Day 15 – Hike To Mahlknecht Hütte

Feb 19, 2023

Today’s Adventure

Our destination for Sunday’s hike was the Mahlknecht Hütte, another in a series of family-run hüttes that we have visited this trip. From our apartment in Castelrotto we walked to the nearby bus station and caught a Südtirolmobil bus to Seis. At Seis we boarded the Seiser Alm Bahn, a 10-passenger gondola that took us up to Compatsch, the largest resort area on the Seiser Alm. Most of the winter activities available on the Seiser Alm have their nexus somewhere near the top of this gondola, so it’s a great starting point for many adventures.

From the resort center at Compatsch we followed a winter hiking trail up and over a ridge at the Panorama resort, at which point we left most of the madding crowd behind. Before arriving at that ridge we had crossed downhill ski slopes, stepped carefully over groomed cross-country ski trails, passed a junior luge competition in process, dodged snowmachines, and even waved at a couple of horse drawn carriages filled with tourists. We were ready for a little peace and quiet!

The Mahlknecht Hütte is located in a very quiet corner of the Seiser Alm. It’s well away from the downhill ski runs and generally speaking only reachable on foot. When we arrived a bit after 1:00 PM the outdoor terrace was flooded with sunshine but not very crowded, so it was the perfect place to enjoy a cold draft beer and a charcuterie platter filled with local products. The hütte’s greeter dog, an older border collie, certainly had his under-the-table begging routine down to a fine art.

After lunch we headed north towards Saltria, passing through the small Tirler resort along the way. We enjoyed views of the iconic ridgeline of Seceda as well as the twin mountains of Sassopiatto and Sassolungo on the upper portion of this trail but by the midway point our views were limited to the surrounding evergreen forest. At Saltria we boarded a shuttle bus for the ride back across the Seiser Alm to Compatsch. This bus was included with our Combi Card, a transit pass we had purchased for unlimited use of the Seiser Alm Bahn gondola during our week-long stay.

After returning to Castelrotto was stopped at the Café Stern for a well-earned gelato on their outside terrace. We walked by this nice-looking bistro twice every day because of its location just down the block from our apartment – we definitely had to stop in at least once during our stay!

All told we hiked 6.6 miles today and added 1,017 feet of vertical to our total for the trip.

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Castelrotto’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.