Kleinobir (from Gallizien)
Kleinobir lies just a bit north off his great brother - Hochobir and when viewed from the bottom may not even seem as a separate peak because of its flat and green mountain dome. I have first taken it as part of Hochobir’s slope. With height that does not exceed 2000 meters it’s not definitely ranked among the highest peaks of Karavanke mountain range. But because of its location at the edge of the range the relative difference between the peak and the valley results in one of the longer ascents we can get in Karavanke - especially accessing it from the village of Gallizien
Another problematic thing may be the transporation as it requires using at least two bus services - for the trip starting and ending point.
Kleinobir can be also conquered from western side as described in here. Anyway, both of these trails meet at Jagoutzsattel pass.
The path from Gallizien gives a feeling of crude terrain, with part of the path damaged by heavy rainfall, strong wind etc. There is also a 4x4 road that spoils the impression. There are sweeter spots as well. First one is 50 meter tall Wildensteiner waterfall that lies next to the path and we need to detour maybe 50 meters to get to the viewing point. Another sweet point on the way is the north face of Hochobir that will accompany us once we enter deeper into the valley.
Starting from the bottom at first we have a nice prepared path that runs as far as waterfall viewing spot, then the terrain gets steeper, with occasional railing protection and even a set of metal stairs. After that we hit the 4x4 road that we can continue all the way up to the Hoffmanshütte building. The trail takes shortcuts between sections of the road but it was not in best condition due to fallen trees and heavy rainfall that eroded the path.
Above Hoffmanshütte we take the right turn in the opening of the valley, omit the first shortcut up (please refer to the image below) and continue up using 4x4 road. The last 150 meters up run through shallow and low forest. Marking is pretty bad in here, but maybe without snow the path is easier to navigate. The steepness is increased but not that terrible and won’t give in before the Jagoutzsattel pass.
From Jagoutzsattel pass we still have 250 meters of ascent to cover, the marking of the trail is not abundant, it’s a bit of instinctive walking with a look for easier passage. A bit higher the forest start to disappear with dwarf pine dominating the scene. When terrain starts to flatten that’s the sign you are getting closer to the peak.
Kleinobir peak is pretty flat so in order to get more views you will have to move around. After that at least 1450 meters of ascent you might also want to take a break and rest. With that ascent it does not seems as ‘klein’ which means small in German.
-3 degrees at the start, probably under zero the whole day as the snow was dry with the exception of the southern slope of Kleinobir just above Jagoutzsattel pass.
Marking not sufficient at times. Occasional to more frequent fallen trees, path eroded due to past rainfalls. These can be omitted using a 4x4 road that runs along (but is longer in distance).
No info.
No extra dangers.
30l rucksack, trekking poles
