Austria at last!

We left the dalmatian islands and traveled by boat and bus, did laundry, traveled some more by train and bus, and finally arrived in a small guest house in Austria.

 Apparently, this was a great moment for my hiking boot's glue to give out.

(Seriously, apart from not happening at all, the timing couldn't have been better -- it was just a 20 minute bus ride to a store where I could buy the exact same boots again and we were good to go!)

Once new shoes had been acquired, we went straight up the mountain on a 75 degree angle. When we were lucky, there were ropes and steps -- most of the time it was just leaves and pine needles.

Our first hut, the Hochstadelhaus, was empty except for us and the owner. After some fun conversations about the pandemic, politics, and foreigners and a good night's sleep, we left early the next day for a long hike in dubious weather.

Still, it wasn't bad all the time, and the hike was gorgeous and felt super remote.

After a good 6.5 hours, we finally saw the Karlsbader hütte at a short distance away!

Unfortunately, it turned out to be a popular hut for army training as well as hikes and via Ferrara, so it was packed. We got assigned a table right in the middle of the room, all windows were closed, CO2 levels rose to the 3000s, and what's worst is that the food was terrible 😔

Next day, we descended to a fancy wellness resort where we spent the rest of the day in the infinity pool, exploring the various saunas, and eating.

Not many photos though because we were encouraged to be naked and phoneless.

After this brief intermezzo of luxury, it was back to relentless hiking and sleeping in dorms.

Day 4: Badener Hütte to Bonn Matreier Hütte

The next day the weather was beautiful. There was a clear snowline on the mountains, and the sky was as blue as it gets. (Note the Murmeltier in the picture above.)



We first went down about 500 m, before we had to go up to 2878 m.







Unsurprisingly there was still quite a bit of snow at this altitude.



In the previous hut we met an American family, who had done this hike in reverse the previous day. They were still smiling somehow, which was rather impressive!



And then we went down to the next hut.







In numbers: 4.48 h, 20.08 km, 896 m ascent, 868 m descent.

Day 3: Neue Prager Hütte to Badener Hütte

The next day the weather was even worse than the day before. Anke overheard the Hüttenwirt talking to the other group, and we knew today was going to be a strenuous hike even in good weather.



We decided to postpone our decision of going to the Badener Hütte or back down to the valley until the very last minute.



The road was slippery --- but also very beautiful!



The route went down, through the remains of a glacier...



... with some spectacular (and slippery) rocks.



We found a sheep that had fallen and broken one of its legs, and called the hut to make sure that the shepherd knew about it.



We also called the next hut, asking them what the conditions were on the other side of the mountain.



It was all good, they said, so we decided to go on...



... trying to find our way in through the snow.



So close...



... and yet still so far.



We made it to the highest point!





After that it was smooth sailing (more or less).











This day was an absolute awesome adventure!



In numbers: 4.51 h, 10.05 km, 948 m ascent, 976 m descent.

Day 2: St.Pöltner Hütte to Neue Prager Hütte

There was good news and bad news when we woke up. The good news: it was not raining. The bad news: it was snowing.



The bad news: we were not allowed to eat our own breakfast inside the hut (and it was snowy outside). The good news: our clothes were completely dry.



The sun came out for a little bit...



... but mostly it was snow all the way.



A long hike, under difficult circumstances. Still, we were not the only ones in the hut --- there was one more group, that was planning to do the same hike as we were planning to do the next day.



In numbers: 7:11 h, 14.79 km, 1374 m ascent, 1082 m descent.

Main Event: Day 1 to St. Pöltner Hütte

After one night in a pension in the valley, we went back up the mountains with Ellen and Christiaan. The weather was terrible, which made Christiaan smile, because he could wear his new raincoat.



The rest of us were not smiling...



... until we reached the hut, of course.



Christiaan brought his own game to play in the hut.

Even though the proprietor of the hut was a very unpleasant man, there was a wonderful Trockenraum, and we were looking forward to getting away from this hut in the morning with dry clothes.

In numbers: 2:55 h, 7.89 km, 1198 m ascent, 248 m descent.