“Wetterkreuz-Roas” in St. Peter

Photo: Egerer

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Today’s excursion tipp has been created by women, adequate to our “Botin” issue. The Catholic Women’s Movement in St Peter, resp. Martina Secco, Claudia Pölzlbauer and Julia Tauchner, have established an eight kilometers tour that offers a lot of cultural assets. Magnificent views and unhurried times are being guaranteed.

Our starting point is Family Pölzlbauer’s “Alpengasthaus zum Wechselblick” – please note that it is only open from Thursday to Sunday. We cover the first kilometer until “Hermannsquelle” (this spring water is being considered as especially soft) on an asphalt road with only light traffic. It leads through the forest and mainly serves as residential street.

We continue walking on the road until we reach the first three “Wetterkreuze” which are located at left hand side, yet in a right turn. A Wetterkreuz ( = “weather cross”) is a Christian cross, usually three crosses next to each other, that serves as a symbol. “In former times, the farmers gathered at these weather crosses in spring and autumn, to first ask for a bountiful harvest and later give thanks for it. When the harvest had not been a good one, well, then they asked for a better one in the following year” says Martina Secco.
We return to the street and walk on, up to the next left turn, here, we continue hiking into the wood on a forest road. When it turns left, keep walking straight into the wood – you are going to hear the sounds of the creek. Evebtually, we arrive at so-called “Hahnhütte”, a hunting lodge. According to Secco, hunters who wanted to monitor black cocks constructed it, as for this endeavour, being on site at 4 am is essential. We are already standing on 1.236 meters above sea level.

Several options

Here, we can choose from three options: either one takes the forest path at left, direction Kampsteiner Schwaig, or one follows the yellow marking, which leads directly back to the starting point, yet steeply downhill. We, however, cold-shoulder Hahnhütte and turn right, behind the pile of wood, into a grass-covered forest path that finally ends into another forest path. Here, we turn right and hike downhill. At the next left turn, we arrive at a mountain pasture, bordered by a dry stone wall. We walk along this wall to the right, pass a cattle shed and continue until “Jula-Keuschn”. “In former times, a midwife named Julia who helped women giving birth to their babies was living here” says Secco. This 150 year-old hut, partly made of stone, is privately owned and an idyllic power and recreation place. Also here, there are various opportunitoes to continue hiking. Either one passes the hut and turns left onto the forest road – this way, one returns to Hermannsquelle. Or one hikes back direction forest street and soon recognizes the yellow signpost leading back to the Alpengasthaus. But we walk back along the stone wall, return to the forest road, turn right and follow the way down to Waldkapelle – which even has it’s own bell tower. “The down part was made of natural wood trunks, the upper part served as “Droatkasten” in old times. The shingles came from South Tyrol. The benches for the chapel derive from the village church in St. Peter, the altar was made of stone and the door is the former vestry door of the church in St. Peter”, Martine Secco is telling us.

From here, we turn left onto the meadow and continue along its edge, pass the the wood house with the green roof, until we reach a marked hollow way which leads us to Hatzlhof and and to three more weather crosses. From here, we follow the street to the right to our starting point.

All in all, one needs two to three hours time for the tour; almost the whole track is suitable for cross-country baby prams. Opportunities to stop for a bite to eat only at the starting- and finishing point or in St. Peter.

Info
Dolores Marie Schärf unterrichtet Englisch, Französisch, Spanisch sowie Italienisch und ist als Dolmetscherin bzw. Übersetzerin tätig.

Photos: Egerer