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Journal: |
It's supposed to be quiet in the Hutte until at least 6am, but I
(and everybody else) was woken at 5:30am by the Hungarian couple and
the Austrian woman making an early start for Nassfeld (where I was
also headed). I dozed intermittently until 6:30am and had my
breakfast at 7am before hitting the trail at 7:45am. It wasn't
raining, but it was very foggy with poor visibility.
Initially, the landscape reminded me of the Bogong High Plains back
in Australia but, before long, as I dodged bog after bog, and not
always successfully, I was thinking more of the Scottish Highlands.
The three witches from Macbeth would have been right at home.
Before long, feet were wet again, but I was actually enjoying the
eerie atmosphere and relatively level walking. There were
glimpses of more distant scenery now and then, but the pattern for
the whole day was predominantly white-out.
After I had been
hiking for about an hour, I was trying to get past a small muddy
landslip, by vaulting using my trekking poles when the toe of my
boot caught the trekking pole and I took a big dive headfirst over
the edge of the track and down the slope into some gnarly scrub
which cushioned my landing. I was upside down with my pack
over my head but, apart from being shaken up and a bit muddy, I
seemed OK, although it took quite a lot of manoeuvring to extricate
myself and climb back up on to the track. I then continued on
trying to maintain a good pace so that I would get to Nassfeld
early, increasing my chance of finding a room on another summer
Saturday night.
After two hours I passed a small guesthouse
just as the Hungarian/Austrian threesome were finishing their
breakfast there. We exchanged greetings and I continued on.
For a while the trail was along a forest road, which made a pleasant
change from the bogs and allowed me to cover ground quickly. I
decided that, since the day's hike was supposed to take about 7.5
hours, I would walk for until about 11:15am and have an early lunch,
with the goal of walking the remainder without a break. It was
cool and windy as the trail reached the rocky and grassy ridge that
marked the border between Italy and Austria and then continued along
the border. Few views, but still nice walking. I found a
slightly sheltered spot for lunch where I had glimpses of a view
while I ate. I needed to put on a coat because of the cold
wind. While eating, the threesome arrived and we had a chat,
agreeing to meet up in Nassfeld, although I don't think any of us
actually knew what was there.
After lunch the trail continued
to more or less follow the border, including some scrambling up
rocky cliffs and across the bouldery shoulder of Trogkofel (2470m).
The trail had climbed higher and the wind was now gale-force,
frequently catching my pack like a sail and blowing me sideways.
It was hard to walk a straight line and the ridge had narrowed to
3-4 metres wide. I found the threesome, sheltering just off
the trail, having decided it was risky to continue along the ridge
and planning to descend cross-country to a road they glimpsed below
through the fog. I didn't think it was that risky on the ridge
and continued. After only about another 10 minutes, the trail
began to descend steeply from the ridge on the leeward side and wind
was no longer a problem, although it had started to rain lightly.
I took the descent cautiously and then, from the valley floor,
followed a confusing set of trail markers eastwards through a ski
field, eventually descending to Nassfeld, a ski resort. On the
way down, I noticed that most of the buildings seemed to be to my
left, north of the Via Alpina, so I decided to go there first to see
what was available before trying the guesthouse that seemed to be
ahead on the Via Alpina. In the village, I found a shop which
was open and a couple of upmarket hotels. I decided to try the
cheaper-looking of the two and was offered a relatively expensive
deal (E88), but had it explained to me that it included all of my
food and drink for 24 hours plus internet. I would be able to
make myself a lunch to take with me from the breakfast table in the
morning. I accepted, and plan to eat and drink myself silly.
It would have been nice staying in the same place as my hiking
colleagues, but I could not justify wandering around the various
hotels/guesthouses in the area trying to find them. I may see
them on the trail again tomorrow.
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