THE HEART OF THE KARWENDEL ALPS

VIA ALPINA DAY 27 – SATURDAY 18 JULY 2026
LAMSENJOCKHUTTE – NEAR SCHAMITZ

DISTANCE HIKED: 27.3 km
ELEVATION GAIN:  1,235 m

TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 692.30km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 37,465 m

There were patches of blue sky as we were leaving the hut after breakfast. We were pleased to have stayed at the hut as there was a lot of rain overnight.

Breakfast was nice, as it almost always has been wherever we stayed, but it was slow because of the number of people waiting in line to  self-serve in a very small area.

We left the hut at 7.30 with a spring in our step as we had a 6km descent on what was reasonably good trail.  There were quite a few Alpine chamois around the hut which we watched for a while. They looked so elegant. And we also saw what looked like European cousins of our Appalachian Trail wet weather friends the Efts,  these are black Alpine salamander.

Despite another rainy day being predicted we hiked down past the two meadows, Binalm and Engalm in beautiful morning sunshine. There was fog hanging on the high mountain tops but it wasn’t growing.  The limestone ridges of the Karawendels are certainly impressive. Bare rock soaring up to the sky, with interesting erosion patterns on the ridge tops.   

Being a weekend, we passed many groups of hikers heading up  into the mountains.

From the busy looking Engalm intersection we headed up for a long climb towards FalkenHutte. Sweaty work until we rose above the trees and were closer to the rugged soaring peaks.

Amazing how quickly the sweaty labour is forgotten when the view justifies the hard work.  The darkening sky and the fog on the mountain tops soon produced rain followed by a few claps of thunder. The rain didn’t last long.

We bypassed the hut and started on the next leg, a long (21km)  section to a small village, Sharnitz, which we probably won’t make today.

We stopped for lunch by a very large and dry river bed. Having not seen anybody since leaving the turnoff  to the  hut, it was surprising to turn the corner from our lunch spot and find a couple of houses,  with cars and children playing.  You are never too far from people and cows, of course.

A sneaky 4km uphill section followed with the weather changing several times by the time  we finished the climb. The Karwendel  mountains are certainly stunning. Especially with the hanging fog swirly around the tops. It’s an alpine range we’ve not heard of before but definitely holds its  own in alpine beauty. 

By late afternoon we made it to a guest house
KarwendelHaus. We had wanted to get some dinner here as we planned to camp lower down in  the valley.  they hadn’t started dinner service when we arrived so we got some soup followed by apple strudle and were on our way. The weather looked quite good when we left. We planned to go till 7 before looking for a campsite. All that changed very quickly as we descended into the valley. We saw dark grey skies getting lower over the mountains.

We found an OK camp-spot. And just as we started to put the tent up, the rumble in the sky was followed by a crack of lightening and heavy rain. We just managed to get under cover, as the skies opened.