Daily Distance – 12km
Daily Ascent – 700m
Daily Descent – 800m
Total Distance – 190km
Distance Remaining – 861km
After sweating up the hill to Voisthallehütte yesterday, my state of attire could now be accurately referred to as “fisherman chic”, or perhaps even more accurately, “fisherman has really let himself go”. I don’t know if the salt rime now encrusting my shirt helps to keep the bacteria at bay, but it certainly hangs a little stiffer than previously and has a wonderful collection of white stripes. Having to pre-soften my shirt before dressing is not the highlight of my day. Still, rain is forecast for tomorrow, so it may yet see some fresh water before Admont and my next rest day.
Mornings are my favourite time to hike, so leaving the hut at 07:00 today was really no imposition. Making good ground during the few hours of cooler temperatures sets one up for a good day, although my favourite aspect is that animals seem more active early in the morning. So it was that I was startled by the loud, squeaking alarm call of a swiftly scurrying marmot within ten minutes of starting this morning. I didn’t see him, but it would appear my salty fragrance was quite clear from some distance. However, the most unexpected animal encounters of the day were the herds of grazing ibex. I had never seen one before and they really are quite the sight. If laid flat, rather than curved, I think the horns may well be as long as their body. Aside from their docile grazing, and being generally unconcerned by my presence, two were having a great time rearing up onto their hind legs before clashing horns, taking a pause, before doing it all over again. Even though still early in the day, I did pause for quite some time to watch. Unfortunately, I don’t have my zoom lens with me on this trip for proper animal photography, but some things have to be left at home, or I wouldn’t be able to lift my bag.
One less successful aspect of today was my efforts at solar charging. Typically, the panel sits on the top lid of my bag, attached by two loops, and does a pretty good job considering that I can’t always maintain optimum angle to the sun. However, a disadvantage of the two loops setup is that in high wind, such as today, the panel will flip over and hit me in the back of the neck. After half a dozen times of having my head slapped by the errant panel, and with no sign of the wind slackening, I was forced to put the panel back inside the bag. However, while being buffeted by the wind doesn’t make the walking easier, it does make for a much more tolerable walking temperature. So it is that the only time of the day I am overheating is sitting in the sun with a beer. Curiously at the exact time when the weather forecast predicted a storm.
Also curious is that I have managed to write three paragraphs without mentioning that from start to finish, this section was beautiful. Almost the entire day was spent with great views onto the surrounding mountains, on well made paths and with even the odd patch of snow to traverse for extra interest. Without a doubt, today holds the record for most photos taken on the walk so far and has been a great advert for Austria and the Alps. The view from the hut balcony isn’t bad either…
A few miles of good paths to trek does make it easier. Ibex looks like an animal you don’t want to batter heads with.
Sounds like a ‘marched them up to the top of the hill and marched them down again’ kind of a day. I don’t like the look of the horns on those ibex. Glad to hear you’ve had a nice day except for getting bashed on the head with your solar panel. I guess seeing snow during a heatwave can only be a good thing. Good photos.