Majestic peaks – the crowning jewels around the Wilder Kaiser mountains

The first leg of the Kaiserkrone takes you to dizzying heights and majestic views. Even if you start leisurely today, a steady ascent to the alpine landscape around the Wilder Kaiser awaits you.After the hiking bus has dropped you off or you have already run warm from the car park at the fire brigade, your round trip starts at the hiking car park Hüttling in Going. Over a forest path you now ascend your first 200 meters to Graspoint Niederalm, which soon changes to a narrow path. You wander past the rushing Stiegenbach waterfall and see the Obere Regalm in the distance. Here you can stop for a cool drink on the weekend, before you continue your way over the Wilder-Kaiser-Steig. You ascend to more than 1,570 vertical meters and are rewarded with magnificent panoramas on the Wilder Kaiser, the Kitzbühel Alps and the Hohe Tauern.If you want to enjoy a homemade Kaiserschmarrn, the Gaudeamushütte is the perfect stopover. The cabin also offers beds and berths if you want to extend your stay throughout the night.Surefootedness and a head for heights are essential on the next section on the narrow Klamml trail. Expect here a pass of one to one and a half hours, because there are a few climbing passages waiting for you. Iron ladders, chains and grips will help you with that.After this exciting change, you will be rewarded with a wonderful view of the "Wild Castle": a mighty rock massif with numerous stone battlements, towers and balconies. Now it is not far to the hut Grutten, where you get a camp or a room for the night. On the spacious sun terrace you can enjoy the view of the Ellmauer Halt, the highest peak of the Kaisergebirge.The Gruttenhütte has about 100 beds, from twin rooms to multi-bedded rooms to the camp for 18 people and is open from June to October. One night can be reserved online. Think of cash, because the fees have to be paid in cash at the landlord.

The second stage of the imperial crown is characterized by a long descent, which offers you the most beautiful views of the Hohe Tauern and Kitzbühel Alps. At the end of this day you will reach the turquoise shining Hintersteiner lake.No sooner have you left the Grutten hut than you are already on the Wilden-Kaiser-Steig, which will take you to an enchanting kar landscape with gnarled pine trees. The Kaisergipfel Treffauer and Tuxeck tower above you.
After a short time you will reach the uncultivated Kaiser-Hochalm. Just a few steps further you can reward yourself on the cozy Steiner Hochalm to the Harfenklang with a fresh buttermilk.Over a mountain trail now begins the steady descent to the crystal-clear and in every conceivable blue and turquoise tones shining Hintersteiner lake. As you walk along its wooded shore, several places await you to dream and linger. At the end of the west bank, you leave the lake and make your way north.Pension Maier provides you with food and drink and can be your destination of the day. If you go a few hundred meters, there is another accommodation at the Pension Hagenhof.

Today, it's high. Numerous huts and alpine pastures line up your climb into the alpine landscape around the Wilder Kaiser. This will be the most challenging day of the entire hike.The climb begins gently until you reach the managed Walleralm. Right next door is the Stöfflhütte with home-brewed beer and a delicious Kaiserschmarrn. From here you have a wonderful view of the Kreuzbichl and the Inn valley below. A challenging climb takes you over blooming alpine meadows up to the wooden summit cross on the Hochegg. Now you have time to recover, because the Adlerweg runs over lush pastures on an idyllic plateau.Arrived halfway begins the adventurous Bettlersteig. Rustic wooden bridges and staircases, a wire rope and iron braces make the way as exciting as exciting. The trail ends at the roaring Kaiserbach in a picturesque basin. Here is the last, but quite demanding climb through mountain forests and several stairs to Stripsenjochhaus on you. With a little luck, you can see climbers on the famous rock faces "Totenkirchl" and "Fleischbank".The Stripsenjochhaus is managed from May to October and has twin and shared rooms as well as a large bed storage and shower facilities. Cabin sleeping bags must be brought by yourself.

This stage is a balancing act in the truest sense of the word. Breathtaking views await you on narrow ridge paths before you begin your long descent into the Kaiserbachtal.In the morning sun you start your climb from the Stripsenjochhaus up to the Stripsenkopf. A narrow, promising ridge, partially secured with wire ropes and iron clamps, leads you to the summit of the Stripsenkopf, at 1,807 meters, with its wildly romantic viewing pavilion. Here you have a unique panorama of the Kaisergipfel and its cliffs, in good weather you can even see the Chiemsee in the north and the Karwendel in the west.We continue on an exciting ridge, which lets you breathe a bit downhill, before you climb the Feldberg summit. A wooden bench invites you to linger beneath the summit cross and you can immortalize yourself at the view over the Ellmauer Tor in the summit book.Now you follow a path that soon turns into a forest road and leads you over a long descent into the beautiful Kaiserbachtal. In the Gasthaus Griessau you can stop for a rest or you follow the stage further along clear, cool mountain streams to Gasteig. Here you can find several overnight accommodations from apartments to guesthouses.

Lonely forest roads and beautiful forests characterize the last stage of the imperial crown. Gentle up and downs balance each other today, while the view of the Wilder Kaiser is your constant companion.From Gasteig you dive after a few hundred meters in a quiet forest area. A forest path leads past the Jausenstation Bacheralm, the only cultivated pasture on this stage. If you want, cover yourself with home-made bacon and sausages as a way to eat. Open meadows and pastures provide a magnificent view of the mountains. But it gets even more beautiful: Via the Wilder-Kaiser-Steig you reach the Ursulablick, a magnificent vantage point on the Kitzbüheler Horn and the Maukspitze in the Kitzbühel Alps.Along the wire ropes and iron clamps the way up to the Gscheuerkopf becomes even more exciting. If you have managed the partially exposed climb, a great panorama over the landscape awaits you, which you have passed through in the last days. The trail leads you into a dreamy forest and soon you will wander through a fragrant alpine landscape. Wildly romantic, but uncultivated alpine huts line your way to the forest road, which you already know from the first stage. If you like, take another trip to the Stiegenbach Waterfall before heading off to the final descent.One last stop for refreshments is on the Graspoint Niederalm before your adventure around the Wilder Kaiser ends after five eventful days at the Hüttling Wanderparkplatz. From here, the hiking bus will bring you back to your car, or you'll just wander off the farewell section through the picturesque valley.