) (??)
Ascent/Descent: 1400 m
Walking Time: 5 ~ 6 hours
Terrain: Good forestry tracks with some
rockier terrain at the summit
Map ref: goo.gl/maps/dNgccza8tAQ2 |
| Day |
To |
Distance |
Time |
Elevation in meters |
| |
|
Km |
Elapsed
Hrs-Mins |
Moving
Hrs-Mins |
Gain |
Loss |
Min |
Max |
| 1 |
Kleiner Zunig |
~17 |
8H00 |
~7H00 |
1,430 |
1,430 |
1,050 |
2,387 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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| Note: My Garmin watch gave the low battery warning at 4p.m. when we had done 14 km in 7 hours. We walked about an hour more. The figures above are best estimates. Craig's Garmin watch gave a shorter walking distance (9.72 miles or 15.64 km) and a lower elevation gain ( 4,528 ft or 1,380 m). So, our respective readings are close in terms of elevation gain, but differ in terms of distance walked. |
Kleiner Zunig viewed from our apartment block in Matrei
Parking at G Parkplatz. Participants on this walk were Aileen, Craig, Louise and Jo
Starting height 1,148m
Craig, Louise, Mick and Aileen
| At 8-50 am, after parking the car we retraced our path along the road until we reached the old water mill. Here we turned right onto a small wooded path, marked with a small wooden sign for the Zunighutte. |
View over Matrei
| The path starts of gently but becomes progressively steeper frequently crossing the vehicle track. It was tempting to walk the vehicle track rather than the path, as the former offers a more gentle gradient, even if longer. |
Quite steep for the first two hours, during which time we ascended 700 m
Azaleas
| We eventually came out of the trees, and approached the morning's coffee break, the picturesque Zunigalm hut at 1846 m meters of elevation. By now it was 10-50 a.m. We had be now climbed 700 m in 2 hours and were halfway to the top. |
Coffee at Zunigalm after two hours climbing
Craig, Louise, Aileen and Jo
Craig, Louise, Aileen and Mick
Leaving Zunigalm and heading towards Kleiner Zunig
Grosse Zunig in the background
| From the Zunigalm, we followed the signpost for Dolomitenblick and Malerblick, entering the trees again after almost doubling back on ourselves. Kleiner Zunig to the left, Grosse Zunig to the right |
This path lead to more open terrain and came to the Malerblick viewpoint.
| We continued along the path increasingly on open terrain with good views of the until reaching the Dolomitenblick, which afforded a great view of the Iseltal valley towards the Lienzer Dolomites. |
Iseltal valley
From here we followed the path sign posted Kleiner Zunig, ascending more rugged terrain to the top.
Kleiner Zunig summit
Looking across to Grosse Zunig
From the summit we continued over the back of the mountain and dropped down to the right towards the saddle and the gully. From the saddle we turned right down to the small lake, the Zunigsee. |
Lunch break at the saddle
Dropping own the valley to Zunigsee
Zunigsee 2,108 m
Looking back towards Kleiner Zunig
Gentiana acaulis - Trumpet Gentian
One of the distinctive and memorable flowers of European mountains featuring large trumpets of vibrant blue with green spots inside that thrust skyward, singly or in groups, above elliptical pointed green leaves. |
Short zigzag 200 m climb away from Zunigsee
Looking back to Zunigsee and Kleiner Zunig
Then it was all down hill along logging trails and small dirt roads, eventually reaching
the small hamlet of Guggenburg, just above the car park.
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