Tuesday, the 10th of September, started with a mix of clouds and blue sky. Today's hike was going to start right behind our hotel, and we were going to stay on "our" side of the lake (yesterday, we'd been at the opposite side).
View of our hotel and neighbouring houses from the back:
These grass hoppers were everywhere. When they spread their wings, they are bright red underneath, and make a rattling sound.
We often came across these flowers, but I don't know what they are. I've asked my Mum, and she isn't sure, either.
For a change, not cows but horses grazing here. Look at the second picture, zoomed in; one of them is eating from a tree:
Getting back down was taxing. I have no pictures of that part of our hike; it was again steep (in parts), rocky and very uneven. When we're on such a path for half an hour or so, I don't mind, but when it goes on for what feels like hours and there is nearly no end in sight, it gets to me - I start to become really tired and unfocused, and fear taking a wrong step, stumble and fall. This only happens to me when I need to carefully place my feet with every step and can not just stride out at my usual walking speed.
I had to stop once or twice, collect my wits and have a drink of water before I felt confident to go on.
We arrived at the hotel towards the end of coffee-and-cake-time. After that, O.K. still had enough energy left to row us across the lake (giving me the chance to dangle my feet in the clear water). Then, as before, a quick trip to the sauna, and then dinner.
That day, we had "only" walked about 13 km, much less than the day before, but due to the long, difficult descent, it felt just as exhausting. In a good way, I hasten to add!
I admire your energy, and courage for tackling those tricky bits. I hope you didn't miss out on the coffee and cake?
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, we had our coffee and cake, and it was delicious!
DeleteSorry you had such a difficult hike down. That can be very hard on your knees. But the views when you are "up" are wonderful. I wonder how you decided on this particular place to spend your vacation.
ReplyDeleteIt was only difficult mentally, Kristi, my knees were fine. Yes, the views are our reward!
DeleteO.K. had come across that place quite by coincidence, via a TV program called "Legendary Hotels of Austria". I looked at their website, fell in love with the design and furniture in the house, and booked!
What luck that you did! It was certainly an inspired choice, not that there are not many wonderful places in the Austrian alps.
DeleteYes, it is definitely a place I can imagine returning to.
DeleteI'm feeling a bit dizzy now, just looking at the photos of some of those views! ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd that's without the fresh air and climb up ;-)
DeleteStunning photos, Meike. I can't wait to open them on my computer (right now I'm on my phone) so I can appreciate them properly. Germany is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteIt's Austria, not Germany, but we have some great places here, too ;-)
DeleteYes, the pictures will look better if you can view them larger. They were all taken with my iphone, by the way; it's been a few years since I've last taken my "proper" camera with me on holiday.
What beautiful pictures, I love looking at pictures of mountains and countyside. I was born here in Sicily in a little town surrounded by mountains and hills and we had lots of fields and trees in front of the house so I would either climbing trees or mountains. When I was little we didn't have pc, internet etc. we played with make do toys and with our chickens, cats, pigs, horses etc. We didn't have any cows but we had goats, and my mother used to give me goat's milk when I was already a toddler. Even now I love goat's cheese and milk but my daughter won't look at it. Ha-ha, Naike you are so right! I am quite skinny, I always tell my daughter that in pictures of us together she looks 3 times my size (that's because she eats 3 times more than I). I do eat like a bird, when I was your age I used to eat 2 or three plates of pasta, I was heavier but never more than 50 or 52 kgs.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I missed your comment until now, Francesca - sorry for not replying sooner!
DeleteWhen I was little, we didn't have computers, internet etc., either. My sister and I spent a lot of time outdoors, playing with our friends or just on our own in the tiny garden behind our house.
I can not eat 2 or 3 plates of pasta; I fill up rather quickly and am usually happy with one small to medium sized portion.
More beautiful photos. I'm not knowledgeable about grass-hoppers but I think that is a bark-mimicking grass-hopper.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds about right, as its colour and pattern very much look like the bark of the trees in that area.
DeleteI'm back. I was out for the rest of yesterday so I'm hoping to catch up before we (I'm staying in Glasgow with a friend) go out again today. Mind you the weather is horrible.
DeleteAn arête is a narrow ridge of rock which separates two valleys. It is typically formed when two glaciers erode parallel U-shaped valleys. Arêtes can also form when two glacial cirques erode headwards towards one another, although frequently this results in a saddle-shaped pass, called a col. The edge is then sharpened by freeze-thaw weathering, and the slope on either side of the arête steepened through mass wasting events and the erosion of exposed, unstable rock. The word ‘arête’ is actually French for edge or ridge; similar features in the Alps are described with the German equivalent term Grat.
Ah! Yes, it was definitely a Grat. The German expression of something being a "Gratwanderung", the equivalent of the English "to toe the line", picks up on that. Thank you for the explanation!
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