Westweg: stage 06 (Hark - Hausach)

At Harksattel above the Gasthaus Hark, hikers find the Westweg again. Crossing over mountain meadows, the trail leads into the forest and around Regeleskopf to Kreuzsattel saddle. Shortly thereafter, at the “Am Reiherskopf” sign, the Brandenkopf variation branches off from the Westweg. The main trail leads to the east across Reiherkopf’s face to Hirzwasen. The variation circumvents Reiherskopf to the north and crosses the road Brandenkopfstraße at the cabin Steiglehütte. From there, the trail continues through a thick wood, passing mossy stone blocks up to the outlook tower and the restaurant at Brandenkopf’s peak. The descent now passes just under Bettelfrau along with the trail Hansjakob-Weg to reach Hirzwasen. From now on, the Westweg remains faithful to the ridge between the lovely valleys Einbachtal and Wolftal. Sometimes on the right, other times on the left of the ridge, it crosses Hesselbacher Höhe plateau, Burzbühl (713m), and Ebenacker-Sattel saddle to reach the cabin Hohenlochenhütte, romantically located on a cliff. A wooden “Aussicht” [view] sign shows the way to a short detour to Hohenlochen (689m), offering a beautiful view over the Wolftal valley. At Osterbachsattel saddle, the Westweg departs from the forest, with the estate Käppelhof lying below in the middle of fruit fields. Behind Weißes Kreuz cross and a pleasant trail on the edge of the forest, the trail climbs up to the sharp Spitzfelsen cliffs. The view from the cross down onto nearby Hausach and Kinzig’s neighboring valleys provides compensation for all the work to get there. Tight, sharp turns along the edge of the forest lead down to Kinzig, from where it’s just a few meters to Hausach via a footbridge over the Kinzig river.