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.

Day 3: Kalser Tauern Haus to Sudetendeutsche Hütte

We did the hike Ellen, Christiaan and poppamomma did the day before in reverse.



It was another rainy day, with a little sun, causing beautifully saturated colors and picturesque cloudy landscapes.

This presumably is the snowfield where Henk decided to hone his luge skills.



And that was the end of this short hike. We were getting ready to do a more serious hike with Ellen and Christiaan.

In numbers: 3:36 h, 6.72 km, 1227 m ascent, 403 m descent.

Day 2: Rudolfshütte to Kalser Tauern Haus

Another day that started off with sunshine. A decided to promote her gym today, so we had a photo session on a snowfield. In fact, she promised her gym she would do this, and in return they did not charge her any membership fees for the two months she was not in Williamsburg --- the gym responded very enthusiastically when they received the photo by email.



We had the choice between a very short day and a short day, and opted for the latter, taking a little detour over a joch.



The plan was to meet Ellen, Christiaan and poppamomma in the Kalser Tauern Haus, who were hiking in the opposite direction. We expected them to already have arrived by the time we got there.



We had to wait for a little bit, however, because Henk fell and slided down a snowfield, and the hike took longer than expected.



The hut even provided entertainment in the form of a teenager playing a Hohner accordion.



This was, of course, very exciting for us and the other guests, and we could not stop making videos.



Now that I look at it again, I think that the consumption of copious amounts of beer may have something to do with this as well.



In numbers: 4:42 h, 9.97 km, 780 m ascent, 1337 m descent.