A Week in Austria: Sunday

Our last full day in Austria was Sunday (11 May). Just like the day before, we woke up to blue sky and sunshine. 

View from our room just after 7:00 on Sunday morning

Determined to make the most of this beautiful day, we left the hotel after breakfast and started our hike on the path leading through the meadow full of wild flowers at "our" end of the lake.

It was again a day of onwards and upwards, but nowhere near as challenging as the hike on Saturday. Also, at the height we reached today (just above 1,500 m), all snow was completely gone, and it was warm enough for me to soon unzip the legs of my hiking pants and walk in shorts and short sleeves, although I still wore my seeveless padded vest to keep the chilly wind out.

My new sunglasses came in very useful on this hike, which took us to the Krinnenalpe above the village of Nesselwängle, and from there along a trail called Meraner Steig to the Jausenstation Klein Meran where we had been on Wednesday on the guided walk.

Nesselwängle (which is at about 1,100 m), as seen from 1,500 m

The dip leads to the entrance of the Alte Salzstraße and the deep gorge, where we had been walking on Friday.

Private chapel at the entrance to the hamlet of Rauth

Inside of the chapel in Rauth; the outside can be seen on my Wednesday post and below.

Jausenstation Klein Meran, where we had already been on Wednesday, and the chapel next to it

From there, we walked back to Haller (where our hotel was) but chose a slightly different route to the one we had done before. 

The last bit of it was signposted as "Panorama-Weg" (panoramic path) but to be honest, there was little in terms of panorama - mostly, the path was lined by trees which allowed only glimpses of the valley. But of course, the mountains to our right were as impressive as ever.

That's as much panorama as we got :-)

Back at the hotel after roughly 20 km of walking/hiking, we were happy to sit on our sunny balcony and resting until it was time to shower and change for dinner.

The food was excellent as usual, and we kept chatting to the friendly couple at the table next to us for a while after the meal. They were our age and came from an area not all that far from where I live, and we had some good conversations and shared a few laughs with them during the five days or so they had been our neighbours at meal times. But somehow, neither of us was inclined to share phone numbers or any other contact data - we didn't even tell each other our names (which seems a bit odd in hindsight). Anyway, it is likely we will never meet again, but it was nice to have met.

It is always a mix of being sad to say good-bye and looking forward to home on such occasions, and we were to leave the next morning, while they had another day ahead.

View from our balcony at precisely 21:21 (coincidence) on Sunday evening.

A Week in Austria - Saturday

For the weekend, the weather forecast was very good, and at dinner on Friday evening everyone had been talking about it. And indeed, we woke up to sunshine and a sapphire blue sky on Saturday (10 May) - wonderful!

View from our room on Saturday morning

Now it was time to go up, and finally enjoy those views from the top!

We climbed a steep narrow trail through the woods at the back of the road where our hotel is, arriving at the Adlerhorst (Eagle‘s Nest) again. From there, we followed the signposts to Gessenwang-Alpe, where we sat on a bench in front of the closed hut (a private property, not one of those that serve food and drink) and enjoyed the view.

Front door of Gessenwang Alpe

Further up we went, the trail being steep, rocky and rough in places, and we soon saw the first patches of snow along the way. Still further up and more snow, but not so much that we couldn‘t keep going.

When we finally reached our goal, the Füssener Jöchle at a bit over 1,800 m, the view was really breathtaking - my pictures can only convey so much, but in reality, it was truly stunning.

With the funicular and the restaurant at the top not yet open for the season, few other people were around. We stayed a while, taking in the entire panorama.

This picture perfectly illustrates how quickly and dramatically the weather can change up here, which is why one should always come well prepared, and listen to the locals’ advice.

For the way down, we had two options: The trail on which we had come up, which we weren‘t keen on because it was slippery and rocky, or a rather comfortably looking wider path with a mix of dirt and gravel.

At first, it was comforable enough, but that path soon went on to some very steep and very gravelly bits, making it necessary to tread carefully. For long stretches, we walked on the grass beside the actual path, where our sturdy hiking boots had a better grip.

This went on for about two hours, and finally reaching the bottom of the mountain was a relief.

The village of Grän was at this end of the path, and we were hoping to get a refreshing shandy. However, nothing was open, and the hotels had signs saying that only hotel guests were being served.

Of course we still had our water bottles, and so we had a brief rest by the village church and then walked on to the slightly bigger village of Haldensee, hoping for a better chance for a shandy. 

Grän village church

Just before reaching the first houses of Haldensee, we had to cross a field with a small herd of cows, and one of them had a calf. You know me and cows - I love them, but I am very aware of how big, strong and fast they are, and certainly do not wish to give them the impression that I am a nuisance or even a threat.

This particular group was very relaxed, though, and not at all interested in us. Still, I was glad to go through the cow-proof gate at the far end of the field. This was our only close encounter with cows during this holiday, unlike other times, when we walked among cows almost on every hike.

We got our shandy and rested our legs for a little before walking the last bit back along the lake to the hotel.

A thunderstorm was approaching, and we caught a few drops of rain. But the thunderstorm only arrived properly later, when we were long back at the hotel.

This was the most challenging hike of our week here, both in terms of terrain and height, but it was very rewarding being so close to the majestic mountains.