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Journal: |
There were some thunderstorms overnight accompanied by heavy rain
squalls and after dinner I had been reading the cautionary trail
notes about the today's travel which warned of remote country and
difficult to follow trail, advising that it not be attempted in poor
visibility. So I was glad to wake, after a good sleep, to find
the visibility quite good though there was a lot of cloud about.
The workmen were back on the job at 7am and I was on the trail soon
after 8am. My route started with a descent of about 600m along
single track into the valley and forest where a number of trees down
made life a little difficult in places.
After a short road
walk I turned on to the trail that carried the guide book warning,
but found it quite well-marked. It ascended a remote valley
following a rushing stream and gradually became steeper making for
slow but steady going. After a while I spotted another hiker
in front of me, who turned out to be the laggard in a group of four
going the same way as me. I stopped for my morning break to
let them get ahead and enjoyed the high alpine scenery while
munching a few biscuits. You feel very small and insignificant
in such surroundings, but also a kind of "ownership" because you
pretty much have the place to yourself. The climb continued,
providing fantastic views of two glaciers in the distance, and
eventually reached a pass at 2644m, the highest I've been on the
trip so far, I think. At this point I caught the group of four
and continued on while they stopped for a break.
I now had a
long descent, first through barren alpine scenery and then through
pasture land all the way down to the hamlet of Dun at 1480m. I
was tempted to take a trail that would have avoided descending so
far and cut some distance off, but it included a pass over 2700m and
there was still a fair bit of snow around. I decided to play
it safe and stick to the official route. I reached Dun at about
1:30pm and had a quick lunch on a bench I found, getting a little
wet with rain from the fringes of a thunderstorm. I now had to
regain most of the height I had lost to get up to Edelrautehutte,
which was my backup accommodation option. I was hoping to make
it to Nevesjochhutte, a two hours further on according to the guide
book, if possible, but knew that the climbing and trail was making
for slow travel today.
The climb from Dun rose steeply
through a long cow pasture initially, which wasn't that pleasant and
quite warm, but it eventually reached a high alpine valley where it
was cooler and much more pleasant hiking above the treeline.
The trail passed a beautiful alpine lake before steadily climbing
the last kilometre to Edelrautehutte (2545m), during which a
thunderstorm accompanied by stinging hail provided some
entertainment. I soldiered on in the expectation that it would
pass quickly, and it did. I reached the Hutte and, after
refilling my water bottle and checking that the next Hutte was open,
set out. However, I was called back by the proprietress, who
said it would take me four hours (not the 2.5 hours on the sign at
the Hutte). Apparently the sign was wrong. I decided not
to risk it, in case it did take that long (in which case I would be
too late for a meal), and stayed put at Edelrautehutte which is
quite small, with a separate building for a dormitory. There
are about 25 other people here, a few of whom speak English, and
it's quite cosy and friendly.
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