The starting point of the tour is the Padauner Sattel. From here, the trail climbs gently through larch forests and alpine pastures. After a while, you leave the forest behind and enter a wide, flower-filled alpine basin, and the first peak of the tour, the Vennspitz, is not far away. After reaching the Vennspitze, continue along the ridge towards the Rossgrubenkopf and Geierschnabel, with a view over the Wipptal, the Brennerbergen and the mighty Tuxer Hauptkamm always in front of you. After crossing the ridge, the descent is via the lonely Hüttenbergalm. An interesting path then leads back to Padaun.
ROUTE DESCRIPTION
From the car park, trail no. 84 first leads slightly uphill through grazed meadows. After a while you reach a sparse larch forest, which you leave a little later after crossing a forest road. The trail continues along a track, which is often used by ski tourers as a downhill run in winter, until you reach an extensive alpine pasture, which the locals call "Groas'issen". After crossing the ground, there is another short climb, at the end of which you can see the Vennspitze for the first time. Then, after a bend to the left, you reach the wide basin below the Vennspitz via a short, easily manageable passage through a small rocky outcrop. Here the path then winds its way quite straight to the summit, with the last steep section being mastered over the ridge. There is not much space at the summit, but it is certainly suitable for a short breather or snack break. Strengthened and impressed by the breathtaking summit panorama, we continue along the ridge, first to the Rossgrubenkofel, then slightly downhill to the Silleskogel. The path along the ridge is not necessarily exposed, but requires a certain amount of surefootedness. Shortly before reaching the Geierschnabel, at the ridge depression, a signpost then awaits us. After a last look down to the Sillalm, we descend on the other side to the Hüttenbergalm, quite steeply and over narrow paths. After several hundred metres of descent over alpine pastures and short forest passages, you finally reach a small alpine hut. Shortly after the hut, the trail enters the forest again after crossing a fence. The descent is now almost complete, and a little later you reach a forest road, which you follow out of the valley, turning left, and which becomes a path after a few hundred metres. The trail then leads slightly uphill to a forest road, which is best followed uphill to the left when you reach a fork and which leads to the asphalt road to Padaun. A short time later you are back at the starting point - a stop at the Steckholzer mountain inn with one or two delicacies is now more than well deserved.
TIP FROM THE AUTHOR
The round tour is particularly beautiful in early summer - at this time you can observe a veritable sea of flowers in the various vegetation stages.
