Today again is looking a bit bleak. The hills are covered with cloud and it is raining lightly. So we had a bit of a lie in. But, we can't stay in bed all day. Those hills are calling! But where to go??
I was so impressed with the lift up to the Dachstein Glacier that I thought I would like to do a hike around that area. And as a bonus,it was close to home. Even short distances here take so long to travel.
We stopped at the local tourist office and asked some advice for a hike. So with our map and her recommendation, off we went to the starting point for the hike. We parked our car, donned our raingear and didn't feel so silly for thinking about hiking in the rain when we met about a dozen others all doing the same thing. Unfortunately, we left the camera in the car. Ray did not want to risk getting it wet. Bad move!! The rain stopped after about 10 minutes and we had some great views. The sun was even out for a while.
We walked for about an hour (all up-hill) and eventually arrived at the base station for the Glacier lift. From here, there is a very popular walk from the base station up towards the glacier to a hut called Dachsteinsudwandhutte. We stood at the start of this section for about 5 minutes waiting for the other to say 'No. Lets not do it.' But eventually, Ray said 'come on,lets go' and off we went. Again up-hill.
The hut stands on a ridge below the Dachstein Glacier and has a spectacular location. The path up was rocky and quite slippery because of the rain and had a section with fixed ropes. But it was not difficult. We have learnt to take it steady and to not try and hurry. Unfortunately, when we got to the hut, cloud had settled in again and covered the hut and it's ridge. We couldn't see a thing! On the walk up to the hut, we passed quite a few people, male and female, who had just climbed down the rocky face of the Dachstein and were loaded up with all their tackle and ropes. It sometimes makes me feel a bit insignificant to think that I am only walking on a well-worn track and they have just scaled this huge mountain. Oh well. Too old now to try something like that.
Now that we are at the hut, another decision. Do we go back the same way, or continue on via a different, longer route. I don't really like to walk the same path again, so off we went steeply over the side of the ridge, into the thickest cloud I have ever encountered. I was a bit worried that we would be able to find and keep to the track, but there was another couple just ahead of us, so I made sure that we kept them in sight. Well, they were in front of us for a while, until she slipped and fell stright into a huge fresh pile of cow poo. It was hard not to laugh. We had just been talking about how she was hiking much too quick for the slippery conditions.
We came across an 'alm' and decided to stop for a toilet break and ended up having lunch there as well. Schweinschnitzel mit pommes. Pork schnitzel with chips. Pork schnitzel and potatoes/chips are on every menu over here and is very popular. After a lovely lunch and cold beer, we continued on our way.
Not long after lunch, the cloud cleared and we spent the remainder of the hike in beautiful conditions, through forests, over pastures, across creeks and along rocky tracks. We finally arrived back at the car, satisfied that we had again enjoyed a great hike and had a great day. We had hiked for about 15km, but taking time out for lunch, the actual hiking took us almost 5 hours. A rest day tomorrow I think!!
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