Friday 9 June 2017

Stillup Valley

It was a sort of easier day today as we walked into the Stillup Valley. It is round the corner from Mayrhofen and is an isolated, quiet and narrow valley with wonderful waterfalls cascading down the steep sides into a man made reservoir.  
It does however have three restaurants along the valley floor, and we stopped for a mid morning cappuccino on the terrace where I took the first photo. 
We kept on walking towards the distant snow covered mountain, but took a very unusual and sensible decision against going right to the very end of the trail. 
Instead we walked back to Mayrhofen and as I was starving, we had massive pieces of chocolate cake in a cafe.

Thursday 8 June 2017

Krimml waterfall

I had never heard of the Krimml waterfall, but apparently it is the largest in Europe. We went on a bus trip there today from our hotel. 
The roar from the water was deafening, and the spray was freezing!  Daz posed for photos and got soaked within a few seconds. 
There is a path all the way up the 380 metre drop with lots of viewing points. Most had beautiful rainbows that shimmered in the sunshine. 
We made it right to the top and then walked back down to the mid section where there was a stretch of slightly calmer water. 
We bought a Magnum each and ate them while paddling our feet in the water. It was shockingly cold and within seconds my toes were  completely numb. 

Wednesday 7 June 2017

Berliner Hut

I have no words left to describe how beautiful the scenery is here in Austria. 
Today we caught a bus to the start of our walk up to the Berliner Hut. It was about a 9 kilometre walk with an incline of over 800 metres, meaning that it was quite an effort. 
The weather was incredible and there was hardly anyone else about, apart from three cute donkeys and lots of cows. 
We reached the Hut - pic 4 - after about two and a half hours and stopped for a beer. It was built about 150 years ago, is a national monument and the only way to reach it is on foot. 
So far so very good, but then we decided to hike another 500 vertical metres to the Schwarzsee Lake. It was a long, hard climb and it had snowed overnight, so towards the top we were hiking through deep snowdrifts. 
Worryingly there was no footsteps to follow and the path markers were often hidden from view. 
We reached the top but could not get to the lake as it was completely covered by snow, so we did not know where the edge was and didn't want to fall in to it by accident. 
We had planned to walk around it and back down to the road on a different, much shorter footpath, but we could not find the path either. 
By then the weather was closing in, it suddenly got very cold and then started to snow. 
Reluctantly we had to go back the way we came, which was much further than we had planned. 
It was a long trek back but we made it safely, and I got a badge from my fitbit watch as it is the first time that I have ever walked more than 40,000 steps in one day! 
Feeling a bit tired now. 

Tuesday 6 June 2017

Top of the Penken mountain

I think that if you did a poll of the people arriving at the top of the Penken mountain, at least 99% of them would get the cable car to the top. At eight minutes and 11euros each it is an easy option. 
However, we decided to walk and it only took two and a half hours on a big breakfast. We spent 13 euros between us on cappuccinos and two giant pieces of chocolate cake at the top, and then started the hike down. 
The weather was sort of humid and tropical at the bottom, but definitely cold and wet at the top. Excellent scenery and beautiful cows with big bells around their necks, as you would expect to see in the Alps.
We walked over 1,600 vertical metres and 37,000 steps, so are now both falling asleep even though it is only just after 9pm.

Zell am Ziller

I didn't get around to writing yesterday which was very remiss of me. We had an excellent day and walked along the valley to the little town of Zell am Ziller. 
After stopping for coffee a very surprising thing happened - the sun came out! 
The views were amazing before, but fantastic in the sunshine. We took a very roundabout route home, stopping for lunch by a waterfall. 
What a beautiful place. 

Sunday 4 June 2017

Rainy day in Mayrhofen

The day lived up to it's billing and the rain was quite torrential as we made our way on the so called 'Easy route' to Mayrhofen. 
It started to thunder as we walked through the forest with our metal pronged umbrellas. I think that this probably is a bad idea, but I also think that we have had much more than our share of bad luck lately, so it wasn't our turn to get struck by lightening. 
And we didn't, although a rather unfortunate thing happened to my rucksack instead. I think that the back of it wasn't covered by my umbrella, so by the time we got to Mayrhofen there was quite a puddle in the bottom of it. 
Keen to solve the issue I bought a bright red replacement that is supposed to be waterproof, and a separate plastic cover in case that isn't true. 
See photo three to see me lucking smug and happy! 
Ps, I am now back at the hotel, the rain has stopped and I am sitting on the balcony drinking red wine and surrounded by my belongings that are slowly drying out. 

Journey to Austria

Half past ten yesterday morning we were at home drinking a cappuccino, and by half past six in the evening we were at our hotel in Austria looking at the beautiful view from our balcony. 
The flight was amazing and we flew along a valley into Innsbruck airport with the mountains above us on either side. 
The weather forecast is bad for the week so I took a photo straight away in case we didn't see the mountains again. 
Picture two is a stylish computer generated snap that I like, and picture three is through current view through very heavy rain this morning. 
I am optimistic though so I am hoping for an improvement later in the day.