Friday August 12th Eisenerz to Sonnschien Hutte

Great walk today, bit harder than expected, felt like it was uphill all the way, but got to the hutte in good time and the evening, as I write, is getting increasingly surreal.

Left Eisenerz with no regrets. Last night was definitely the worse meal we have had in Austria, really bad. I know you shouldn't condemn a nation's food on the basis of one meal but we experienced all its worst features at once - lots of processed meat, dreadful overcooked vegetables, and salad drowned in 2 inches of water. Miserable food.

Struggled momentarily to find our way out of town but met a helpful guy who
directed us to the right path. Coincidentally he was also making for the Sonnschein Hutte but by another route (starting with a short bus ride, he told us). He was loaded up with a bag, a proper Austrian walker, put us on the right track, and we are exchanging views about the Austrian walking again as I write.

After a short climb heading north out of Eisenerz the route takes you past the Leopoldsteiner See then gently up a good track through a stunning valley with high limestone cliffs to the north and south. Gorgeous walk with a pretty stream following the path and great views up to the mountains on either side.

Long valley up Hintersee Graben

Huge Limestone Cliffs

Eventually the gentle walking finished and path head relentlessly upwards, still a good path but really steep and energy sapping. Not sure why but the climb seemed much tougher than suggested by the 700 metres ascent. The heat may have had something to do with it - by now it was red hot with the sun beating down.

Approaching the Sonnschien Hutte

We eventually reached a high alpine meadow and stopped for lunch, the usual ham roll finished off with chocolate. Then on, along a high alpine path up and down over limestone until we turned a corner and came across an 'alm', a wooden hut with a guy dishing out various forms of alcohol to a crowd of well satisfied local walkers, who had clearly been there for some time. The men, some with large beery bellies benefiting from long exposure to the sun, all seemed to want to give Christine a kiss, a long way to climb for such a reception.

The final stage of the walk was through more alpine meadow, and for once we didn't seem to be climbing, a lovely easy walk, and by 3.30 we had arrived at the Sonnschien Hutte.

Man with Harmonium

Despite being a Friday night, not too many people staying here. We have the dormitory (or 'lager') to ourselves although there are another 8 or 9 people scattered about in different rooms. Included in that number is a man who clearly comes here regularly and is an expert on the harmonium.  A very generous man he has copious supplies of a local resin spirit and of snuff which he insisted on sharing liberally with the inmates. We have all been sitting here for the last 3 hours quite happily chatting in broken English / German, drinking, humming along to traditional Austrian music and waiting for the very laid back hutte staff to dish up the requested potatoes and sausage. Maybe it will arrive after the next beer.

Thursday August 11th Radner an der Stube to Eisenerz

It's a happy coincidence that all the really tough walks for Christine have been followed by something less demanding and that's exactly what happened today. After yesterday's nerve shattering epic a nice 20 kilometre walk up a easy track over a ridge (about a 700 metre climb) and then down the other side, through a valley to Eisenerz was just what was needed.

Got all my clothes washed in the gasthof last night and either it was free or they forgot to charge me and walking up the hill this morning I was struck with remorse because I had forgotten to say thank you. It was a basic but fun place and very cheap. We had the top of the range "Gordon Bleu" main course - essentially a wiener schnitzel folded in half with ham and cheese in the middle - twowould probably give you an instant heart attack.

Lagauer above Radmer

The weather was perfect and walking up through the trees we had great views back to the village and the Lagauer mountain the descent from which caused us so much grief yesterday.

The weather bought out lots of walkers and we passed the time with three local men. The news about the riots in London had left them with the impression that the whole city had burnt down and that we might be refugees on the run. We tried to confirm that impression and Christine said that all she had left was in her backpack.

Once over the ridge and just around the corner we got full view of Hochkogel and Kaiserschild, two 2100 metres summits set off to perfection by the sun and the blue sky. They were positioned at the top of a quiet valley at the end of which which was a Gasthof serving cake and strudel, perfect for an early lunch.

In the valley heading down to Ramsau

Another 90 minutes or so took us to the outskirts of Eisenerz a town with a long history of iron ore extraction and whose skyline is dominated by a huge but now disused quarry. The town feels just a bit run down. We are staying in a huge Gasthof but have the feeling that we might be the only people here.

The quarry at Eisenerz

Weather forecast for the next two days at least is good and then it might deteriorate again. The schedule puts us up in the mountains again with three nights in huttes over a weekend. Suspect we will be desperate for some privacy and home comforts after that.

Wednesday 10th August Hess Hutte to Radmer

Christine has just said that she would give her eye teeth not to do today again.

The adventure started before we even left the hutte. All through the night a storm raged and, as the fifteen or so walkers gathered for breakfast glances' suggested, no one was desperate to step out into the gale. We were wrong footed, we thought everyone was about to go only to discover that we in fact were the pioneers.

The first thing to hit us was the wind. The hutte is in a very exposed location and as soon as you stepped away from the immediate shelter of the building you thought you were going to be knocked over. Not helpful given that the path we had to walk along was narrow, stoney and wet. We hesitated, thought about going back into the hutte, but a retreat was just too embarrassing so we pressed on.

Sulzkarhund

The second thing to hit us was the cold. It was hailing and despite having all my gear on, my hands and feet quickly got cold. Fortunately the first part of the walk involved a 300 metre climb over a ridge at Sulzkarhund and the effort of the climb warmed us up.

After an equally steep descent down into the valley to Sulzkaralm on the other side of the ridge things started to settle down just a bit. The wind dropped and the rain and hail died away, we even got an occasional glimpse of sun. Perhaps the worst of the walk was over.

Sulzkaralm

In fact by the time we got to the bottom of the valley, having dropped from 1800 metres down to 1100 metres, the walk was almost getting a bit boring if not necessarily comfortable. It was still drizzling and the cloud was hanging low limiting the views of the mountains to occasional glimpses. The route took us in a semicircle on a forest road making for a easy climb back up to 1400 metres.

Things then started to get tougher. The first challenge was a climb through a recently cleared forest. The track was hard to follow through a mess of left over branches and churned up ground. The next challenge was a two kilometre climb up through water logged meadow where the path had been trampled by cattle. By the time we got past it our feet were completely soaked.

Rain soaked ground

The climb took us right up to the face of the Lugauer, a sheer cliff rising up to its summit about 500 metres above us. We were now back to 1700 metres and the official E4 route dropped down 1000 metres to Radmer a couple of kilometres away. Christine refused to believe the way it was taking us. The first part of the descent ran steeply down unstable scree down the side of the summit face. Very scary walking. Rocks the size of medicine balls moved as you stepped on them and made you feel that everything could fall away taking you with them. Far below was the valley and between it and us was a huge drop. Both of us would definitely have preferred to be somewhere else but with no choice we just inched our way down the 20 minutes or so it took us to get past this moving rock field.

Under the Lugauer

Very Steep

The rest of the walk down was a lot easier but still a challenge. It was obvious that this is a path not often used. Wet vegetation was waist high making it hard to spot hazards (roots, holes, rocks) below. Above all it was slippery with both of us crashing to the ground several times before at last we hit a forest road just above Radmer.

Saw lots of wildlife today by the way, particularly deer and chamois. Got particularly close to a family of chamois scrambling over rocks just before we started the dreaded descent underneath the Lagauer.

Mountain goats on the Lugauer

Fortunately we found the gasthof in Radmer quickly, got out of wet things and had a shower. The weather forecast is better for the next three days a least and perhaps we can have a few easier days.

Tuesday 9th Modlingerhutte to Hesse Hutte

Great news, today it didn't rain, well didn't rain much, and we were able to walk all the way without wearing waterproofs. The weather is still not settled however and, from the shelter of Hess Hutte, we have just watched a hail storm lash it's way across the mountainside.

Really nice walk, very civilised and not too far, 7 hours, about 20 kilometres with 1,000 metres of climb. Unless we get lost there shouldn't be any more of the 10 hour days we did last week. We left Modlingerhutte at 8.15 and were having beer, fried potatoes, saur kraut and sausage in Hesse Hutte by 3.15.

Must say we are getting into hutte accommodation. The food is plentiful and there is a good atmosphere. Washing facilities are variable (no hot water tonight), but it seems less important when everyone is in the same boat. Based on my experience, if you avoid Friday's and Saturday's the huttes are never more than a third full and at that level of occupancy even a dormitory is tolerable. The best thing about them is the location - on the route, in the mountains and often dramatically positioned on a ridge or under a cliff.

Modlingerhutte had a nice location but it's special feature was its cakes and puddings. I am becoming a strudel expert and this was one of the best, all the extra bits (almonds, raisins etc) and a supersized portion - excellent.

Modlingerhutte

The walk itself was in three parts: a steep knee testing walk down to Johnsbach; a gentle climb up the Johnsbach valley, mostly alongside a river, and then a long climb up a side valley to Hesse Hutte.

The highlight of the descent were the increasingly dramatic views of Grosser Odstein on the northern side of the Johnsbach valley. Initially it was surrounded by swirling clouds but for a short time these cleared giving visibility of the whole mountain.

Hochtor

Stopped for a coffee in Johnsbach at the Donner Gasthof; we would have stayed there last night if we had made it down from Modlingerhutte and it looked like it would have been an excellent choice.

The early part of the walk from the valley bottom up to Hesse Hutte went through meadows and we saw our first ever alpine bull. Roger and Sue of course saw one a couple of weeks ago and I must admit I was slightly sceptical. Anyway our bull was munching grass about half a metre from the path and didn't even look up as we worked quietly past him.

Friendly Bull

We enjoyed the walk up to Hesse Hutte. A steady climb, steep in places but a good path. The huge cliffs, initially beneath Grosser Odstein and the Hochtor summits, were somber, even slightly sinister, but definitely gave you the feeling of being out in the wild.

Above Hesse Hutte

Any sense of isolation was completely shattered when we got the Hutte. It felt like the crowd of Austrian walkers had been enjoying the bar all day and we were just a bit suspicious of their attempt to persuade us to have the mountain goat soup which they claimed to be the special. As already mentioned, we chose sausage, fried potatoes and saur kraut and very good it was too.

My camera by the way is completely useless, I'm now using Christine's. The challenge will be to recharge the battery.

Sunday 7th August Spital am Pyhrn to Admont

Elementary school boy navigation error almost too embarrassing to mention both undermined team moral and froze communications for a significant part of today's walk. No problem finding the 01 markings in the middle of Spital am Pyhrn and only had to choose the direction of travel, only two choices and I made the wrong one. Marginal defence was that the guidebook definitely implied that you travel south out of the town. Unfortunately if I had looked at the previous day's schedule in the guidebook I would also have been able to work out that Wurzeralm, the destination on the sign, was on the route heading west, away from Budapest rather than towards it. But why would I bother to look at a schedule I wasn't going to walk?

Anyway we walked 3 kilometres along a hot road in the wrong direction before I finally accepted the fact we were going the wrong way. I was of course very apologetic but my mood darkened when my co-walker insisted that she knew all along we were going wrong.

The two way sulk continued all the way back to the village, all the way up to the Bosruck Hutte (not significantly relieved by wurst and kraut) all the way to Rohrauer Hutte, and only started to melt going down the other side when the clouds blackened and rain began to fall. A huge thunder storm brought the team back together when we had to agree where to find shelter.

Going down the other side was the highlight of the walk. The route takes you over a pass and down the west side of Halle Mauern, a group of mountains which were spectacular in shape and colour. The cloud only added to the drama swirling around the gaps between the mini-summits.

Over the pass at Pyhrgasatteri

Of course the thunder storm signalled yet another deterioration in the weather as another depression tracks across the Alps. The weather pattern round here seems to be two or three days rain followed by a couple of days sun and then two or three days rain again. The locals are describing this summer as a wash out.

Anyway made it to Admont, through the rain, by 4 o'clock. Has a fine church surrounded by a splendid baroque monastery containing a museum and the largest monastery library in the world. It is in an incredibly important building and is why people visit Admont. We looked inside the gate and then pressed on to find the gasthof to get dried out.

Medical update: Christine's knee remains sore but has stood up to 30 kilometres and a climb and descent of around 700 metres so reports of it's demise may be exaggerated.

Took the picture below out of the bedroom window after an enormous dinner.

After the storm from Admot

Monday 8th August Admont to Modlingerhutte

The original plan was to walk from Admont all the way through to Hesshutte, an ambitious 10 hour walk. We had already worked out that a sensible bail out option was Johnsbach, slipping a day on the schedule, but given today's weather going even that far proved too miserable a prospect. It started raining heavily 30 minutes after we began and never let up, really heavy rain, couldn't see a thing and we got wetter and wetter. Having taken brief shelter at the Oberst-Kinkler Hutte at around 1pm (no food on a Monday), we found the warmth of the Modlingerhutte just too welcoming and decided to call it a day when we got there at 3.15pm.

As we were in cloud most of the day it is hard to describe the scenery. We started out up a road and then through trees from Admont with a steady but relentless uphill gradient. Crossing a road we continued up on a badly way marked path and at around 11am arrived at a small new sportshutte at a winter ski place where we had soup and bought a much needed local map. Good to know you actually are on the right path, especially when you can't see anything.

Then back out into the driving rain, steeper uphill now on a long twisting woodland climb up to the Oberst Kinkler Hutte where we scrounged a cup of coffee. The young woman serving looked surprised when we said we were going on to the Modlingerhutte Hutte and wished us luck. We later found out why.

After our non lunch we proceeded up to a col and then down a steep and slippery forest road for quite a way, catching tantalising brief glimpses of the Admonter Reichenstein ridge and face above us to the north. It was very wet underfoot and our feet were soaked, mine as per usual and Christine's despite her Gortex boots.

At the bottom we arrived at a raging torrent and a broken weir with no obvious way across, the water running so high. What to do. I walked up and down the bank a bit to try and find a safe way over but no luck. Christine was threatening to jump over and that looked dangerous. Eventually I eased myself out on my bottom on a broken trunk that had been part of the original weir, to end up dangling off the end above the torrent but still a metre from the other side. I removed my pack and threw it over and then, praying, pushed myself off. Made it. Then Christine gave me her pack and followed my lead, with me able to catch her on the drop. A hairy but satisfying moment. I tried to record the crossing place on my camera but had for once kept it inside my jacket pocket (not waterproof) rather than, as I usually do, in my shorts under my leggings. It is now defunct.

Our path continued but narrowed and steepened uphill again, sometimes in the open and sometimes through steep banks of conifers where it was so dark it seemed like night time. The rain was still beating down hard as ever and we could see virtually nothing. At last we arrived, after a steep pull up, at the Modlingerhutte. It felt like the Israelites arriving at the promised land, flowing with beer, noodles, jagermeister, sausage and above all warm and dry. We decided to stay here the night and Christine proceeded to consume a vast plate of holzfallernockerl.


PS from Christine: thank you Juan for praying for my knee : it's worked and I have gone through the last three days with no real problem.

Saturday 6th August Habernau to Spital a.Pyhrn

So today was a transfer day from the E4 walking the Weitwanderweg 04 to the E4 walking the Weitwanderweg 01, the higher Alpine variant of the E4. Now I'm in Austria I've realised that my approach to the transfer was really clumsy and that if I had done it yesterday when the two routes got close to each other then I could have reached the alpine variant in a couple of hours or so. As it was I waited for them to diverge and then caught a train down the valley from Steyrling to Spital a.Pyhrn.

The good news is that Christine's knee is holding up. It seems to work going up, on the flat and can cope with gentle descents. Trouble is we are in the Alps and gentle descents are few and far between. We have looked at the rest of the itinerary and compared to what we have been doing I think we will be staying high longer so perhaps will have fewer descents. We are going to see how things go tomorrow, the first tough walk for a couple of days and then see - fingers crossed.

Normally, today's walk would have been pleasant but in the middle of the Alps it was just a bit dull. A 24 kilometre walk from west to east first along one valley next to a river and then, after crossing a ridge, along another valley next to river. The trees were great, the noise from the river was lovely, but it wasn't quite what you hope for when walking in Austria. One thing, after lots of rain in the night and despite forecast rain for today, the weather was good, sunny and warm.

Climbing up to Ring

Along the Steyrling

Stopped mid morning at the Almtaler Haus where Christine bought what she thought were two bars of homemade fudge/nougat which, on sampling later, turned out to be soap. She was very cross.

Didn't stop again - apart from a quick sandwich and the customary immersion of Christine's feet in icy river water - until early afternoon when we had tea and strudel at a bar in Steyrling. I was fed up because the sign said it would take an hour and half to walk to the train station (although the fact that there was a station at all was a small miracle). In the end it took only 30 minutes, and a train came just 15 minutes later.

Lovely mountains around the town but Spital a.Pyhrn itself appears to be a bit of a dump. Will be glad to get walking in the morning and get my teeth into the Alpine variant of the E4.