Highlights from summer
vacation in
Several
years in a row we have had a great summer vacation in
GriessKogel
This
mountain rises South of Kaprun, next to the well-known Kitzsteinhorn (which
also features summer skiing on the glacier). Jill and I took a bus ride up to
the dam of a large reservoir built for generating electricity several decades
ago. This lake is called the Moserboden and is up at an elevation of 2000m. From
there we hiked up to the GriessKogel.
First
you ascend up to 2600m along a nice path well above the tree line to the
“Kleiner Griesskogel”. Then the path gets a bit steeper and it becomes
generally more alpine.
As
you climb higher, you get a better view of the surrounding glaciers and peaks,
including the Grossglockner,
From
the top you can see all the way down to the dam and the 2 reservoir lakes. The
last part is quite steep; this was a good training tour for our planned
Kilimanjaro trip in October!
The
panorama from the top is pretty impressive on a day with this kind of
visibility:
On
the way down we slide down a long and steep snow-field, using the skipoles for
balance and the boots almost like skis for our glissade. Very similar to the
glissade on the various mountains in the Pacific Northwest during my Alaska trip back in August
1999. This is not only much more fun than hopping from boulder to boulder, it
is also much faster and less stressful for our knees and legs J
On
the way down we sit down and enjoy the view; however, we don’t have too much
time as we need to catch the last bus at 6:00pm – it would be a looong way to
walk down to the valley.
This
was a great dayhike in the
Schneibstein
One
of the first hikes we did was to the summit of the Schneibstein in the South-East
corner of
I
had come here with my son Philip and daughter Sarvenaz already 3 years ago in July
2004. Back then we had a little snowball fight after bringing down some snow
from the remaining snow field higher up on the mountain.
Back
then Philip didn’t want to go all the way to the top, but this year he had no
problems going all the way to the top, albeit with a few rest stops, as we all
did. The mountain in the background is the “Watzmann”,
Once
on the summit of the Schneibstein, you have a very nice view down to the East
to Golling, and it’s a long way down!
The
panorama view from the summit looked like this:
All
good – you can hike for days in the backcountry of these mountains and not see
too many people.
On
the way down, again beautiful views down to the Stahlhaus and all the way down
to the valley floor.
Walking
out from the Stahlhaus brings us back to the gondola lift, which we take to get
down more swiftly (and with less stress for our knees and feet).
What
a beautiful landscape – makes me want to linger and stay a bit longer…
BockhartSee
We
visited my family in Badgastein, a small town at the end of the Gasteinertal, a
North-South valley in the heart of the
This
year, my cousin Christa could take a half day off and joined Jill and myself
for this nice hike. We decide to drive back to the end of the valley, and then
hike up to the Bockhartsee-Hut.
After
a day of rain yesterday, nice sunlight greets us today on the way up the steep
slope. We chat about family, work and life in general. A wonderful way to meet
relatives, talk about all the things you rarely have time for, get a nice
workout and also enjoy the views.
Once
on top of the hut, I take a few pictures and stitch them together for a 270º panorama
picture:
A
nice spot for some coffee and cake – the Austrian way to spend a break in the
afternoon J
On
the way down more opportunities to take pictures for that photo calendar for
next year...
After
just a few hours we’re back down at the car on the parking lot. The last rays
of sun provide a warm light for a last picture of the day.
Habachtal
One
of the many valleys leading up to the mountain massif of the
We
take a bus to shorten the walk and commence further into the valley from a nice
Alpine hut. The beginning of the day-hike looks like this:
Many
of these valleys are “U”-shaped by the glaciers of the last ice-age – one can
easily imagine the massive rivers of ice flowing down the valleys and “smoothing”
out the ground floor with their enormous weight and grinding force. The path
leads up a steep ramp to the left to gain the top of the first step in the “U”-shape.
Philip
isn’t used to these paths yet, as he’s growing up in
Soon
we’re on top of this steep slope and can see the hut which will be our goal for
today.
Another
view to the right shows my mom with the high mountains and glaciers surrounding
this place.
After
a nice lunch we need to get going back down, as the weather report had predicted
intense frontal thunderstorms approaching from the West. Indeed, on the way
down we soon witness dark thunderclouds engulfing the surrounding mountains –
we are bracing for a finish to our hike in rain.
To
our delight, the center of the storm cloud passes us to the North, and the sky
is clearing again so we’re not getting wet after all. We have another ½ hr
before the bus is leaving out the valley, so we get down to the Alm and order
some nice coffee and cake again.
As
we can see later this afternoon, the thunderstorm actually dumped quite a bit
of hail in the valley and even in my aunt Rosi’s garden in her nearby home in
Stuhlfelden. We were indeed lucky that the golfball-size hail-stones didn’t hit
us up on the mountain!
Sausteigen
A
final really nice day-trip was to a mountain called “Sausteigen” near
Saalfelden / Zell am See. One particular attraction of this area is that it offers
the longest toboggan slide in all of
An
additional bonus is the Biberg Alm, which offers great food and even better
views for a reststop, here (from left) with my daughter Sarvenaz, son Philip,
sister Eva and mom Ridi:
How
about this view from the top:
Or
turning to the South, one can see the range with the Kitzsteinhorn and the
Griesskogel:
The
Sausteigen is the highest point on the ridge behind the cross in the above
picture. From there, a full 360º panorama looks like this:
After
a nice hike through the forest on the top we get back to the Alm again, where
Philip gets to play on the local trampoline.
Soon
thereafter we descend to the top of the toboggan slide and get inline for the
ride down to the parking lot. This is quite fun, despite the backup due to
other riders along the slide.
The
day ends with a fondue at my Aunt Rosi’s house. We’re all celebrating another
nice day in the Austrian summer. I’m sure we’ll be back next year J