Circular hike “through the Tor“ in autumn

I love autumn in the mountains! When this time of year comes round and the larches start to “burn”, my heart beats faster. The air gets colder and clearer, the sun swathes the mountain and the valley in a golden light and nature prepares for winter with a magnificent change of colours. “It’s autumning”, we say in Filzmoos and welcome this colourful time of year with open arms.

Autumn time is hiking time

Most of all, I love being out and about in the mountains in the autumn. Today I’m going to take you along on my circular tour “through the Tor”. This hike, along the imposing Dachstein south face, is for me one of the tour highlights in our region. The breathtaking views of the towering south walls of the Dachstein, Mitterspitz and Torstein make this tour unforgettable. We reckon with a total walking time of approx. 6 hours for this tour. The ascent has an elevation gain of around 950 m elevation gain and the descent back to Filzmoos is around 1,360 m elevation gain - as we head back to Filzmoos on foot.

Our tour "through the Tor"

At 8:30 am we’re already on our way by taxi (Taxi Jäger) from Filzmoos up to the Bachlalm. We take advantage of the early morning to pay a visit to the marmots, which are located in the area around the Bachalm. Here you can observe the little creatures in the wild. The shy animals have got used to hikers and sometimes you can even feed and stroke the “Manggei“.
After just a short stop, we head on as we want to make it to the “Tor“ before the midday sun. Our Starting point is below the Bachlalm, where we start our unforgettable hike with wonderful weather in an unbelievably scenic landscape.
At the car park, the Alpine Club Path No. 671 turns off to the right and leads through scenic alpine pastureland. The forest path at the foot of the Marstein leads past a crystal-clear mountain stream until we reach a junction. Here we take the path upwards towards the Dachstein Südwandhütte. Again and again, we marvel at the breathtaking view of the majestically towering rock faces. The imposing Torstein and the Dachstein-Südwand rise up above us as we hike up the windy bends through the larch forest.

After around 1.5 hours we reach the Dachsteinsüdwandhütte, where we stop for refreshment before heading on towards the Torboden. Beneath the "Dachstein three peaks "- Hoher Dachstein, Mitterspitz and Torstein – we head to the Torboden. The path leads along a wide scree field. Between rocks and scree, the Perner path No. 617 winds its way through the wild landscape. The path through this scree corrie is easily accessible and is clearly visible due to the red-white-red paint markings on the stones. Therefore, the tour can easily be undertaken by inexperienced hikers too. Just before the “Tor” there’s a 30-minute ascent to the characteristic rock formation. The tour gets its name from the Torstein mountain. At last we’ve reached the highest point of our tour. From here you can already see the Sulzenhals and the Rötelstein.

Head up and wind down

Here we stop for a well-earned rest. Janine has brought tasty home-made muesli bars with her, which we devour with pleasure after all our effort. We savour the view and the tranquility before getting ready for the descent. This is via the Untere Windlegerkar. If you’re lucky you might even see chamois between the house-high rock boulders. Today, however, we don’t see any. The path leads over a massive scree field off to the left down to the “Schnittlauchboden“. The wild chives with their intensive aroma give the area its name.
Via the Sulzenhals we reach our last destination for today, the Krahlehenhütte in the Sulzenalm area. We took plenty to drink with us, yet we’re really hungry and thirsty now. From the Krahlehenhütte we enjoy a unique panorama of the Bischofsmütze and Gosaukamm range to the Rettenstein. Here we reflect on our perfect autumn tour. As a reward we treat ourselves to the popular “Kas-Krapfen (cheese fritters)“. We can heartily recommend this speciality – they taste amazing! To finish off we share a “Beerenschmarren“ (chopped pancake dish with berries). This classic sweet dish has been is refined with aromatic fruits of the forest. Our verdict: the schmarren is out of this world!
After our excellent refreshment we head along the “old Sulzenalm path“ in 1.5 hours back to Filzmoos. Arriving in the village, the soles of our feet are burning somewhat, but it was a magnificent tour “through the Tor”.

Tips & Infos:

HERE you can find the hiking route.
Photo credits: Sabrina Reisenberger