In which we cross the highest pass we have ever done in the Alps, and one of the most difficult, and with the largest amount of downhill we have ever done on an H#H hike... all this after having slept hardly at all the night before.
The hut was packed -- hordes of climbers looking to bag a 4000m peak the following morning (the Weissmiess). The hut gaurdian asked us if we'd like breakfast at 4:30AM or 7:30AM (the former time being for those climbing the peak). We opted for 7:30, of course... and of the estimated 100+ people who spent the night in the hut, there were only five others at breakfast with us. All the rest got up at 4AM, and headed out in the dark in sub-freezing temps, so as to cross glaciers before the snow got too soft. Not my idea of fun!
Actually, the night in the hut was also not my idea of fun. The Almagellerhütte is a classic high altitude mountain refuge -- no showers, and one sleeps in bunkrooms on mattresses laid out side by side (i.e., with no space between them). In our bunkroom we were five in a row on two levels... and every place was taken. Between bouts of hypoxia (caused by breathing too shallowly for the altitude... the hut is at 2860m), feeling sticky due to not having showered after the day's hike, snorers, midnight bathroom visits, the climbers getting up at 4AM, the oscillating temperatures caused by the eternal war between those who want the window open and those who want it closed, and above all because of the unaccustomed presence of foreign bodies on (for most people) both sides, well, let's just say that sleep is generally elusive. Despite earplugs and being lucky enough to have an edge mattress, I felt like I spent almost the whole night awake... and the others said the same.
Then we awoke to find that it had snowed overnight... not much, but enough to put a slippery coating on rocks along the trail... and since the Zwischbergen pass we were going over was at 3260m, there would be not much other than rocks and snow. Oh, and the temperature was under freezing. At least the wind that had been in the forecast was absent. Still, we put on lots of layers before setting off.
The climb to the pass was fairly straightforward, for the most part along a clearly marked and trampled trail (all those climbers earlier), or across similarly well tracked snowfields. But once we got to the pass things got trickier. For one thing the pass was not the pass -- on the far side there was a vertical cliff plunging down 50+ meters -- so we had to work our way for a 100m or so along the ridge to the descent point... and the ridge was basically just a jumble of large rocks, slippery with ice, which did not leave the impression of being very stable.
The descent from the pass was equally challenging. Although not a vertical cliff, it was very steep at first (as in, if you looked at it from below, it looked more or less vertical). Then, once we were down the initial section we went back and forth between having to slide down steep snowfields (Père Ephrem did it on his back, inadvertently, breaking a pole in the process), and crossing more steep jumbles of large sharp-edged and unstable boulders. And to add a final level of difficulty, the path indications were pretty sparse... apparently because the trail was classified as an Alpine route, and in such cases the markers often have more of a confirmatory role (you are still on the trail, congratulations!) than a guiding one... so we swung back and forth at times looking for them.
All in all the initial few hundred meters of descent were difficult, tiring, and moderately dangerous. We (as in I) felt fortunate that we had a couple of very experienced Alpinists with us -- Jakob and Manfred. Somehow the teams confidence level goes up during difficult passages when there are experts present :-). Still, I was glad once we got low enough so that the trail reverted to standard markings and became a standard mountain path once more.
And the rest of the day went downhill from there... as in, a long way down: something like 1970m total descent from the pass. Can you say tired legs? I knew you could.
Around 2PM and 1700m Jakob and Manfred peeled off -- they had a second pass to do (involving 700m more climbing) on the way to the next mountain refuge they were going to stay at (probably also without showers... making five days in a row for them), while we headed down for another hour plus to Zwischbergen and to what turned out to be a very nice little inn, with real beds, hot showers, and excellent food. We (said in a pious tone) agreed not to envy Jakob and Manfred :-).
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