Walischeben - Hofalmkogel (Packalpe) (via Weissenstein)

Access to starting point:
A) From the Gorenjska side we go over the border crossing Ljubelj to Celovec / Klagenfurt or through the Karawanks to Beljak / Villach. Next we head onto the highway in the direction of signs for Gradec / Graz. We leave the highway before the approximately 2 km long tunnel in the direction of Bad St. Leonhard. Further, we drive past the village St. Peter to the settlement Obdach. From the main road signs for Obdach direct us to the left and we soon come to the industrial zone. Before the underpass we turn right, where after a few dozen meters we cross a railway track. We follow the road, which becomes macadam at all crossroads, towards signs for Weissenstein Hütte. We park at a suitable spot by the road at the sign prohibiting further driving (a crossroad is also right next to the parking area).
B) From the Koroška side we first drive to Dravograd and further into Austria. We follow the road ahead towards St. Paul, St. Andrä, and Volšperk / Wolfsberg. In Volšperk we head towards Bad St. Leonhard and continue towards St. Peter. Further, we follow description A.
C) From the Štajerska side we drive to Maribor and further over the border crossing Šentilj into Austria. We follow the highway in the direction of Celovec / Klagenfurt. We leave the highway in the direction of the exit Bad St. Leonhard. Further, we follow description A.

Route description:
From the starting point, we head onto the left road, marked with signs for the Weißensteinhütte cottage. We continue along the road, which moderately ascends, and after a few minutes leads us out of the forest onto scenic slopes, offering a beautiful view. Ahead, we soon notice the mountain cottage, which we reach in a few minutes of further walking.
From the cottage, we turn sharply right and proceed along the marked path, which first crosses a grazing fence and then continues on a wider cart track. After a few minutes of ascent, we reach a junction where we turn left toward the Speikkogel peak (straight leads to Peterer Sattel) and we follow a rougher, partly grassy cart track. After a short diagonal climb across a scenic grassy slope, we reach the edge of the forest, where the path splits once more.
We turn left again, now toward the Weißenstein and Ameringkogel peaks (straight leads to Speikkogel), ascending first along a grazing fence, then through thinning forest, and further up an increasingly scenic grassy slope. Higher up, the path begins to fade, splitting into several smaller footpaths, but we follow the wide grassy ridge, which gently curves slightly to the right. We follow the increasingly scenic path to the main ridge, reaching it at the Weißenstein summit.
Here we continue right downwards (left Ameringkogel and Großenberg) in the southeastern direction and descend somewhat more steeply to the saddle with the neighboring peak. From the indistinct saddle follows an easy ascent along a wide grassy ridge, and we reach the indistinct peak Hofalmkogel.
Walischeben - Weißensteinhütte 0:20, Weißensteinhütte - Weißenstein 1:25, Weißenstein - Hofalmkogel 0:20.
The description and images refer to conditions in July 2007 and July 2023.

Along the route: Weißensteinhütte (Packalpe) (1702m), Weissenstein (Packalpe) (2160m)

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