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Journal: |
I had a good night's sleep and the whole hut was woken by German
folk music being played on a loudspeaker by the management at
6:15am. I think they like to see everybody gone by 8:30am at
these huts. I had my breakfast at 7am and was one of the first
to leave at 7:45am. In contrast to yesterday, the morning was
beautifully sunny, if a little cool. The first hour's walking
was hard to beat. Slightly downhill on a well-maintained
trail, through aromatic pine forests next to a crystal clear swift
flowing stream, surrounded by towering rocky mountains. It was
good to be alive. I encountered a couple of trail-runners
heading uphill, who must have left early from somewhere.
After descending to about 1050m, I turned right at a trail junction
and began what I knew would be a tough climb, 1300m in 7km.
Almost without a break, every step was upwards, but the cool
temperatures in the forest made it a bit easier and I didn't push
the pace. After reaching a high alpine valley the trail then
made its way up a rock face with steps and cable handholds in
several places. I was often using my hands to climb and was
surprised to see a couple descending the other way, with the female
looking a bit scared being helped by her partner who had a baby,
that would only have been about 6 months old, strapped to his chest!
On reaching the top of the rock face, there was a lookout which gave
breathtaking views in three directions including all of the way back
up Reintal, from whence I came.
I passed Schachen Hutte
without stopping, but could see half a dozen hikers enjoying a beer
in the beer garden in the sun. There followed the last part of
my ascent to Meiler Hutte (2375m), well above the tree line and
mostly up a rocky spur. It wasn't a place for vertigo
sufferers, but the trail was well-maintained and safe, although
cables, steps and hands were all used at various points.
I
stopped for lunch in a rocky saddle and enjoyed the sun and views
while knowing my climb was nearly over and I was making reasonable
time. Twenty minutes after lunch I passed Meiler Hutte,
precariously perched on the German/Austrian border on a narrow rocky
saddle. It would be a neat place to stay and I believe is
quite popular, though you have to work hard to get there. Now
started a difficult, steep and switch-backing descent on a loose
rocky trail that had me taking great care, but stopping every now
and then to admire the views as well. It was a special place.
The descent pretty much matched the ascent, falling 1200m in 5km and
my knees, as usual, had had enough by the time I reached the bottom.
I did slip on one of the steep snow crossings where the old snow was
quite hard, but only went about 10 metres before I reached rocks and
was able to stop myself. Retrieving the trekking pole I had
lost when I fell proved a bit of a challenge. On several
occasions I could see mountain goats on snow patches across the
valley.
Nearer the bottom of the long descent, around
mid-afternoon, I was a little concerned to meet, separately, two
aged couples who didn't look like hardened trekkers, slowly and
tentatively making their way up the mountain. They can only
have been going to Meiler Hutte, and still had a very long and steep
way to go at such a late hour.
Finally, the gradient eased
and the trail entered a cool leafy forest where my knees finally had
some relief. With only a few kilometres to go I strode out
looking forward to getting my feet up. Along the way, the
trail was being used for some logging operations and had become very
boggy, which spoiled the mood temporarily, but soon I was on my own
in the forest again. The trail emerged in a small village,
Lehner, where I passed by a few guest houses in the hope of finding
one near a store, before deciding to cross to the other side of the
valley to the larger village of Weidach, which turned out to be
another resort village where I found a Pension close to a
supermarket, at a good price for dinner, bed and breakfast.
Not only that, but I got a small apartment instead of a room.
The only negative was that, again, wi-fi is only available in the
lobby/restaurant area.
What a difference a day makes.
After ruing all of the views I missed yesterday, the views and
scenery today were just overwhelmingly spectacular.
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