Salzstiegelhaus - Hofalmkogel (Packalpe)

Access to starting point:
a) We leave the A2 highway Klagenfurt - Graz at the Packsattel exit, then 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 Salzstiegel ski area 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) We leave the A2 highway Graz - Klagenfurt at the Modriach exit, then follow the signs for Packer Stausee lake and the settlement Hirschegg. From the settlement Hirschegg we follow the signs for the Salzstiegel ski area 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.

Route description:
Signposts at the mountain hut Salzstiegelhaus direct us left towards the southwest in the direction of the saddle Peterer Sattel and the peaks Speikkogel, Ameringkogel and Großerberg, 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 pasture fence we turn left towards Ameringkogel. There 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, the path to the saddle Peterer Sattel branches off to the left, 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 pasture fence and the path flattens; when we reach an indistinct ridge a little further, 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 logbook 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, which heads west and 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 right (slightly left to the hut Weißensteinhütte and Obdach) and gradually begin a gentle ascent. After some ascent we reach the eastern secondary peak of Hofalmkogel, but we continue on the marked path which turns northwest, then after a slightly steeper ascent brings us to the panoramic Hofalmkogel, which is not particularly marked.
Starting point - Rosseben 0:30, Rosseben - Speikkogel 0:45, Speikkogel - Hofalmkogel 0:35.
Description and pictures refer to the condition in July 2023.

Along the route: Rosseben (1710m), Speikkogel (Packalpe) (1993m)

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