parking below Weinebene - Krakaberg (Golica / Koralpe) (via cross Schäferkreuz)

Access to the starting point:
a) Take one of the border crossings with Austria (Korensko sedlo, Karawanks tunnel, Ljubelj Pass, Jezerski vrh Pass, Pavličev vrh Pass) into Austria and then continue along the so-called southern motorway towards Graz/Graz. Follow the motorway to Volšperk / Wolfsberg, where you leave the motorway, and then, when you reach the old or regional road, continue in the direction of St. Gertraud. In St. Gertraud, you will see signs for the Weinebene Alpine Pass, which will direct you to the right onto an ascending asphalt road. Follow this road for approximately 18 km before reaching the Alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m. From the pass we start descending towards Lonč/Deutschlandsberg, and just after the left-hand serpentine we park in a marked parking lot on the right-hand side of the road.
b) Cross the Holmec or Vič border crossing into Austria and then continue to Volšperk / Wolfsberg. From Volšperk, follow the regional road towards St. Gertraud. In St. Gertraud, you will see signs for the Weinebene Alpine Pass, which will direct you to the right onto an ascending asphalt road. Follow this road for approximately 18 km before reaching the Alpine pass, which is situated at an altitude of 1668 m. From the pass we start descending towards Lonč/Deutschlandsberg, and just after the left-hand serpentine we park in a marked parking lot on the right-hand side of the road.
c) First we drive to Maribor, then we continue on the motorway to Border crossing Šentilj and further on the Austrian motorway to Graz / Graz. Leave the motorway at the exit for Lipnica / Leibnitz. After leaving the motorway at the roundabout, continue in the direction of Lipnitz / Leibnitz and continue south of the village of Gralla, which is now a suburb of Lipnitz. The road continues past an industrial or commercial area, and at the roundabout by the Hofer store we continue "straight on" to the second exit in the direction of Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. Continue along the main road for a while and then turn right after the village of Graschach in the direction of Lonč / Deutschlandsberg. At the roundabout near Lonč/Deutschlandsberg, continue "straight ahead" towards the Weinebene Alpine Pass. From here on, the road climbs steeply, and we follow it for about 17 km, then before the right-hand serpentine on the left we see a parking lot, where we park.

Path description:
From the parking lot, take the side road towards hut Grünangerhütte and mountain pasture Bärentalalm, which crosses the slopes below the main road. The tarmac along the side road ends quickly and we reach a crossroads where we continue along the upper right road (one of the paths to hut Grünangerhütte leads along the slightly left road). There is some climbing, and the path from the Reihkehre - Glashütten parking lot, located above the serpentine mentioned in the access to the starting point, joins us from the right. There is some more crossing, mostly on a slight ascent, and then the path splits again. Another path branches off to the left towards the aforementioned hut, and we take a slight right and continue along the dirt road, which climbs a little more, and we reach hut Bärentalhütte in a few minutes.
Go around the hut on the right and follow the road to a nearby crossroads by a pasture fence, where you go slightly right (straight ahead Grünangerhütte and Steinmandl). A little further on, go slightly more to the right, and then climb through the mountain pasture part of the Bärentalalm to the edge of the forest, where the trail climbs steeply through the lane part of the forest. After a few minutes, the steepness subsides and the path turns slightly to the left to reach the road leading down from the Weinebene Pass at the saddle between the Hühnerstütze and Moschkogel peaks.
At the saddle, where there is a marked crossroads, we arrive from the Austrian Styria / Steiermark to the Austrian Carinthia / Kärnten, and we continue straight on the cart track, which crosses the slopes to the right (the track is not marked for a short time, as the marked path leads right to the nearby hut Grillitschhütte and from there back to the track, the path to the left along the fence continues to the top of Großer Speikkogel - a scenic route, with the Weinebene Pass to the sharp right).
Cross the slopes below the summit of Hühnerstütze (1989 m) for a few minutes, then reach the Schäferkreuz cross, where the aforementioned path joins past the Grillitschhütte hut. Continue straight ahead here and within a few minutes you will reach an undistinguished pass between Hühnerstütze (1989 m) on the left and the Sprungkogel peak (1868 m) on the right.
At the top of the pass there is a marked crossroads where you continue slightly left in the direction of the Großer Speikkogel summit (straight ahead Großhöllerhütte hut). The path continues along the wide cart track, which then crosses several gurgling streams. The winding track, which initially descends gently, turns into a winding footpath at a slightly higher level, which continues across views and rolling meadows. A little further on, a path branches off to the right to the Koralpenhaus hut, and we continue straight on towards the Großer Speikkogel summit. The marked trail then turns slightly to the left and begins to climb moderately over a slightly steeper slope. There is a short steeper climb and the path leads to a small saddle between the Seespitz and Großer Speikkogel peaks.
At the saddle you will reach the marked Weinebene - Großer Speikkogel scenic route, which you follow to the right. Again continuing in the direction of the highest peak of the mountain range, we start to climb crosswise on the slopes of Kleiner Speikkogel, and after a few minutes of cross-climbing we reach the main ridge, which is reached at the saddle between the two highest peaks of Golica.
From here continue straight down towards the Koglereck Pass and Labot / Lavamünd (Kleiner Speikkogel on the left, Großer Speikkogel on the right). There is a short descent before reaching a small valley where the trail splits once more. Go left here (Koralpenhaus hut on the right), and after a few steps go right on a less well-trodden unmarked path leading to the nearby Krakaberg peak. The trail slowly disappears, and we quickly reach the nearby summit, already visible from the ridge.
Starting point - Bärentalhütte 0:35, Bärentalhütte - Krakaberg 2:50.

On the way: Bärentalhütte (Golica / Koralpe) (1630m), Seespitzsattel (2040m)

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