Lonely end of the Kleinwalsertal
Before Christmas one last snowshoe tour. Since we are busy with the family after the party, this will be the last tour of the year, and we are feverishly looking for a not too long snowshoe hike, which should nevertheless include some snow. In the snow hole Kleinwalsertal we will find it, at the very back in Baad (1244m) the thin blanket of snow even reaches down to the valley. Arrival by bus, the clothes for the festival are deposited in Oberstdorf in the locker. In the wonderful snow landscape we follow the sign to Spital- and Derrenalpe, meet dog with master and are from then alone on this beautiful afternoon. The valleys here are short and small, the distances too. After about an hour we are standing in front of the Alp building Middle Spitalalpe (1580), just above the tree line and with a beautiful view of the snowy lonely valley. Here we enjoy the sunset, the Widderstein firmly in view. We cook something to eat (as always - free to snout), and hide with increasing wind in our tent.
The alarm rings at 8 o'clock, I slept twelve hours and feel very well. The buddy rather less, his mattress had a hole and that is not funny in the winter to sleep on cold ground. We reject the plan to spend another night up here and then want to descend directly after the tour is not far.
Rise in sun and wind
We leave the snowshoes on our backpacks, hide our bivouacs behind the alp and set off. The snow is already thick on the path, but under the powder layer is pretty hard to climb. The Upper Spitalalpe (1780m) is reached quickly, here we receive the warming sunshine and the cooling wind. We put on the snowshoes, because the snow in the hollows and channels of the terrain is deep and loose. In the steep slope, which is now to cross to the south, you have to be careful with more snow (as now). We advise the route and run in one of the gutters up to the saddle between Derrajoch and Derraköpfle, on which the Upper Derra-Alpe (1810m) stands. Here the hair dryer welcomes us and blows us around the ears. The Güntlespitze is now in front of you, and you have several ways to get on the crest that pulls down to the north / northeast. Because of the many drifting snow, we stick to the blown back, where every now and then the grass looks out. The ridge is rising right, we are back in the shade. We will be warm anyway. On approx. 2040m If you reach the ridge going east, and from here it is only ten minutes until we reach Föhnsturm and the best weather at the top of the Güntlespitze (2092m) stand.
The view is terrific. The valleys and low mountains are all still snow-free, on the summits snow snowfalls testify to the mighty wind. Because of him we have to be careful, we stick to the signpost that acts as a summit cross. In the south we can meet the goals of ours Lechquellen Tour make out, far to the west is the säntis, No one else is on the way. It took about 1.5 hours from the upper Spitalalpe.
The tightrope walk
We have a lot of time, so we decide on the absolutely photogenic ridge direction Wannenberg to move on a bit. With the wind you have to be careful, the flanks are quite steep and full of snowdrifts. The snow at the junction to the Ütschenspitze is completely calm and would make an excellent bivouac. We leave the marked path and walk southeast along the ridge (marked with gray dots on the compass map). After half an hour up and down, always along the relatively blown down slope, we stand on the Rear Üntschenspitze (2046m), the highest peak on the ridge to Wannenberg. The ridge becomes very narrow from here, and since we have the time in sight, we run fast in the track back to Güntlespitze. The ridge has only hard snow, but as soon as we are in open terrain, we switch to the gullies full of powder snow and cheer down the mountain. The upper Derra-Alpe comes way too early, we sit in the sun, eat something and snowball throw, where I fail hopelessly.
Back in the hiking country
From the Alpe we run one of the gullies in the finest powder directly down to the Bachtal, instead of crossing the slope as in the ascent. A few hikers, who are on their way to the Upper Spitalalpe, watch us from far away and wave. We quickly reach the stream and then the trail, where we can take a few snow fields with us and arrive safely and satisfied again at our Spitalalpe. Packed the things, a little bit explored and talked to a hiking family, we make our way soon and come back in around 3 pm Baad on. From here the bus to Oberstdorf and already we sit on the train, which brings us without changing today to our loved ones. At home there's no hole in the mattress ...
