Tauferer Ahrntal in South Tyrol > Hikes  > Hike to the Kasseler Refuge Hut

The tour
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Further information

Car park in Rein

View of Rein and the car park

The tour

To reach the Kasseler Hut, which is situated at 2,274 metres above sea level, we left at around 9 am. We travelled by car from Bruneck towards the Tauferer Ahrntal, which, in addition to this one, also offers many other tempting mountain tours. After around 30 minutes in the car (approx. 26 km) we reached the village of Rein in Taufers at 1,600 metres above sea level, which is part of the municipality of Sand in Taufers. We parked our car there. There wasn’t much going on in the car park early in the morning – but this would soon change.

Access to route no. 1

The track runs through the forest

Having parked the car, we set out on the easily passable trail no. 1, which first of all led us through the shady and thus quite chilly wood, then through lush meadows with grazing cattle and gushing mountain springs. The sun, which joined us after a few minutes, soon ensured that we enjoyed pleasant hiking temperatures.

Refreshment in the mountain stream

Broad alpine meadows

After a couple of stops for a drink, the Kasseler Hut, which used to be known as the Hochgall Hut, soon came into sight. However, a few metres before we reached our goal, we needed to overcome an approximately 10 metre long climb with steep steps - but this last small show of strength is certainly no great hindrance even to inexperienced mountain-lovers.

Having reached the top, we took a look at our watches for the first time: it had taken us around 1 hour and 45 minutes of enjoyable walking for the 647-metre climb; hiking guides generally state that the tour takes 2 hours. A quarter of an hour under the average time, and we didn’t hurry by any means. Instead as we climbed, we enjoyed the splendid panoramic view, the peace and fresh mountain air, which was especially invigorating on this particular day, as overnight the first snow had “sprinkled” the surrounding mountain peaks in the Tauferer Ahrntal.

Splendid view on the climb

Summit already covered with snow

This having been noted, all of our interest turned to the fabulous view of the natural beauty of the Rieserferner Ahrn nature reserve that we were able to enjoy from here and the tempting smells that made their way to our noses and whetted our appetite for lunch. Kaiserschmarrn pancakes, delicious pasta or goulash soup – it was hard to choose!

The Kasseler Hut

Fabulous panoramic view

Actually the Kasseler Hut offers opportunities to continue on several further mountain hikes and to climb impressive alpine peaks, but we satisfied ourselves on this occasion with the just under 2 hour-long and decidedly leisurely hut hike, and after approx. one hour's stay we set off for home, the walk back to the car taking around 1 hour and 20 minutes.
Down in the valley the car park was now markedly busier. “A good thing that we set off early in the morning!” we thought to ourselves, and - by now feeling a little bit tired - headed off back to Bruneck.

Contact

Further information

The Kasseler Hut (formerly Hochgall Hut), which was officially opened on 24th July 1895 has a dormitory with 90 beds; it is also open in winter for some months, making it a popular destination for snowshoe walkers and back-country skiers.

You can also find additional photos of this hike on  FlickR.