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Journal: |
Breakfast was early (6:30am) in the hut and that allowed me to be
walking by 7:30am. Nothing had dried much overnight and I was
walking in wet socks and boots with gaiters on top in the vain hope
of preventing further damp if the trail took me through wet
undergrowth (as it did) or it rained (which it didn't). It was
hard to tell what kind of day it would be as there was very low
cloud/fog, but one of the staff at the hut said more rain and
thunderstorms were forecast.
After a short sharp climb up to
Ofner Joch (2011m and back into Italy) and a short sharp descent on
the other side, the trail followed a very pleasant old farm track
down through a farm (and right through the farmyard at milking time)
and then a pine forest. Some of the cloud had started to break
up and there were good views of some sheer rock walls bordering the
valley and beyond.
Then began the climb up to, and over,
Giramondopass (1971m and back into Austria) which felt very remote
and isolated surrounded by steep rocky peaks that made ghostly
appearances through the cloud and then disappeared again. This
was the pattern for the remainder of the day, with occasional
windows opening briefly in the cloud/fog to reveal huge and very
high rock faces towering overhead. From the pass, the trail
descended a couple of kilometres and then passed through a remote
high alpine dairy farm before climbing steeply up to Wolayersee, a
beautiful crystal clear lake, overlooked by Wolayersee Hutte.
After seeing few people during the morning, there were lots around
the Hutte and the lake, which was bordered by more towering rocky
peaks. What looked like a school group was on a small beach on
the other side and, to great hilarity, one of their number plunged
in for a swim in what must have been very cold water. We were
quite a long way from any roads, so the group must have hiked in and
been staying at the Hutte. I found a nice big flat rock
overlooking the lake and ate my lunch there while surveying the
scene.
From Wolayersee, I only had a couple of more hours
hiking to Almgasthof Valentinalm, which was my goal for the day.
It would mean a short day, distance- and time-wise, but the next
accommodation was another 22km further on, too far for the
afternoon. Given the number of people at last night's hut, and
around Wolayersee, I began to worry that the Gasthof might be full
and began considering what my options would be, but I was lucky and
they had a couple of rooms left. It's pretty basic, with a
tiny room with no power outlets and shared facilities, but I had a
nice shower and washed out quite a bit of damp and smelly gear at
the same time, followed by a lazy afternoon and evening.
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