Wackendorfer Spitze
Trip overview
Wackendorfer Spitze, known in Slovenian as Veška kopa (or Veški vrh) is a 2.079-meter-high peak situated in the Petzen (Peca) range of the Karawanks mountains near the Austrian-Slovenian border. Renowned as the northernmost mountain exceeding 2.000 meters in the range it offers expansive views of the Drava Valley. Petzen massif looks pretty impressive when approached from the northern side as there is more than 1.5 km of elevation difference. It’s a pretty rewarding experience to get to the top peaks of it even in the summer, let alone in the winter. Flat crested Wackendorfer Spitze is the first peak with prominence higher than 2 thousand meters from the western side of Petzen massif.
Route description
Wackendorfer Spitze - trail from Wackendorf:
Starting from Wackendorf we walk a bit through the village to slowly enter the forest with a 4x4 road. This is where the steepness starts to rise but only for the first 300 meters after which the trail takes us to the moderately steep path zigzagging and traversing the slopes of Jelen mountain through pine forest. At some point the terrain gets almost even for a short stretch. Then we follow more zigzags cutting forest roads till we reach Wackendorfer Alm.
We are on a nice alpine meadow with a mountain hut, in the summer time we need to watch for the cattle that is being fed in here. We can also already see the peak of Wackendorfer Spitze or at least its presummits. Up ahead we traverse the slopes of Feuersberger Spitze (trail does not go through it directly). We land on a vast saddle between Feuersberger Spitze and Wackendorfer Spitze. Now the steepness rises and another 300 meters are quite strenuous but also pretty rewarding in terms of views around because we leave the forest. Getting to around 2.000 meters of elevation the terrain gets more flat and after a couple of pre-summits we land on the top of Wackendorfer Spitze.
Presumably in the summer months the trip can be continued to Feistritzer Spitze which is located about 1 km and 100 meters of ascent but I could not afford that due to winter conditions and hiking with an 8-year-old son. From there an alternative return path can be taken to get back to Wackendorf.
Trip conditions
Weather:
Pretty warm for February, most of the ascent I did in a single merino layer, adding some wind stopper for the upper part. Sunny and a bit windy in the summit sections. Inversion of temperature - when leaving Wackendorf the grass was covered in frost.
Trail:
Marked sufficiently, a bit problematic at the start - not very dense in marking in Wackendorf. Well marked in the forest part, about the upper part cannot say much as rocks with markings were mostly covered in snow. Still some were sticking out and it was quite obvious in which direction to go next.
Additional information
Tips and author's comments:
No tourists were met on the trail, it was approached on a working day although during winter holidays.
Trip done with 8 year old kid.
Dangers:
Trip is safe. Just summit section needs a bit of care as there is a cliff from the northern side of the peak.
Gear used:
30l rucksack, trekking poles, gaiters, snowshoes
Transportation:
Starting point reached by car. Parking next to church building (probably not a good idea during Sunday).
Accommodation:
No info.