Abstract
September 7th, 2025
I didn’t reach the activation zone, hence no activation.
Difficulty: T5, UIAA III (SAC-Wanderskala, UIAA-Kletterskala)
Wx: Overcast, approx 18°C, light winds
Walking time: 2:45 to Waltenberger Haus, 1:00 to Bockkarscharte
Ascent/ descent: approx. 1750 vertical metres up, approx. 600 vertical metres down
Highlight: Great hike in a beautiful mountain range and perfect weather
Lowlight: None
Hochfrottspitze seen from Bockkarkopf:
How to get there?
From Waltenberger Haus (2085m a.s.l.) to Bockkarscharte (2504m a.s.l.) then on an unmarked track along the south western ridge to the top. Details can be found on SOTLAS and further down here.
Trip report:
My adventure began in Oberstdorf, where I got on the bus that regularly winds its way to Alpe Eschbach. From there, I set off along a gentle hiking trail, leading me to Einödsbach – the southernmost settlement in Germany. Here, the trail branches off towards the east with a magnificent view on Trettachspitze (appears to be the highest peak in the photo), Mädelegabel and Hochfrottspitze in the centre and the two „Berge der guten Hoffnung“ which look higher than they are. Waltenberger Haus is situated a bit right to their foot, where the bare rock begins.
The trail turns southward and the valley begins to narrow. As the hiker constantly faces high, jagged cliffs a rather uneasy feeling evolves. I didn’t like this part of the trail. After a while it turns north and, after a short scramble, passes this spot.
I passed two young ladies just before I reached that temporary bridge. They were sitting almost halfway across the trail, in a rather inconvenient spot, and looked a little battered. First I thought one of them might be injured and asked if I could help. When I later saw the bridge I knew what had happened. The view down is „impressive“ to say the least.
Soon after the bridge lay behind me, the terrain opened up, my view became wide, and my mood immediately improved. I took the chance to take a break, had a snack and enjoyed the view (for the first time of the day). Soon after, Waltenberger Haus came into view, and it wasn’t long before I reached it.
I sat on the terrace and had a drink when suddenly the sound of a helicopter became audible. Within seconds, it appeared and landed on the helipad below the hut.
Two mountain rescuers jumped out and started working on the helicopter. Before long, it took off again. Now with a long rope attached to it. The rope streched, then lifted the two mountain rescuers off the ground and they disappeared from sight. Apparently, they had prepared for a rescue operation in difficult terrain.
Not too long after, the helicopter returned and carefully dropped three people off on the helipad.
I have to admit that I’m a fan of a mountain rescue series on the German TV. Among other things I admire how stable the pilot can keep the helicopter in the air. Looking at the helicopter in this real life situation made me worry. It was moving and shaking all the time. The pilot had his hands full keeping the aircraft stable in the air while dropping off the three people.
The entire rescue operation took less than 20 minutes. Soon, the helicopter was gone again. Fingers crossed that this unlucky person gets well soon.
Then it was time for me to tackle the ascent to Bockkarscharte and further to Hochfrottspitze. With renewed energy, I set off for the summit. The ascent leads over steep scree fields and takes about 45 minutes, then you reach a section, already close to the col, secured with ropes. It’s neither difficult nor exposed but you have to move carefully.
When I reached the col, I did not descent to the hiking trail (Heilbronner Weg) on the other side but turned left and continued on the south western ridge on an unmarked track.
This is again the view of Hochfrottspitze as seen from Bockkarkopf (2609m a.s.l.) for a better overview. The red arrow points at the summit cross, the red dots show my track (roughly), starting from the col (Bockkarscharte, yellow arrow) to the highest point I reached. The trail from Waltenberger Haus is marked with a green arrow. The blue arrow points at the highly frequented hiking trail (Heilbronner Weg) underneath the col. Because of the many hikers you have to be extremely careful not to drop any rocks on the trail.
The first part of the ascent is neither difficult nor very exposed. Most of the time the track is visible or easy to find. It gets more interesting roughly where the dotted line turns upward. This section is shown in the next picture. The track is still visible but the terrain becomes more difficult. The red arrow points at a prominent spot for better orientation.
Close-up of the prominent spot. I was surprised to find a fairly large, flat area up here (approx. 2600m a.s.l.) This would have been a good spot to have a snack but being a bit nervous, I carried on. On the way back I actually took a break here and even had three QSOs on 2m FM which obviously didn’t count for the activation.
A small cairn indicated the way up, so I set off along the gully shown in the next photo. It wasn’t quite as steep as it looks but this was definitely climbing in the second grade. When I looked back at the trail I saw people watching and pointing at me. I also noticed that I was quite exposed now. On the way back, I would have to look down into the depths with every step I took. And there was still a lot of scree and lose rocks lying around, which under no circumstances should be thrown down. I started feeling a bit uneasy…
I took a short break at a convenient spot and looked aroud. As the next metres were a little more gentle, I carried on until I reached a step. From here, the secondary summit was already visible (behind the light grey peak in the foreground on the photo below). But I knew the crux was waiting: A near vertical wall of about ten metres height in the third grade which all guides suggest to climb more or less directly. Was this really what I wanted to do, I asked myself.
It might have been possible but maybe not today and definitely not in the opposite direction on the descent! On both sides of the ridge, it went straight down. I thought about my options for a moment: The summit cross was already close…
Then I took the decision to turn back. Climbing this wall was out of discussion – at least without a partner.
Carefully, to prevent loose rock from falling down, I made my way back to the step. There I had a snack and took out the 2m HT. I had three QSOs, two of them with other SOTA activators on their summits. Then I returned to the col and with nothing else to do, climbed Bockkarkopf (2609m a.s.l.) unfortunately, no longer a SOTA reference.
I returned to Waltenberger Haus just in time for supper. It was a delicious meal in good company. Later we watched the sunset and went to bed early as the next adventure Kratzer, DL/AL-013 was waiting the next day.
Thanks for reading this far! It was lots of fun 