After striking out on our search for campsites with availability in the Italian Dolomites this past week, we decided on a whim to drive to Austria instead for some fresh mountain air, tasty strudel, and non-stop humming of the Sound of Music classics (by me - Jacob has never seen the film!). The humming started at our first stop, the grocery store, when Jacob picked up some Edelweiß beer. From there it continued on, particularly during our hikes - the hills were truly alive with the sound of music!
We stayed for five nights at a campsite near Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria. Before we even reached the campsite, however, we had a scare. After stopping at a gas station in Feldkirch to fill up, we headed through the 14km-long Arlberg Straßentunnel on our way to Innsbruck. Partway through the tunnel, the car behind us began honking and flashing its lights. Concerned there may be an issue with our bikes or the van, Jacob pulled into the next layby area to check everything over. Not seeing any issues, and noting the car (which continued honking on its way past) was a white BMW, we decided that the driver was just a… jerk? (hey, my mom reads this blog!) and continued on our way. Immediately after the tunnel was a tollbooth, so I started scrambling around for a wallet. (Since I sit on the left-hand side of the van, I’m responsible for interacting with the automated toll machines on the continent.) Jacob’s is usually much handier than mine, so he searched his pockets and the cab but came up empty-handed. This caused considerable concern, so after I paid the 11€ toll with my own credit card we stopped at the next rastplatz to do a thorough search. Panic set in once we realized that his wallet was definitely not in the van! Tracing our steps back, there were only two possibilities: one, he’d left it behind at the gas station (where he’d paid for gas), or two, it was in the tunnel layby that we’d stopped at to check over the van. I decided to call the gas station to see if anyone had recovered a lost wallet. This was our conversation:
R: Guten tag, do you speak English?
Gas station lady (GSL): Nein.
R: Does anyone there speak English?
GSL: Nein.
R: Do you have a LOST WALLET?
GSL: Nein.
R: Wallet? Has anyone found a WALLET?
* dial tone *
In hindsight, I should have probably looked up the German word for wallet before calling. But I was still slightly miffed at this treatment! My subsequent attempts to call (with Google Translate at the ready!) were ignored, even when I tried calling from Jacob’s phone. I guess GSL had had enough of phone calls for the day.
We had two options for our next course of action. We could drive an hour back to the gas station, and if we didn’t find the wallet there, we could scour the laybys on our way back eastward through the tunnel. Alternatively, we could just go back through the tunnel, turn around on the other side, and scour the laybys on our way eastward. Both of these options would cost us 22€ in tolls, but we agreed that it seemed more likely that Jacob had dropped his wallet in the tunnel, and that it was more risky to leave it there than at the gas station (in hopes that they would keep it safe if it was turned in). So we turned around, paid 11€, and headed westward into the tunnel. As we passed each layby on the opposite side, I’d crane my neck to see if I could spot anything lying on the ground, but we were going too quickly (and my eyesight is not that good!) to see much of anything. Once through, we took the first exit and turned around again. We tried to remember how long we’d been driving through the tunnel before we’d stopped the first time, or what the distance marker had said on the wall. Better safe than sorry, though, so after passing the first few, we began stopping at each layby to take a thorough check of the ground. Three laybys in, I started to get very concerned that we would not find it. But on our fourth stop, I noticed something on the ground, and said, “What’s that?” Jacob took a look, and in a slow, serious voice said, “That’s my wallet.” I nearly screeched with excitement, I was so relieved! I urged him to get out and grab it quickly before it somehow disappeared! We were both so ecstatic that it took us a few minutes to compose ourselves and get underway again. This time, we were ready for the tollbooth, and more than happy to pay the 11€!
We were relieved after all this excitement to reach our campsite and settle in. It was much more spacious than other sites we’d been to recently, and most importantly was nice and cool! Kals am Großglockner is 1,350 metres above sea level, and the campsite itself was at 1,500. Average highs for the week were 22-24C, and when we arrived it was overcast - sweet relief from the heat of the French and Swiss valleys we’d been in. I also noticed that at least two-thirds of the other campers there were from the Netherlands!
The church in Kals am Großglockner
On Monday, we had a relaxing day of reading and doing some planning for our Italy leg. We also biked into town to get some groceries and visit the tourist information centre. The ride into town was mostly along a steep gravel road, which I found tricky on my “normal” bike (it’s not a road bike, not a mountain bike, not a gravel bike, just a normal bike!). The whole ride was downhill, so we got there very quickly, but the ride back was a bit of a struggle! We took lots of “photo stops” as the scenery along the river was lovely, and it gave me a chance to catch my breath. It rained a little bit too, but it just helped to keep us cool.
A wayside shrine - these were absolutely everywhere in Austria!
The Kalserbach
On Tuesday, we got up early (for us, on holiday…) to start a big day of hiking. We were headed up to a summit called Figerhorn, and we had a loop planned out so we could go directly from (and back to) the campsite. After a bit of walking on the road to reach the trailhead, we headed up through the forest on a set of steep switchbacks. Thankfully the shade kept us cool, although there were a lot of bugs out already! Once we reached the meadows above the forest, the path was more of a traverse, but still heading uphill to the Greibühel peak. Here we took a small break to take some photos and drink water before beginning the next part of the climb up to Figerhorn. This part seemed super steep to me, and I was starting to feel like there was no way I’d reach the top, no matter how many times I sang “The Hills Are Alive” to myself! It just went on and on, and the sun was directly on us so it was quite hot. At this point, we were already above 2,250m, so I also blame the lack of oxygen for my lack of fitness! Thankfully Jacob was very patient, and with his encouragement I made it to the top. The views of Großglockner were stunning, and it wasn’t visible until right at the end, so it was definitely worth persevering!
View of Großglockner from near the Figerhorn summit
Heading back down from Figerhorn summit
After the summit, we continued down the trail to the left, which is where most other people had come up. This trail took us to Lucknerhaus, an “Alpengasthof” (alpine inn), where we stopped for some delicious apple strudel. It’s a good thing we stopped to refuel, too, because we ended up doing more elevation on the way back to the campsite than we’d intended, as part of the trail was closed and we had to go along the road. By the time we got back to the campsite, we’d hiked 17.8km and 1,400 metres of elevation gain. I was good and ready for a shower!
Figerhorn hike recorded track + elevation
On Wednesday, we had a rest day to nurse our blisters and do some laundry. Doing laundry at campsites is much more time-intensive than back home. I used to just throw a load in whenever, let it do its thing while I did something else, and got back to it later on when it was convenient for me. While camping, though, the laundry machine (or several machines if you’re lucky) is a precious resource. You have to get up pretty early to get in the first load of the day, so of course both machines were already in use by the time we got up around 9am. So we put our laundry bag on the machine that would finish soonest, and set a timer to ensure we would arrive just as the machine finished its current cycle. The laundry room is a ruthless place, and if you aren’t there at the right time, you might miss your chance! The same thing goes for when your laundry finishes in the machine. If you aren’t there right at the end, someone else will unload your clothes, and you’ll have to hope that they’re kind enough to put them in the dryer rather than on top of the machine (or, heaven forbid, on the floor). We had several loads to do, and we usually air-dry when the weather is fair, so the back-and-forth of putting in loads, checking on the remaining time, and hanging clothes out to dry took most of the morning and into the afternoon. Once all the laundry was clean and drying, we went out for a little trail run along the river, which turned out to be much lovelier than we expected.
On Thursday, we decided to do a small hike (as our legs were a bit sore from Figerhorn) but still wanted good views, so we “cheated” and took the gondola up to Großglockner Resort. Although you’d think the resort was on Großglockner itself, it’s actually across the valley. All the brochures and maps take special care to ensure Großglockner appears prominently, however! It makes them very confusing to read, though, because it’s hard to orient against a normal map. After our hike, we stopped for lunch at the Adlerlounge restaurant before heading back down the gondola.
View of Großglockner from the resort
We left the campsite on Friday morning, but didn’t have anywhere to be until our campsite reservation in Slovenia on Sunday. We also wanted to get another hike in before leaving Austria, so we stayed at a paid parking area at the Matreier Tauernhaus, an alpine inn and restaurant. Friday itself was a pretty relaxed day, especially once it started pouring with rain! We sat inside and did a bunch of planning for the rest of the trip while listening to the thunder and lightning outside. It’s days like these that we’re very grateful to have the van for shelter!
Several of the reviews of the parking area we were staying in mentioned that it was the departure point for a shuttle to a glacier hike. That sounded pretty neat to us, so we decided to check it out. The shuttle turned out to be what looked like a train car, except it was on wheels and being pulled by a tractor. I was seated next to the window, and the driver rolled away the plastic window covering next to me before we left, so I had lovely fresh mountain air and beautiful views of the valley and the mountains as we drove. The shuttle took us to Innergschlöß, an area in the valley below Großvenediger, the second highest peak in Austria. From there, we walked along the river before starting the climb up. The trail is a loop, and we decided to go up to the left, through the shaded forest rather than the mountainside that was already in full sun. The path in the trees was quite steep, but mostly consisted of stairs made from logs placed horizontally across the path. Once we got above the treeline and into the alpine meadow, we got our first full views of the glacier, and as we continued along the trail we just got closer and closer to it.
Enjoying our first views of the glacier
A lake along the trail
As we neared the top of the trail, the terrain changed again to large slabs of smooth rock with many colours swirling along the surface, which I found beautiful but tricky at first to find my footing on. Jacob urged me on, however, past the marked trail to see if we could get a better vantage point. And indeed, after some scrambling over boulders and sliding along the slabs, we were suddenly at the foot of the glacier where it melted into a small lake full of icebergs. This is where we stopped for lunch, in awe of our imposing surroundings.
The glacier
As we made our way back to the trail, we were scrambling around on the rocks and kind of guessing which direction to go in as there wasn’t anyone else around, and I had such a feeling of joy and freedom in that moment. It made me feel like a kid again, to be playing around on the rocks with nowhere in particular to be and no one else around. It felt wonderful!
View along the slab-rock part of the trail
Once we found the trail again, we descended back down into the valley. This part of the trail was tricky for a different reason: it was littered with sheep and cow poo, so you had to be careful where you stepped! Once back at the Matreier Tauernhaus, we stopped in for an apple strudel (me) and an ice cream (Jacob) to treat ourselves after the hike. It was certainly one of my favourites of this trip so far. I loved the variety of terrain, the beautiful landscapes, and how close we got to the glacier! It was outstanding.
Glacier hike recorded track + elevation
Austria has been just what we needed to breathe some life back into our trip after the heat of France and Switzerland. We certainly had a lovely time in those countries, but we were really struggling with the heat and with how busy everything was (and therefore difficult to book and plan ahead). It’s been so refreshing to escape to Austria and enjoy a week full of mountain adventures, with temperatures in the low 20s. The few rainy days gave us a chance to sketch out the rest of our trip as well, and we have a good idea now of where we’ll be between now and mid-September, when we hop back over to the UK to wrap up our trip (and focus on relocation!). For now, though, stay tuned for our next destination: Slovenia!