Hochiss, Achensee

We had some friends from the UK visiting us, and wanted to make the most of the limited amount of time they had in the mountains with us. We had previously done this walk last year, when I flew off the top, and it was certainly memorable due to the relatively small amount of ascent thanks to the Rofanbahn, fantastic views, and even a little bit of scrambling.

While last time there was plenty of hill fog in the morning, which made the ascent fairly grim and cold, this time we were basking in the warm sunshine, which made the walk enjoyable from the start. As we climbed up towards the Rotspitz and the view into the Karwendel and over Achense opened up it was just fantastic. From this point the entire ascent of the ridge was enjoyable, and we managed to find a location in the sun and out of the wind for lunch.

As the day went on the Föhn winds started to develop, and you could clearly see Föhn clouds over the main alpine ridge. This meant that the summit was pretty chilly, combined with the high cloud which had formed. So after a quick selfie and look at the views, we started our descent back down to the Rofanbahn, and a plate of Kaiserschmarrn at the alm.