A distant Tschigat (2998m) in the early morning sun

Seen from the east by southeast, from Schutzhaus Hochgang (1839m). It's the morning of my second day in the Texel Group. Yesterday had been easy, hiking along the Meraner Höhenweg from the Gigglberg to Schutzhaus Hochgang, where I spent the night. Today I've got bigger plans. First I'll hike up the steep trail to the Hochgangscharte, a high pass to the north. From there I want to make a side trip and scramble up the Spronser Rötelspitze. After that it's going to be a long hike north to the Pfelderer valley. I'm thinking about climbing the Erenspitze along the way. My guidebook says the south ridge is UIAA grade II, the north ridge is grade I. A south-north traverse might be interesting. At first all goes well. In the afternoon I'm at the base of the south ridge. But I'm already a bit tired, and I don't like the mixture of grass and somewhat loose rock that I find there. I still scramble up a couple of meters, before I then realize that this is not the sort of thing I should be doing alone, especially not when I'm not fresh anymore, so I back off and hike down the easy trail in the Faltschnaltal instead. But what does all this have to do with Tschigat? Well, I already knew that the normal route was on the other side, and it was one of the peaks I wanted to climb in the next few days. But, like the Erenspitze, my guidebook helps me to plan a traverse: up by the east face, which is so nicely illuminated here, and down the other side. It looks steep in this picture, but it's only UIAA grade II on the way up, and mostly grade I on the other side. And in contrast with the Erenspitze, the rock is of pretty good quality and there is no grass. It turns out to be a fine traverse, and the highlight of my visit to the Texel Group this year. 1 August 2012.