Bayreuther Hütte to Sonnwendbichlalm round

Technical difficulty: 1/10
Fitness: 2/10
Objective danger: 1/10
Landscape: 5/10
Busy: 5/10

A short loop good for early season or a quick outing after work.

Starting point: Höllenstein
Ending point: Höllenstein
Length: 13.5km
Vertical: 1100m
Speed: mostly nice and runnable trails

Route:

We start of from the parking lot between few houses of Höllenstein and join a trail leading uphill north-east through the forest. We follow the trail for a long time. It joins a forest road for a bit and then leaves again as a trail heading north-west, following the signs all the way towards Bayreuther Hütte.

We have managed most of the uphill now. Next we traverse the southern flanks of Sonnwendjoch, taking a nice trail heading south-west from the hut, along the mountainside and eventually reaching the small huts at Sonnwendbühelalm.

After the hut, the trail connects to a forest road and leads us back to the valley due south, with awesome views of Ebner Joch along the way. We mostly follow the forest roads, with few places offering a shortcut between the zig-zags on a trail. Overall, this is a very fast and runnable terrain that leads us all the way back to the parking lot eventually.

Photos by @the.running.nomad and @bennibru