Late season walking on the Hohenweg
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| Kotschachtal - towards the Bocksteinkogel |
A lunchtime picnic in the Kotschachtal, a side valley near Bad Gastein, and a leisurely walk home along the Gasteiner Hohenweg was the plan for today.
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| Sheep fields in the Valley |
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| Going downstream to Grunen Baum |
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| Level Walking on the Hohenweg |
It costs one Euro on the bus from home to get to the up-market Hotel complex at the entrance of the Kotschachtal Valley. The Grunen Baum Hotel is like a small village and, amongst other things, plays host to posh weddings. We like to walk on a little further up the valley to near where sheep gently graze and some comfortable sun-soaked seats. The views are stunning and it’s so quiet. The walk home takes about 2 hours and is on a mainly level path, the Gasteiner Hohenweg, high up on the side of the Gastein Valley. Being on the Eastern side it stays in the sunshine until quite late.
The recent early snow and bad weather has brought down quite a number
of trees but there are plenty left and there are wonderful panoramic views
along the way.
Late season walking on the Schlossalm
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| View from the Baerstein Alm |
When the Sun goes down
It was like someone on high had flicked a switch and put on the Air Conditioning. There we were, sitting comfortably at the Baerstein Alm, tucking into Wiener Schnitzel and Apple Strudel. Suddenly the sun dropped behind the trees. That sent us diving in our rucksacks for some extra layers. Still mustn't grumble, it had been yet another cloudless and windless day.
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| Untere Haitzingalm - closed till next Summer |
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| Cannons aimed and ready! |
In the morning, we walked up from the Middle Station through the trees and past rushing streams. Even though the forest is primarily conifers there are good a number of deciduous trees. That meant we could kick up fallen leaves as we walked, one of the big bonuses of autumn. I suppose there is an expectation of sterile ground under the pines but that’s certainly not the case. The streams are lined with what looks likes moss from a distance but is actually a small delicate fern. Mushrooms and other fungi grow in abundance. Most of the birds have already flown south so the normal birdsong was absent. Another sign of the seasons advance was the disappearance of the barbed wire fencing. The cows are now living down in the valley farms and the slopes are being prepared for the Winter visitors. Snow cannons are being deployed and pistes improved. Carrying on up through the trees we came to the Haitzingalm under the cable car where they make cheese and look after the pigs and cattle - as well as the walkers of course. It looked quite sad, all closed up until the summer next year.
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| On the slide - TW takes steps to stay in the sun |
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| On the bounce - TW laying on the trampoline |
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| In the dark - Shadows lengthen in Autumn |
Now out of the trees we wound our way through the pastures to the Top Station, ready to take the Cable Car back down to the Middle Station and our planned lunch at the Baerstein Alm. We always get a warm welcome there and it was glorious sitting outside with stunning views of the mountains - until the sun went down of co
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