Good to know:
Distance: 18 km
Rate: easy
Altitude: Climb/descend more than 700 meters in altitude
Map (incl. elevation information): Walk at Ums (Sud-Tirol, IT)
GPS-track available for download: yes
The walk starts at a parking lot near the little church of Ums. Park your car here and follow track U.
The first few kilometers are along a forest with lovely views towards valleys with small villages. Be sure to watch out for birds as well; we saw lots of bullfinches and a black woodpecker just a few couple of meters away from us.
After a while the path will take you in a forest and from thereon it steadily goes up (the track has become nr. 2).
A view small chapels for praying can be found along the track, or one can encounters cattle.
At a crossing (where you have to turn right to continue this walk), you can opt to walk a few hundred meters further to get to the Volser Weiher, a small lake where one is allowed to swim. There is also a restaurant nearby.
After a short peek we turned back and picked up our track again (track nr. 1). There is another lake, Huber Weiher (1096 meters), which we enjoyed more than the Volser Weiher. Most probably because it was somewhat quieter than at the Volser Weiher lake. Even Rosa was enjoying the scenic view. A good place to drink somewhat before one has to go up to the Tuffalm, which is at 1274 meter altitude.
One can decide to take the steep climb up through the forest (track 1) or follow the paved road which slowly gains elevation. We opted for the paved road. Both tracks lead to the Tuffalm, a very beautiful hut with a huge terrace.
After enjoying a lunch at the Tuffalm we continue our track. We tried to find Track nr. 1 (but then the lower track) that goes directly towards the Hofer Alpl (1340m) but somehow were not able to find it. So we ended up following a track (also numbered 1) higher up on the hill. The first few hundreds meters are really not easy. Not because of a difficult track but because it goes up rather steep over a short distance. We did not have the time to go to the Hofer Alpl which can be reached by taking a detour over Track 3, but continued on Track nr. 1. Now and then you have a great view over de surrounding area. Via the so-called Hammerwand we end up at Track nr. 7, leading to Restaurant Schonblick.
We follow the paved road for only a short period, before we turn right into the forest again (Track nr. 0). Although Ums does not look that far away, the descent still takes about 30 - 45 minutes. And guess what ....... the last kilometer it started to rain and we arrived at our car soaking wet (despite the raingear we quickly had put on in the forest). How nice !!
Nevertheless a pleasant walk which we can recommend to anyone.
More stunning walks can be found in this booklet which unfortunately only is available in German, but which we can certainly recommend.
And don’t forget to buy a map of the region. Despite the GPS it is always a good idea to have a map with you as well.