Daily Distance – 10km
Daily Ascent – 760m
Daily Descent – 860m
Total Distance – 109km
Distance Remaining – 942km
I now have a new favourite drink, called a Dübel. It seems to be a regional speciality of Styria (Steiermark), where I have spent the past two days, having left Lower Austria (Niederösterreich) after Schneeberg. Mixing a quarter or eighth of white wine with herb, or raspberry, lemonade, I have found it to be refreshing and intoxicating in equal measure.
Today has been both a long and short day. Short in that I could stop for a lunchtime beer and still finish the day at 14:30, but long in that the hours walked were quite taxing. The big descent of today was in many ways a harder version of yesterday’s ladder ascent. This time, the ladders and fixed cables were fewer in number, but steeper, more exposed and with considerably more consequence to a lapse in concentration. Fortunately, the overnight rain which fell on my tent didn’t translate into wet rocks on that side of the mountain, so it was nothing too difficult, but nevertheless much more taxing for body and concentration than a simple hill descent. And of course, what goes down… The re-ascent of most of the lost height wasn’t technical at all, just a steep grind up the other side of the valley. One benefit of all the mountain huts in this region is that there is always motivation to reach the next one for a restorative beer.
Other than beer chasing, I may have witnessed the sport of mountain goat rock chasing for the first time today. It could have simply been a clumsy goat who dislodged a rock, but it certainly looked like it was having a good attempt at catching it. Very much like the English cheese-rolling tradition, but one assumes with considerably less beer or lactose involved. In fact today has been a particularly animal rich day. In addition to the mountain goat herd of this morning, cows and even horses have been roaming the paths today. The paths near to the hut are very civilised and see many off-road cyclists riding up and down, many of whom riding electric bikes, which is certainly the only way I would make it up the hills. This did lead to one amusing cyclist vs cows confrontation where the herd steadfastly refused to move until it suited them to leave the road. Wisely, for a cyclist wearing red, he chose not to test their patience and instead exercised his own. You never know when a Spanish bull may have infiltrated the herd!
That looked scary in places – with wonderful views.
That is a hell of a view, long way down – my knees are hurting just looking
Fascinating reading, I see a travel book in your future! Also learning so much about a part of the world I thought was far more built up.