Stage 4 Kellerberg to Bad Hofgastein - 11th
June - 83km plus the train
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| Kellerberg to Bad Hofgastein |
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| Kellerberg to Mallnitz route profile |
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| The Drau River |
A typical Austrian breakfast of bread, ham
and jam washed down by good strong coffee - lovely! I could understand quite a
bit of my hostesses German so we had a bit of a chat over breakfast. They used
to run a farm and had cows but they did not have much land and the winter feed
was very expensive. So the barn next door was now empty and the cows were gone. The next generation, sleeping one floor below
me last night, now had other careers. Seems a bit sad but I suppose it happens a lot.
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| Cafe by the Schloss Portia |
Soon time to head off on again. Back on the Drau Cycle
Path, just a stone’s throw away.The weather was still dull but at least it was
not raining. First destination of the day was the large town of Spittal. The bike route took me straight into the centre and the lovely park by the Schloss
Portia. Sat myself down outside a Cafe
in the, very temporary, warm sunshine. Had an extremely civilised cup of coffee watching the flowers grow. The tourists around me were tucking into cakes but I, just for once, resisted the temptation. The Tourist
Office was conveniently located on the other side of the Schloss so I was able
to get directions out of town. 'Just head along Tiroler Strasse, you can’t miss
the cycle route'. Well I did! Never mind, I soon back-tracked to a roundabout and rejoined my Drau
Cycle Path. Most of the ongoing route was on quiet roads rather than segregated
paths but still very enjoyable. I pedalled this way a few years ago with TW and it was still surprisingly familiar. Must have been going slowly - errhmm! Near Lendorf I had to say goodbye to the popular Drau Cycle
Route as it headed off South then West towards Lienz. My route, on the other hand, was North West towards Obervellach up the Moll Valley.
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| The Moll River |
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| Obervellach in the rain |
Coal black clouds were massing above so I stopped off in a Stube in Mollbrucke for
another Wiener Schnitzel. I just beat the rain but several other cyclists came tumbling in a
bit later, absolutely drenched. I was probably a little too smug at this point! It seemed to
brighten up for a while so I left my warm, dry seat after about an hour and
headed up the Moll Valley. Austrian Cycle Paths are pretty well marked and this one had
arrows painted on the road so even I could not get lost.
An easy to follow route and a gradual climb, nothing could go wrong, could
it?
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| Over the worst of the climb |
The rain started again, the paths were awash all the way to Obervellach. I now faced the prospect of a steep climb up to Mallnitz Railway Station in an absolutely sodden state. It took
me about an hour and a quarter to cycle and walk the 9km up there in the
pouring rain. The initial stretch was very steep, it got a little easier but not much. I thought about dumping some gear to reduce weight. I did empty my water
bottles, I decided that if I got thirsty I could just lick the road.
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| Welcome to Mallnitz |
I have felt drier in the shower than I did going up this hill. Anyway, I made it and after emptying my shoes of water and putting on dry clothes I
headed for the Station Buffet. Another coffee and, this time a richly deserved large slice of Apple
cake. I had just missed a train, they go once per hour in June, so I had a bit of time to kill. My train was actually a car transporter that goes through the Tauern Tunnel. You can take
your bike in the passenger carriage. Car drivers have to leave their cars so
they had to put up with me. I enjoyed the comfortable journey from Mallnitz to
Bockstein, nice to have a warm dry seat with no rain dripping off my helmet.
From Bockstein to Bad Hofgastein the route is very familiar territory. Up first is a cycle path that follows along the river that
runs into Bad Gastein.
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| The iconic waterfall in Bad Gastein |
After passing through town there is a descent to Bad
Bruck and then it’s back to the river and a gradual downhill run all the way to Bad
Hofgastein. The rain on the Gastein side of the Tauern seemed like mere drizzle after my earlier soaking. Glad to be home in our little warm and dry Apartment. Happy with doing the trip in
4 days, two days quicker than planned, but would have preferred drier and warmer weather
so I could have made my planned visits to Faker See and Millstater See – maybe
next time? Might take the train from Spittal next time as well and avoid the long climb up to Mallnitz. Mind you, on a dry day it would have been a lot easier. Have to do the final leg of Alpe-Adria to Salzburg next year.
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