Auenhütte via the Melköde to the Schwarzwasserhütte — Kleinwalsertal

Varied hike along the Schwarzwasserbach. Between Melköd-Alm and Schwarzwasserhütte partly moderately difficult. Beautiful alpine pastures

When you get a visit from a friend who is as lovely as she is fond of mountains, you obviously have to go on a mountain tour. We were lucky and the Schwarwasserhütte still had 2 beds available in a 2-bed room. So off we went and after breathtaking cotton grass meadows, dotted with tons of spotted orchid and much more, we passed the Melköde with its impressive waterfall and quickly reached the hut. In the dreamlike surroundings of Ifen, Hählekopfe, Steinmandl, Grünhorn, Ochsenhofer Köpfen and Walmerdinger Horn, the hut is nestled in the middle of magnificently blooming alpine meadows, the alpine roses in particular are fascinating at the moment next to the white contrasting cotton grass 🤩. We moved into our beautiful room and enjoyed our delicious dinner on the sunny terrace, almost alone (haha the rest were sitting in front of the TV) just in time for the kick-off of the football match (D-E). Dumpling trio with salad (15.60€), plentiful and ultra delicious! Completely uninterested in football, at least I was, we walked to the Gerachsattel (next tour) 🥰

.......okay, there weren't quite 1000 fly agarics, but all the photos of the 🍄 were taken right on the side of the path. We had actually planned today's tour as a snowshoe tour in the winter, but it never happened. Today it was exclusively an EKS🧀☕️🍻🍰 tour, because the landscape, apart from the magnificent view of the Ifen, wasn't really that great. But whatever, the weather was great, and so the route has already been tested for the winter. By the way, I can only recommend that all snowshoe hikers do planned winter tours in the fall to get to know the terrain. Greetings, Melchior

Today's tour was initially planned a little differently: From the valley station of the Ifenbahn, we first want to climb over the lower and upper Walmedinger Alp to 1900 meters above sea level to the Walmendinger Horn and from there hike along the high trail to the Muttelbergkopf, to the Ochsenhoferköpfen and finally to the Ochsenhofer Scharte. From there we want to descend back into the valley via the Schwarzwasserhütte. A tour that should be easy to manage at just under 14 kilometers and 700 meters above sea level. The closer we get to our starting point, the valley station of the high Ifenbahn, the more clearly the white pointed caps of the mountain peaks come into our field of vision. From our position in the valley, it now even looks as if the entire high trail, at least in parts, is still covered in snow. Since I don't want to have to abandon the tour after the ascent because of difficult snowfields and have to turn back, we decide to reverse the tour direction and first walk to the Schwarzwasserhütte and from there see if a further ascent is possible. The path through the Schwarzwassertal to the Alpe Melköd runs along a wide footpath that can be walked without any problems even with a stroller. From the Alpe, the path climbs much steeper, but still leads easily and with great variety through mountain forest, raised moor and past alpine meadows to the Schwarzwasserhütte. The hut is currently being prepared for its season opening tomorrow. The hut owner tells us that the further ascent is only possible over snowfields. We don't want to risk that today, however. (A local hiker also tells us that the paths are not officially open yet anyway). So we decide to return the same way, which doesn't detract from the enjoyment of this little tour. An easy mountain tour in a wonderful landscape!

It was a great autumn hike. It was actually still raining a little at the Hoher Ifen car park (5 € day ticket). There were lots of beautiful fly agarics, some of them huge (average size over 20 cm). The Alpe Melköde and the Schwarwasserhütte are closing soon. At the end I enjoyed the sun for a while at the Herzsee.

There is a large parking lot at the Auenhütte - day ticket 5 euros (as of May 2025) cash and card payments are accepted. A wide and mostly flat gravel path leads from the Auenhütte to the Melköde Alp. The path is wide and very easy to walk on, and also suitable for strollers and bicycles. You repeatedly walk along the water and have beautiful views of the moorland. From the Alpe, the path becomes significantly steeper and more uneven, but is still very easy to walk - even in wet weather. Overall, a very beautiful and recommendable hike. Since we were there out of season and in wet/foggy weather, we were completely alone. Peace and quiet/undisturbed sounds of nature included. The Schwarzwasser Hut and the Auenhütte were closed, so we can't comment on the restaurants.

The rain stopped and so it was a beautiful tour. Always with a view of the Ifen. The stop at the Schwarzwasserhütte was wonderful and is recommended without reservation 😃⛰️🏔🐐

From the valley station of the Ifenbahn to the Schwarzwasserhütte in beautiful warm weather. Our first overnight stay in an Alpine hut.