Schwarzkogelhütte - Zirbitzkogelhütte

Access to starting point:
a) Via the Ljubelj border crossing, we drive into Austria and follow the signs for Klagenfurt am Wörthersee. In Celovec, at McDonald's, we turn right onto the south bypass / Südring; at the next major intersection, we turn right again towards Velikovec / Völkermarkt and Mostič / Brückl. We soon leave the road to Velikovec, as shortly after the Obi store we turn right towards the highway and Mostič. Continuing on, we pass the Ikea store, following the signs for Mostič and passing the highway on-ramps. When we arrive in Mostič, we follow the signs for Svinec / Eberstein and Hüttenberg. Still before Hüttenberg, more precisely after the settlement of Mösel, we turn right towards the Klippitztörl pass and the settlement of Lölling. Continuing, we begin to ascend more noticeably along the valley of the Löllingbach stream; higher up, after the settlement of Lölling, we gradually distance ourselves from the stream as well. We follow this road all the way to the Klippitztörl pass, from where we begin to descend. During the descent, the road leads us past the Naturfreundehaus hut, but we descend to the settlement of Klippitztörl, where we turn left uphill towards the Hohenwarthütte hut. A short ascent follows with a left hairpin turn, and we arrive at a large parking lot located next to the ski area and the aforementioned hut.
b) Via the border crossings Jezerski Vrh, Holmec, or Vič, we drive into Austria, then follow the signs for Velikovec / Völkermarkt, and from there for Mostič / Brückl. When we arrive in Mostič, we follow the signs for Svinec / Eberstein and Hüttenberg. Still before Hüttenberg, more precisely after the settlement of Mösel, we turn right towards the Klippitztörl pass and the settlement of Lölling. Continuing, we begin to ascend more noticeably along the valley of the Löllingbach stream; higher up, after the settlement of Lölling, we gradually distance ourselves from the stream as well. We follow this road all the way to the Klippitztörl pass, from where we begin to descend. During the descent, the road leads us past the Naturfreundehaus hut, but we descend to the settlement of Klippitztörl, where we turn left uphill towards the Hohenwarthütte hut. A short ascent follows with a left hairpin turn, and we arrive at a large parking lot located next to the ski area and the aforementioned hut.
c) We exit the Klagenfurt am Wörthersee–Graz motorway at the Bad St. Leonhard im Lavanttal exit (Šentlenart in the Labotska dolina valley), then follow the signs for Zeltweg and Reichenfels. We continue along Obdacher Straße, which we leave after about 2 km, turning left towards the Klippitztörl pass. A climb follows on the ascending asphalt road, which we follow to the settlement of Klippitztörl, where we turn sharply right towards the Hohenwarthütte hut. A short ascent follows with a left hairpin turn, and we arrive at a large parking lot located next to the ski area and the aforementioned hut.

Route description:
From the hut, we head to the road, which has signs for the Hohenwart summit and the Hohenwarthütte hut, initially ascending moderately past a few more holiday homes. A little further, we leave the road slightly to the right and climb the grassy slope, soon approaching the road very closely again, but instead of continuing on it, we ascend to the right of the road. Higher up, the path leads through a strip of forest; after leaving the forest, we briefly descend slightly, approaching the road very closely once more. A few minutes of steeper ascent follow along the ski slope track, then we return to the road and continue along it to the Hohenwarthütte hut. We bypass the hut on the left side and ascend the road to a broader ridge, along which we continue to a junction by the reservoir lake.
We continue straight towards Zirbitzkogel (left: one of the paths to the Klippitztörl pass, right: Hohenwart summit) and begin descending along a wider cart track, from which, where it temporarily flattens, we go left downhill onto a footpath that descends somewhat more steeply. A few minutes lower, we join a gentle path leading from the Klippitztörl pass towards the Zirbitzkogel summit; we follow this path to the right towards Zirbitzkogel. At the junction where a path branches slightly right towards the Grünhütte hut, we continue slightly left towards Zirbitzkogel.
Further on, we walk along a pasture for a while; looking right, a view opens towards the Packalpe mountain group. Lower down, where the path stops descending, we cross a somewhat wider macadam road.
We continue following the signs for Zirbitzkogel; after a short ascent, we return to the forest, which thins higher up; a little further, we ascend moderately along a scenic clearing. Amid beautiful views reaching to the Julian Alps, we return to sparse forest, passing an interesting hunting observation post, then continue easily along a gentle indistinct ridge, where we almost imperceptibly step onto Angerlkogel, whose summit we recognize by the trigonometric stone.
A little further from the highest point of the summit, we leave the forest, and looking to the left, a view opens reaching to Triglav and further to the Italian mountains; we begin descending the grassy slope towards a smaller saddle, where we cross a macadam road and continue the ascent along the marked path towards the Feldalmhütte hut. An easy ascent follows, first still through sparse forest, higher along a gentle grassy slope; the path leads slightly to the right of the Pressner Alpe ridge. A little further, among the blueberries, the path flattens completely and we arrive at the Pfannegger Kreuz cross, where the marked path turns right.
We continue right along the cart track, which gradually widens into a poorer road that mostly descends gently while traversing slopes to the right. A little further, the path turns left and quickly brings us to the Feldalmhütte hut.
We bypass the hut on the upper left side, then from the road go left onto the footpath following the signs for St. Martiner Hütte and Zirbitzkogel, traversing up the northeastern slopes of the Zöhrerkogel summit. A few minutes further, when we reach the northeastern ridge of the mentioned summit, we reach a poor macadam road; we just cross the ridge (left along the Zöhrerkogel ridge 20 minutes) and continue walking along the gentle road. Later we leave the poor road and head slightly left onto the footpath, along which we continue traversing to the northwestern ridge of the Zöhrerkogel summit (here an unmarked path joins from the left, leading over the mentioned summit).
We continue to the other side of the ridge and further follow the signs for the St. Martiner Hütte hut; the path ahead descends transversely to the left. Lower down, where the path temporarily stops descending, we pass three crosses, then along a scenic slope from which a beautiful view opens to the nearby Krka Alps, we continue to the St. Martiner Hütte hut.
We bypass the hut and the auxiliary building on the left side, then cross the pasture fence and easily ascend over the last part of the pasture into the forest. Even in the forest, we ascend transversely to the left easily for a while, following the marks at a few junctions. When we leave the forest, the path flattens; after the cross, we begin descending towards a junction near the Stoanahütte hut.
From the junction, we continue straight towards the Zirbitzkogel mountain (right: Stoanahütte hut 3 minutes; continuing towards Zirbitzkogel is also possible past the hut, but the path is only a few minutes longer), ascending first moderately, then steeply higher up; besides the classic Austrian marks, winter marks in the form of red poles also appear. Approximately 30 minutes of fairly steep ascent follow; higher up, when we reach the elongated southern ridge of Fuchskogel, the path flattens, and increasingly beautiful views open in all directions. Later the path flattens further, and from the right a path joins leading past Wildsee lake from the Waldheimhütte hut.
Ahead, the path ascends moderately; looking right, a beautiful view of Wildsee lake soon opens; a little further, the path flattens again and we reach a junction where a fairly short path branches right to the Fuchskogel summit (about 3 minutes); we continue left towards Zirbitzkogel.
Ahead, the path gradually transitions to a partly grassy ridge connecting Fuchskogel with Zirbitzkogel; at first we descend lightly, then gradually begin ascending along the southern ridge of Zirbitzkogel, where a path joins from the left starting at the Tonnerhütte hut.
We continue straight towards Zirbitzkogel (left: Tonnerhütte hut, right: Lavantsee lake), continuing along the ridge. At first we still ascend moderately, then a few shorter steeper ascents follow; as we approach the summit, the path moves away from the ridge to the right, then in a traversing ascent reaches the cart track, where the usual path from the Waldheimhütte hut joins from the right.
We continue the ascent along the cart track, which quickly brings us to the Zirbitzkogelhütte hut.
Schwarzkogelhütte - Hohenwarthütte 0:30, Hohenwarthütte - Angerlkogel 2:15, Angerlkogel - Feldalmhütte 0:45, Feldalmhütte - St. Martiner Hütte 0:55, St. Martiner Hütte 0:55 - Stoanahütte 0:40, Stoanahütte - Fuchskogel 1:35, Fuchskogel - Zirbitzkogelhütte 0:45.

Along the route: Hohenwarthütte (1720m), Angerlkogel (1774m), Pfannegger Kreuz (1784m), Feldalmhütte (1751m), Zellkreuz (1718m), St. Martiner Hütte (1710m), Judenburger Kreuz (1764m), Stoanahütte (1748m), Fuchskogel (2214m)

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