Austria and Riffler

After not really feeling well from the campsite, I decided to move to a hostel to get some more rest. I think it was the cold nights and marginal diet that really dragged things out. I moved to the Bavaria City Hostel, which was one of the nicest places I've stayed so far. It was right in the middle to town. I could hear people playing music in the streets from my second floor room, and it was nice to take an afternoon nap to the accordion or violin below. The hostel was very well decorated, and the staff went out of their way to make me feel comfortable... it was probably the nicest place I've stayed so far. I watched some talks online to pass time, and took short walks around the village to gauge my readiness. Once my achenes went away I was left with a dry cough that I thought was good enough.

I started riding the “ClaudiaAugusta” route that was supposedly used by the Romans to cross the Alps. There were some sections were wagon wheels are said to have rutted out the stones. However some scholars have repeated the experiment by rolling wooden wheels on stone and found only marginal wear after thousands of passes. Perhaps the ruts were chiseled out to help keep the wagons on the road? This is still up for debate. I kept thinking about how the roman road would compare to an optimized route using today's technology, but the autobahn way was never too far away.

The ride itself was not as hard as I'd imagined. It was a slow uphill climb to Fern Pass, which was the highpoint of this section of the route. The ride down was crazier, with tight turns on platforms built off the side of mountains, and what I would call winding roads (think Indian ladder trail). There was a concerted focus on where I wanted the bike to go, and I did not do much site seeing over my shoulder. Because of this I didn't get many pictures. I was probably going faster then I should have, too.

I had been dodging raindrops all day, and since I was still not feeling 100%, I went for another hostel just south of Imst. This hostel was a converted wagon and auto repair shop, and recently reopened after being renovated and converted into a hostel. I found it a bit creepy myself. I cooked the food I'd been carrying and slept like a stone in a room to myself.

I really would have liked to keep following the Claudia Augusta south, perhaps to Venice, but if I am to make it to the UK, I had to turn west and start moving on Switzerland and France.

I plotted a route directly west and was treated to some epic scenery that made me feel like I was riding through a puzzle. Austria is proving to be one of the most challenging but rewarding places I've been so far. I went through the town of Landback and saw a place that offered rafting and “canyoning” tours. Not wanting to ride past all the attractions, I decided to do a little side trip away from the bicycle and before the expense of Switzerland. Thought there were no raft trips offered for that day, but I did mention that I wanted to do some hiking. After some discussion and reviewing maps, the shop owner set me up with some rental boots (better then my bike shoes or Crocks) and helmet for one of the nearby peaks. He said it'd be walkable and well traveled, and I went on his advice.

The bike ride to the start of the trail was tough in itself. Thought it was less then 10 miles from the shop, it was a tough 10 miles. I stopped at a restaurant for one last quality meal, and they also provided me with a map of the area since the tourist info office was already closed. I stopped at the market to get some food, then started up the dirt road into the mountains. I dropped into the lowest gear I had and kept it there. Most areas were rideable, some areas required standing to get enough torque. Note that my bike has pretty low gearing, such as that of a mountain bike, and standing in the lowest gear means some serious torque. I did not fall over in my cleats as I was worried, but the slow speeds made the bike wobbly. Some of the loose gravel made the front wheel lift and back wheel skid, and it was generally a very long and slow climb where I stopped to rest every 50 to 100 yards to catch my breath. I did walk the bike a bit, but I found this harder then riding and ended up riding as much of the way.

 

Eventually I reached the footpath that went off roadway. I switched into hiking cloths, put on my rental boots, and took one pannier (with shoulder strap) full of food, water, but mostly clothing. Everything else was stashed behind a bounder out of sight from the road, with my cable lock about it all.

The hike was a present switch from bike riding, but my energy was running low and time was running short. The mountain hut was only about 2km from the road, but it was a moderately steep path that opened up the dirt road and nearby creek into a truly vast landscape. It really was very amazing, and I tried to take lots of pictures. I reached the Edmond-Graf mountain hut at about 7:00, where I had a hot meal and a place to sleep. It was in interesting experience staying at a mountain hut. They had most of the amenities you'd expect, even a bar, but no hot water or showers. A picture of the owner was behind the bar on hist final accent of Everest.

The next morning I started the last leg towards Hoher Riffler, one of the highest peaks in the area at 3168m (almost a 10,000 footer). I was well into snow at this time, but the clear day was promising. I sortof regret not making a snow angle in the glacier. About an hour into my journey I had one of the closer calls of the trip when I ran across some mountain rams. I'm not sure the species, but they are big (about the size of donkey), four legged mountain grazers that live in on the alpine grass, and have big curved horns. I was hiking alone and being admittedly quiet when I turned the corner and snuck up on a group of these guys. I think we surprised each other. Most chirped and ran away but this one guy was not so timid and lowered his horns at me. He was about 40 feet away and up on some rocks. I dropped my posture to be non threatening, and slowly moved back down the trail and he tracked me in his posture. When I was about 100 feet away I stopped and waited him out. He stood his ground, eventually relaxed posture, and after about 20 minutes went away to join the others who had fled, allowing me to continue onwards. Still, my heart was beating fast as I had some real fears of being rammed off the mountain. Perhaps bear bells work for other animals as well? From then on I made a point of announcing my presence with clapping my hands, calling out, and eventually amateur yodeling. I find yodeling works better as you go higher and the mountains become steeper with less foliage, but I was never able to hit the right notes to get any sort of residence in the echo.

As I assented I found a trail that was neither walkable or well traveled. Indeed I was alone on a trail that looked unbroken, though I was technically two days pre-hiking season. The stones were jagged and steep, and the snow was loose and granular. The episode with the ram left me tense, and my heart rate was a little higher then I expected. I think my nerves were getting to me hiking in a remote area, and I remembered that altitude sickness may start to  be a factor at these elevations.

I got to a section that required traversing a steep snow covered area. I knew this was the end of the line for me, my abilities, and equipment, and I made the decision to turn around there. I was probably a quarter mile from the top, but it really was just too dangerous to continue. I did try a few steps in the alpine snow in a different area; my rubber boots sank down unevenly, tipped sideways, and skid out from under my body. “No” turned into “hell no” at that point and I don't regret my decision to turn around. I gave it my best and have no regrets. This was a big adventure for me, and a big jump in the challenges I undertook. I got down to the bottom without a scratch. I may try climbing again in Switzerland, perhaps with a guide. I was an odd day as I was fighting glaciers in the morning, and avoiding the afternoon heat in the town below after a fast decent. The bike handled well from mountain to road, and I was careful to go easy on my wheels, rims, and tires with such a load. The disk breaks warmed up nicely. Now I'm back in town, showered up, have beer to drink, and some time to relax and start planning for whatever lays ahead tomorrow.