Late Summer Morning on Veitsberg

As I set off in the dark of early morning from the car park on the Ackernalm to experience the sunrise on Veitsberg (1,787 m), a car pulled up beside me. A tired young couple in traditional dress wound down the passenger window. A friend had gone missing from the party, and they asked if I had seen a young woman in a dirndl. The music, the laughter, the arriving and departing guests of the celebration at the mountain inn – the Almkirta – had been audible all night. She hadn’t passed my roof tent, and I hadn’t encountered her anywhere else. As I later found out, she had found a safe and cosy hideaway with a handsome young man.

Veitsberg is the easternmost peak on an elongated ridge south of the Ackernalm. It is significantly less visited than the Hinteres Sonnwendjoch. With only 400 metres of ascent, it’s an easy and quick climb of 1.5 hours, offering magnificent views: across the Thiersee Valley into the Inn Valley with the Chiemgau Alps and the Kaiser Mountains, the Kitzbühel Alps, the Leoganger Steinberge, Hochkönig, or further south, the entire main Alpine ridge, as well as the Rofan Mountains to the west.

The ascent follows the road to Grabenbergalm, then past a chapel, before crossing the stream past the last hut on the left and leading through meadows into the mountain forest. Later, after a short, steep climb, I reached the saddle between Thalerjoch and Frechjoch and followed the path eastwards through the mountain pines. My photo spot was to be the summit cross on Frechjoch, to use the Veitsberg summit structure as a foreground. Then it was time to watch and enjoy as the sky changed colour and the contours of the landscape, with its staggered mountain ranges, became increasingly clear. The lights of the Jakobskreuz (Pillersee Valley) and the Kitzbüheler Horn were clearly visible. Finally, the sun emerged over the Zahmer Kaiser, ensuring a glorious late summer day in the mountains. I rewarded myself with breakfast at the mountain inn for such an impressive start to the day.