Autumn in the sun...

I have been organising pretty much weekly hikes recently. Blog land hasn't seen much evidence of this as the more photos I take, the longer it takes for me to sit down and sort out the ones I like. Also, some weeks its just overcast and grey. This doesn't really spoil the hike in the slightest, or even the views, but it makes for a rubbish photo nonetheless.

Anyway, this hike was chosen specifically due to the weather report. We have had an utterly ridiculous heatwave here that has meant that for 2 weeks in a row mid-october temperatures were nudging up over 20 degrees, and there has been plenty of sun. In the Vienna basin though, autumn is the season of low cloud/fog. It is very common that all of the lowlands are shrouded in miserable fog all day while up abouve 300m the sun beams.

Just such an occurrence was forecast for the Saturday for which I planned this latest hike to the Sonnwendstein (1521m), which has an excellent view over the Vienna basin and is ideal for watching this phenomenon in its full glory. We took a new, longer and more winding route to the summit, prolonging the hike to at least 18km and taking us past the gorgeous autumn foliage. Every so often out of the dark of the conifers you would catch sight of the fiery yellow-orange of solitary deciduous trees. The photos get close, but can't quite get across the sheer intensity of the colours...

Several times during the climb and most spectacularly at the summit (after a well-deserved Gasthaus lunch) the sea of clouds over the plains was visible. You could easily imagine yourself atop some floating island... And chuckle at the misfortune of your Vienna-bound companions while soaking in the constant beaming sunshine! A beautiful curving ridge walk with stunning panoramic views of the Rax and Schneeberg massifs rounded off the hike before a rapid descent in order to catch the train on time.

I hope you enjoy this very autumnal gallery of photos, with the added benefit of some serious cloud-sea action!

Bis bald,

Der Tom