Bachwinkl - Schartenkopf

Access to starting point:
Through the Karawanks Tunnel, we drive to Austria, and then we continue driving on Tauern highway. Further, we drive through the tunnel Katschberg and later also Tauerntunnel, we follow the highway towards Salzburg only to exit for Bischofshofen, from where we continue driving on a four-lane road towards the already mentioned town. From Bischofshofen we follow the signs for settlement Zell am See and then for settlement Saalfelden. Through the settlement Saalfelden we continue straight on the main road, little before the sign which marks the end of the settlement, we turn right on a narrow road where the signs »Pabing - Bachwinkel« point us to. When driving through the village we then follow mountain signposts towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte. Signposts then point us to the left on a macadam road. We park on a large parking lot before the bridge.

Path description:
From the parking lot, we continue on a macadam road which is further closed for traffic. We walk on the mentioned road and at the crossroads, we follow the signs for mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte. The road in the beginning crosses two streams and then it brings us to a gate.
Here we continue right on a footpath and we start ascending a little steeper through the forest. Higher for a short time, we again join the road which brings us to a marked crossing. At the crossing, we continue left on a footpath following the signs »Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte - 412«, and further on the road leads the path towards the mountain pasture Steinalm and the path 412e (Seilbahnweg) towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte.
From the crossing, we are then ascending mostly in zig-zags through the forest from which a view rarely opens up towards the settlement Saalfelden. Higher, the path turns right and then crosses slopes towards the northeast. The path here all the time runs through the forest, and by the path are occasionally also benches, which they give names to. Such a path then brings us to a crossing at an altitude 1345 meters.
At the crossing, we continue slightly right following the signs »Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte - 412«, left lead path 412a and 412d also towards the mountain hut Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte, and right downwards leads the path 412e back towards the starting point. From the crossing, our path for some time crosses slopes towards the northeast, and then turns left and again starts ascending a little steeper. The forest becomes a little thinner and from the path, the views start opening up on the nearby peaks. Higher the forest is replaced by dwarf pines and then follows few ascents to the mountain hut.
At the mountain hut, we continue past cargo cableway to a crossing where we continue left following the signs »Ingolstädter Haus«, right leads the path on Persailhorn. Further, a gentle path crosses slopes towards the northeast. Soon left downwards path branches off towards the mountain pasture Weißbachlalm, and we continue straight and we still cross slopes below peaks Persailhorn and Achselhorn. Later, the path turns slightly left and in ascent crosses mostly grassy slopes. On some spots where the slope is steeper, there is also a steel cable for help. Higher, the path starts a little steeper ascending and also with the help of some fixed safety gear brings us to the notch Weißbachlscharte where there is a crossing.
To the right leads the path towards the summit Mitterhorn, straight downwards leads the path towards the mountain hut Ingolstädter Haus, and on the notch, we go left on pathless terrain. From the notch, we at first ascend on a rocky slope to the ridge from which soon a view opens up towards the summit Schartenkopf. Ridge further becomes a little more grassy and also a little narrower. On panoramic ridge we then soon reach the peak on which stands also a bigger cairn.

On the way: Peter Wiechenthaler Hütte (1752m), Weißbachlscharte (2259m)