Today's beauty

However, despite the sweat and the sore legs and the nervous moments, there was as always, much beauty along the way.  Mountain hiking… nothing beats it.

The long way home

And it wasn't good… so much so, that I didn't think to take a photo.  But it was all over 5 minutes later, when I stopped for this shot, looking down the valley I would descend (and descend, and descend… my destination was far round to the right behind the ridge).

What lies beyond?

The pièce de résistance… the trail goes up that peak, to the right at the top and then down the far side.  At the moment I took the photo, I had no idea what "down the far side" would actually mean.  But it didn't look good.

Nope, not going back...

Looking back to where I've come from.  Zoom in to see the trail more clearly.  Oof!

A hop, skip and a...

The trail at the top.  Just a little drop of a mile or so to the right.  I'm not very susceptible to vertigo, but I have to admit that I was not admiring the views as I was walking along this part of the trail.  Instead, every now and then I'd stop, clutch a rock, and look out into the void.

Looking back

View back up valley to Pfelders.  If you look very carefully, you can see the Stettiner Hütte (which I had lunch at yesterday) at the pass in the center of the photo.

Up where?

See the houses on the far right?  I climbed straight up from there.

Pfelders

View from my balcony in Pfelders first thing in the morning.

Day 3 — Pfelders to Hochfirst

Well, that was a day. Off at 8, at the pass around 12:30, and reached Hochfirst at 16:15. Started at 1600m, topped out at 2780m, and dropped down to 1720m before climbing the last stretch to Hochfirst at 1850m. You'll see in the photos below how steep the morning climb was (hint: steepissimo), and then the walk down, although "only" 1060m, was interminable. Great weather though, and even better views.

I saw a half dozen other people on the trails in the morning… all of whom overtook me (sigh)… and no-one at all in the afternoon until I got to a hut about an hour from the end.

Photos follow.

Down, down, down

And now, looking forward down to the village of Pfelders (the last one you can see in the distance), where I spent the night.  Note the exceptionally steep and twisty trail at the bottom of the photo… went down that, I did, and my legs were complaining bitterly by the time I got to the bottom.  Still, compared to the three nutcases I passed pushing mountain bikes up the trail, I think I had it easy.  A classic case of "It seemed like a good idea at the time…."

Eisjöchl Pass

The Eisjochl pass — 2880m.  The building under construction is the new Stettiner / Petrarca Hütte, replacing the old one that was swept away in an avalanche a few years ago.  I'm afraid to say that up close the new one is as ugly as sin… sort of fitting given the comfortless landscape in which it stands.

Looking back to the Eishof

View (from just before turning the corner to climb to the pass) back down the valley to the Eishof.

What lies ahead

Looking ahead to where I'm going to hike.  Basically, up to the snow and then over a high pass to the left.

Eishof

Early morning (7:40AM) at the Eishof, where I spent the night at 2065m.

Day 2 — the Eishof to Pfelders

Now that's what I'm talking about! A much better day, despite having hardly slept a wink overnight probably due to altitude. Felt fairly strong, didn't bonk, did the hike as planned (over a 2880m pass), and arrived ahead of schedule.

Then I took a long nap, after that I had dinner, and after that I went to bed.

Weather still perfect. Trails in good shape.

Photos follow.

Beautiful leaves

But there were some beautiful plants / views during the hike, so there's that.

I have to go where?

And this is where I had to go instead.  Down to the main road at the bottom of the valley, then along a trail on the far side of the road to the small village with the church steeple on the shoulder just before the road disappears to the right, then down through the woods and up a long deep-cut valley on the left that you can't see in this photo.  Far longer than the trail I had planned to take.  Grrrr… again.

Unser Frau... after climbing, before climbing down

Looking down on the village of Unser Frau… emphasis on the word "down"… just before I found out that the trail I wanted to take over the high shoulder was impassable.  Grrrr.

Vernagt

From the front steps of my hotel in Vernagt, first thing in the morning.

Re: Day 1 — Hotel Vernagt to the Eishof

Just a few sentences, because I am very tired, which you won't see until tomorrow, because there's no connectivity here.

Started 8:12, finished 16:01 (a complete failure because I told the Eishof folk that I would be there at 16:00). No emojis today, you have to figure out tone and emotions all by yourselves.

First problem: the trail I had planned to take was closed… forest work. Second problem: I learned about this half-way up the mountain. So I had to go all the way back down the valley and then all the way up another valley.

Third problem: I bonked after almost four hours. For some reason I didn't feel hungry… probably because my body knows it has massive fat reserves to get rid of, so why trigger further accumulation? So the remaining almost four hours were very difficult (you don't recover from a bonk), with embarassingly slow steps and many stops to catch breath.

The Eishof is at 2065m. Fourth problem: I have spent the last two months at 65m. Since I did not bother to make new red blood cells when the old ones died, today I did a lot of panting. I know that I am not in great shape, but I'm not as bad as l seemed to be today.

Beautiful weather and scenery though. One or two photos to follow in another email.

Doubt that I will stay up late tonight.

Photos to follow.