The 1st of November - the best of autumn hiking

Autumn is the best season for hiking, but I never thought I would be able to pinpoint an ideal day for hiking. As it happens, it appears there is one: the 1st of November. As you probably don't remember, on the 1st of November 2014 I enjoyed a fantastic and sunny hike up the Schneealpe. The hike in today's post took place exactly a year later, and once again we enjoyed blazing autumn sunshine, unbelievable autumn colours, and all round lovely views.

This was a long hike and encompassed a climb of 1000 vertical metres, but because those metres were spread evenly over the whole hike it really never felt that exhausting at all. We set out directly from Payerbach-Reichenau station and wound our way along the edge of the limestone cliffs overlooking the two towns. The route headed upwards along a very familiar pathway through the narrow gorge called 'Eng', which is in fact the german word for narrow... The Eng is overshadowed by steep walls of rock with precariously perched conifer trees, glowing in the sunlight at the tops of these walls but cold and in shadow at the bottom of the gorge.

We finally escaped the chilly but dramatic gorge and came out onto a wide meadow in front of a Gasthaus. We enjoyed our packed lunches sitting on the grass in the sunshine and then headed up on the steeper final leg of our outward journey to the peak of the Krummbachstein. At 1600m this is pretty high, but it suffers in popularity due to its close proximity to the Schneeberg (2000m). Nonetheless the summit of the Krummbachstein rises to a single sharp peak which is well isolated from the surrounding mountains, affording a 360 degree panoramic view.

The peak was drenched in sunshine but also exposed to a strong cold wind, requiring us to brace ourselves firmly and dress up warm while we enjoyed the exceptional panorama. There is a great view of the whole side of the Schneeberg, the flanks of the Rax plateau and the Hoellental. Spruce trees are liberally spread throughout the numerous evergreen forests covering the flanks of the mountain and many of the mountains nearby. These trees are special among pine-like (coniferous?) trees because they change colour then lose their needles in winter. Without them the alps in autumn would be much more boring at high altitudes! As it was, the bright yellows of the spruces contrasted dramatically with the deep greens of their neighbours, dusting the whole view with autumn gold.

The return walk was nicely graded and lead us into a different arm of the same gorge that eventually forms the Eng. The sun was nearing the horizon but had moved around to shine directly along the gorge, backlighting the vegetation with late afternoon sunlight and later painting the pale limestone cliffs a luminous orange. We headed back to the station before sunset, marvelling once again at the leaves of the trees in the village on the last proper autumn hike of the year!

Czech out the full gallery at the link...

Bis bald (und frohe Weihnachten!),

Der Tom

Up a mountain in Carinthia

Continuing my account of my long weekend in the vicinity of Villach...

Both my hosts and I were a little under the weather (I had simply ignored this fact the day before because: well, did you see the photos?) and while consuming large amounts of sage tea (good for the throat dontcha know) we all admitted that a full on mountain attempt was probably beyond us. But none of us wanted to give up the chance of an alpine peak, so we settled on a compromise - drive up the handy alpine road to 1400m and walk the rest!

This turned out to be a great decision, giving us a nice relaxed walk and maximum time in the autumn sunshine surrounded by amazing views. Our chosen mountain was the 'Hausberg' ('home mountain', basically the mountain climbing equivalent of 'local pub') of Villach: the big limestone chunk that is the Dobratsch. Its name is a testament to the mixed-language history of the area, something that is obvious considering the fact that modern day Slovenia is very easily visible from its peak.

We made our way up the nicely graded path, winding between steep grassy hillsides with remnant patches of early snow. The dramatic rise of the Dobratsch above its surroundings (thanks to the erosion resistance of trusty old limestone!) affords great views in most directions. On the way up, the most impressive view was to the east over the valley containing Villach and eventually Klagenfurt. As with the previous morning, a thick low blanket of fog and cloud was tenaciously hanging on, only slowly breaking up to offer glimpses of smaller hills and some of Carinthia's many lakes. A really magical view, with an added hint of schadenfreude knowing that the people who didn't get up early are stuck in the grey mist while you are enjoying the sun!

Up at the top are a very modern Gasthaus, a huge antenna tower, and two chapels, one of which is not ruined. The actual peak lies just above a steep steep drop towards the valley below. The views from this point were really fantastic (I'm saying that a lot in this entry), with the broad and steep-sided valley receding into the distance in a perfect demonstration of perspective, surronded by craggy snow capped peaks. All the more enjoyable for me of course was the way that this valley was so obviously a product of geological forces. The knife straight transition between flat valley floor and mountainous terrain on its southern edge is a textbook example of a fault, and in the valley proper you could see the knobbly deposits of earlier ice ages cut through by the modern floodplain of the river... By this time there was no mist at all and you could see all the way across to the Hohe Tauern some 80km away!

We made our way down on the other edge of the plateau, this time looking out to the south and east at the high ramparts of the Slovenian alps and the dramatic wisps of cirrus cloud above them. A short hike, but rich in amazing views and far better than hiding in the valleys!

Enjoy the photo set at the magic hyperlink!

Bis bald,

Der Tom

Autumn colours in Carinthia

We're still way back in the past here! But it never hurts to remember how fantastic autumn is, even if we may feel a little sad right now that it has slipped away and turned to winter behind our backs! This is post one of two detailing a brief expedition I made to Carinthia (Kaernten) at the end of October. I visited friends who I have hosted repeatedly for many years in Vienna, but like a typical Viennese person, I had never managed to leave the bright lights of the city to return the favour until now...

I stayed in my friends' flat in a big house on the outskirts of Villach, a town of about 60,000 people close to Austria's mountainous border with Slovenia, and firmly among the Alps. However, I did not see anything of the town other than the train station, because there were much more important things around, namely woods and mountains!

It was another one of those warm, sunny autumn weekends that Austria is blessed with. As is common here in that most magical season, the valleys were covered in thick but extremely low hanging clouds/ fog at daybreak, which slowly broke up throughout the day. Waking early on my first morning I was encouraged out into the chilly mist to observe the view from the back terrace and discovered a direct view over fields and houses to a picturesquely perched castle on a nearby hilltop, wreathed in mist. A few hours later and the sun had burned the mist away, leaving the same castle surrounded by bright splashes of colour from the many trees.

After lunch it was time to head towards the castle. Not to go in, but instead to visit the japanese macaques living next door. Over 100 macaques live at the Affenberg (monkey mountain) attraction, chosen because they can deal handily with the alpine winters without having to be brought indoors. The monkeys were brilliant to see, and the whole experience was improved by the wise words of our guide through the enclosure (where the macaques run free and you have to watch out they don't steal your stuff!). My favourite fact was that social skills count for much more than brute strength if you want to push your way up the ladder in macaque society. A heartening thought!

After the monkey mountain we set out further into the woods, following a ridge with occasional views to a large lake to the north and a stunning alpine panorama to the south. The woods were perfect, huge splashes of intense colours making bold contrasts with stands of dark green conifers or moss-covered outcrops of metamorphic rock. In shaded areas the moss, swamp, standing water and bracket fungi provided a silvery blue-green palette in stark contrast to the blazing intensity of the stands of deciduous trees lit by the slowly sinking autumn sun. We wound up and down on top of the ridge for several happy hours, before descending to the shore of the lake (Ossiacher See) just as the sun was setting.

Pictures are as always at the link, and sometime soonish you will get another post about our adventures on days 2 and 3 of my stay!

Bis bald,

Der Tom

Sturm in Gumpoldskirchen

On the one hand its ridiculous I'm still posting photos I took in September, but on the other hand it is pleasing, because it makes me feel as if I delivered on my resolution (renewed yearly) to make the most out of the wonderful month that is September in Vienna & surroundings. Today's brief account is the product of what is also a yearly excursion of mine, to the vineyard covered slopes above Gumpoldskirchen, in search of Sturm and various (mostly fatty) things spread on bread.

 

This year was particularly successful as I and my companions managed to hit on a really incredibly sunny day for our expedition. This greatly helped our enthusiasm for Sturm (that's the still fermenting grape juice full of yeast, if you weren't paying attention the last few years) and also for 'proper' wines, and we managed to visit a fair few of the numerous stands crowding the Wasserleitungsweg in the direction of Baden.

This was certainly no hiking trip, and as dusk slowly approached we made the decision to turn round and head back to Gumpoldskirchen rather than carry on the much longer walk to Baden. Right as the sun began to set behind the Wienerwald a magnificent wall of cloud began moving in from the West. Blocking out the twilight sky, the clouds took on an incredible dark blue, inky colour. The normal strong brightness contrast between clouds and ground was completely removed, and photos capturing the whole scene in one exposure became possible.

We made our way under the rapidly darkening ink-sky, gazing eastwards out from under the shelf of the clouds to see the last of the sunset far away across the Vienna basin. Sporadic rain began to fall, visible against the bright backdrop until darkness really set in just as we got back to the town.

Hope you enjoy this small set of photos taken entirely during the dramatic half an hour or so right at the end of our walk! Click ze leenk for the full set.

Bis bald!

Der Tom

Schneeberg from Weichtalhaus, with goats

Autumn is my favourite time of year in Austria, and one of the biggest reasons is that it is the perfect season for hiking. Although you can't predict the best days, Autumn always delivers some perfect hiking weather: not too hot, not too cold, with the added magic of low lying mists, mellow afternoon light, and the icing on the cake: the turning leaves. I knew I wanted to the make the most of the best hiking season, and so planned this demanding hike, 1500 metres of climb up the steep south side of the Schneeberg (never before climbed by me!), and then down the rocky Fadensteig. Luckily I found two companions willing to take on the challenge, and (far too) bright and early we got off the bus at Weichtalhaus to begin the ascent.

The first part of the climb was winding switchbacks through leafy forest. Sticking to a slow and steady pace that would pay dividends throughout the hike, we made it up half the total ascent exactly on time, emerging into the bright morning sunshine for a brief rest stop at a hut. The views got better and better as we climbed higher, giving us a hazy panorama over the looming Rax plateau, including my first ever look into the dramatically steep-walled 'grosse' Hoellental from a cross-valley vantage point. The trees gave way to bushes and long grass as we took lunch with the already impressive view in front of us and the final ascent at our backs.

The wind atop the Schneeberg was much fiercer than lower down, howling around us as we zigged, zagged and zigged again up the steep grass and rock slope. We arrived at the summit at just the right time (the 'true', 2076m summit of the Schneeberg, another first for me!). The peak was at that moment situated in a large gap in the cloud cover, the ceiling of which was just slightly below the height of the peak. The tops of the far off cloud banks were just visible, even while the receding ranks of hills remained visible below the cloud layer. The most exciting moment was when, turning southwards into the full force of the wind, I spotted a cloud that was getting ready to engulf the summit. Standing there at exactly the same level as the advancing cloud glowing backlit from the sun was an amazing feeling, as if this huge but delicately patterned wall was bearing down on us and all we had to do was to reach out...

Distracted by the beauty of nature, I almost missed the two hiking goats that appeared on the summit moments after us! While their humans took summit photos, the two goats stood unconcerned on the broad path, kitted out with balanced matching saddle bags and handsome bells. The hiking pack-goats and their human companions followed us on our descent, accompanying us with their musical tinkling. After they overtook us and left the path, we threaded our way down the Fadensteig, the yellowing afternoon light lending the flanks of the Schneeberg extra texture and colour. After the Steig we were weary, and took full advantage of the existence of a precarious-looking but functional chairlift to shave the final 300m descent off our journey, thus making it to the bus stop just in time for our ride home.

One of the hikes of the year, no doubt! If you want to experience glowing cloud walls and hiking goats at larger size, don't hesitate to click onwards to the full gallery!

Bis bald,

der Tom.

Glasgow trip part 2: the isle of Arran!

As I mentioned in my last post, the weather on my recent trip to Scotland was fantastic. My hosts, well versed in the art of caring and feeding for a geologist (and themselves not averse to a bit of fresh air of course!) kindly organised a trip to the island of Arran for me. I was very excited at the prospect for many reasons. Firstly, islands just have an intrinsic coolness factor because they are islands. Secondly, I honestly am not sure when the last time was before this recent trip that I actually saw the sea from ground level. Thirdly, Arran is famous as somewhat of a mecca for British geology students and I had always considered it a mark of slight shame that I had never even touched its shores.

Part of the coolness of islands is that you can use boats to get to them! I have always lived far enough from the sea or other big stretches of water that ferries hold a definite excitement. They combine being big cool machines with the prospect of a journey across the waves AND there's usually a cool view to boot! True to form I thoroughly enjoyed the ferry trip over to Arran, staying out for the whole trip despite the rather strong winds and gazing at the approaching island. You can get a pretty good idea of the geology of the whole place from that distance too, would be a good point to have the first stop of a field trip.

Arran is so famous because it contains in its 30km length a swathe of geology reaching from 500 million years ago to the recent past, encompassing sedimentary, igneous and metamorphic geology of great variety in one easily accessible area. Of course, we only had time to wander over a tiny bit of it, and in any case some of the other people didn't seem to think that we were ONLY there to look at the rocks. Weirdos. In any case, we settled on walking round the shore from our landing point of Brodick, making our goal a prominent castle (of the more stately-home kind) around the bay.

It was absolutely gorgeous sunny weather, and my main impression was of all the different colours on display. The rocks (Permian New Red sandstones) were wonderfully varying hues of red, weathering to a red-tinged sandy beach next to Brodick itself. Seen across the deep blue-green of the sea in sunlight were the much whiter sands more typical of the west coast of Scotland, studded with bright greens from the seaweed and grasses in the sand dunes, and loomed over by the dark greens, purples, browns and greys of the mountains (well in the UK we would say mountains) above.

We walked all the way round the bay, reached the castle and then headed back, stopping to a local bakery to eat a delicious macaroni and cheese pie(!!!). This tasty tasty food nearly scuppered my plan to be awake for the trip home, but I overcame the sleepiness and was able to once again admire the incredible panorama on our trip back to the mainland. Enjoy the bumper pack of photos available at this magic link!

Bis bald,

der Tom.

Glasgow trip part 1: city

Some of my best friends live in Glasgow, and because they wanted to make my life as easy as possible (I'm sure), decided to share a flat which includes cool pet rats and enough room for tonnes of guests. Glasgow is pretty much always on my list of stops whenever I vist the UK and as such I've been there quite a lot now. This trip was particularly exciting as it was my first visit to the flat when I hadn't either been stressing out about my doctoral thesis or in one case actually writing bits of it while I was there.

Nowadays (there were times when this was different!) my friends are very good at showing me new bits of Glasgow I haven't been to before, and I really think it is a pretty fantastic place. Lots of green, lots of restaurants, plenty of space, impressive architecture and you can get around it quite easily by subway, train, and walking. Not to mention its proximity to the great scenery of the Scottish countryside. Of course, there is one thing that famously isn't always fantastic about Glasgow, and that's the weather. But you won't hear anything about that in this blogpost, because Glasgow at the beginning of September was gloriously sunny for much of the time I was there!

Most of the photos in my gallery of sunny Glasgow pictures were taken in Kelvingrove park, a beautiful park comprising a green and leafy small valley either side of the river Kelvin, towered over by the frankly Harry-potteresque tall tower of Glasgow university and the equally imposing red sandstone bulk and towers of the Kelvingrove Gallery and Museum (also worth a visit!). The hilly nature of the park allows great views over towards the hills surrounding Glasgow, contrasting the cranes and tower blocks with the countryside beyond.

Check out the full gallery of pictures at this here linky thing, and maybe consider a trip to Glasgow if you're ever in the area! I cannot promise it will be sunny though.

Next time, photos from a trip I was taken on while in Glasgow, to the shores of the island of Arran!

Bis bald,

Der Tom

Hackney Marshes

I lived a few kilometres away from Hackney Marshes for two years during my stay in London, so of course I never went. The marshes remained an evocatively named and distant patch of green on the google maps representation of the area around my house... until now! On my recent post doctoral-defence trip to Britain I met up with my good friend and former housemate Ed, now a committed Hackney resident and co-owner of two rather active dogs (a whippet and a not-quite-a-whippet), which need their batteries running down if they aren't going to bark at everyone.

Ed suggested we take the dogs (and me) out for a walk in Hackney Marshes, a plan I was very much in favour of! I was slightly sad to discover that the marshes are not some kind of mist and will-o'-the-wisp haunted mystical swampland, but they do preserve some of their more marshy heritage and most importantly represent a massive expanse of green land. We started out in the huge playing field area, the towers of new developments and that weird rollercoaster in the olympic park (people may claim it isn't but I know better) forming the backdrop to people playing cricket. It was a lovely british day, bright sun combining with layers of wind-blown clouds to create a real show in the sky.

We walked on over a bridge, spotting a kingfisher flashing along the fast flowing river below. Moving between hedges of thick brambles we came out into the wilder, grassier area of the marshes. Ripe blackberries were everywhere, though the best efforts of earlier passers by meant that often all the really juicy ones were juuust out of reach! The view that opened up from the path was one that I would not have associated with London at all. In the distance, below the dramatic clouds, trains ran back and forth in front of the spire of a church. In the fields to one side were cows and to the other horses, looking small under the towering power lines.

Hackney marshes are an interesting mixed landscape of playing field, park, river, farmland, and good old London scruffiness. I echo Ed's sentiments that I wish I had discovered them sooner! My favourite photos from the walk are over here at this link, take a look!

As always, bis bald.

Der Tom

Winzendorf - Bad Fischau

This hike took place at the end of a several week stretch of hot, hot days in Vienna, with temperatures above 35 degrees in the day and only getting down to 25 degrees even in the middle of the night. The day of the hike was supposed to be the day the heatwave finally broke, indeed in the higher mountains the forecast was for thick cloud and rain. It was decided to do a lower route, with the hope of striking the perfect balance between warm and cold. As it happened all we got was humid, but it was a lovely hike, with great views and some nice surprises.

The route (this time not chosen by me!) started out in the village of Winzendorf on the rail line to Puchberg am Schneeberg, primarily famous for its yearly 'Karl May Festspiele', where the famous (in german-speaking countries anyway) wild west adventure stories of the eponymous author Karl May are acted out. We headed rapidly up onto the low hills, affording us a great view over the Vienna basin and also our future route. In the distance was an exciting-looking castle ruin. After an hour or so's walk we descended into a valley between two hills and climbed steeply up the other side to reach this very ruin, on the Emmerberg.

The vast overgrown complex proved too enticing so we headed in and explored. This castle ruin is at least twice as large as several similar ruins I have encountered hiking elsewhere near Vienna, with substantial walls still standing and fantastic vine-choked masonry. Right at the back of the castle the hill drops away and you get an unobstructed view of the dramatic limestone cliff of the Hohe Wand (literally 'high wall'), which is a sharp fault forming the northern boundary of the Vienna basin. A real shame this magical castle isn't officially open to the public, though with the size of the ruin the costs to make it tourist-friendly would undoubtedly be too large.

After the surprise castle we wandered on over the tops of the hills, accompanied mostly by rank upon rank of the particular species of fir tree that grows everywhere around Vienna in this sort of environment. These firs have beautiful bark on their bare trunks, a silvery sheen and with hints of purple mixed in with the brown. A whole forest of them quickly becomes a strange wall of tree trunks striping away seemingly to infinity. After finding one more viewpoint over the Hohe Wand we turned down towards our destination, Bad Fischau, me half wishing for a cooling thunderstorm that never came. There are a number of caves around the town, although we missed one (hidden somewhere in the undergrowth) and the other is apparently very impressive if you go on a caving tour, but has a tiny unimpressive entrance. No matter, a nice relaxing hike with great views, a perfect choice for repeating in winter too!

As usual, if you click on the link you will get to see the full photo gallery...

And also as usual: bis bald!

Der Tom

Crossing the Rax

Today's blog and photos recount a hike across the Rax Plateau that I did a while ago now, near the beginning of July. I was staring at my very mistreated map of the Rax-Schneeberg region wondering what hike I could plan that would be a bit more novel, not just a repeat of the (don't get me wrong, beautiful) hikes I had done before. Summer hikes are great of course, but they can really start to blend together in the head without the aid of new terrain. Summer weather is pleasant but just lacks the changeable nature to really put a unique stamp on each different hike by itself.

I resigned myself to taking the train at the ungodly hour of 7.15 am, as this opens up the whole of the area to access by bus. In the end I decided to start from the tiny hamlet of Hinternasswald right on the southwest side of the Rax, the furthest the bus goes up that particular valley. As I and my intrepid companions who had agreed to come with me despite hearing how many vertical meters were involved (1300) climbed out of the bus around 9.30 am, it was already hot. We were looking forward to avoiding another 38 degree day in Vienna in the cool mountains, but when it's that hot, mountains can only do so much.

The route zigzagged up the back of the Schneealpe before joining the Nasskamm, the fantastic ridge joining Schneealpe to the Rax. I had been thinking of making the climb up to Rax from this ridge ever since we descended from the Schneealpe over it in November last year. The stunning views were tempered a little by the unrelenting sun, and things only got more intense as we set off after lunch up the steepest and rockiest section, a semi-Klettersteig or scramble through some incredible limestone scenery on the steep flank of the Rax plateau. Climbing doggedly in full sun on the south face of the mountain, surrounded by bright reflecting limestone, we sweated and cursed our way up to the top. The rest of the hike was easy and pleasant, the scenery unfolding into wide vistas across the plateau and ending with the pleasantly graded descent to Preiner Gscheid, where we were lucky enough to get a hitch to the station just in time for the (air conditioned!) train. Would have been even more pleasant if we hadn't all been half baked by that point, of course!

All in all a great route, but I wouldn't do 1300m up and 1000m down in the middle of a heatwave again, it was over 25 degrees even up at the highest point, 2007m. I am certainly not ruling out an autumn repeat of this one to get the most out of all the views! Please enjoy the photos from the comfort of your probably much cooler homes!

Bis bald,

der Tom

An actual holiday: the Czech Republic

Although I am on permanent holiday in Vienna, it turns out that I am still able to take regular holidays! Actually, I haven't taken a regular holiday where I visit somewhere that isn't the UK for a non-job related purpose in probably over a year, such is the nature of PhD student and ex-pat life. So it was good for me that my good friend Manu was even more in need of a holiday and recommended a trip to the Czech republic. I was very excited, as I have always wanted to see more of the embarrasingly nearby Czech Republic than just Prague.

Manu's tip was that we head to the town of České Budějovice, in the South of the Czech republic and due north of Linz about two hours on a very sleepy slow train, which we later discovered pretty much exactly followed the route of the early 19th century horse drawn railway that connected Linz and
České Budějovice. The town has another name in German, Budweis, and this may give a clue to the major thing that it is famous for outside the Czech Republic, namley its position as the home of (and only production site of) the world renowned Budweiser Budvar beer. It goes without saying that we did the tour, Manu even managing to heroically drag back 40 bottles of the Czech-only budweiser brew in his vast suitcase.

České Budějovice has a beautiful and very peaceful old town absolutely littered with very old and slightly wonky buildings, centred around a vast and very impressive main square, whose highlight is the rather over-the-top town hall with big metal dragon heads protruding from it. Overlooking it all is a large medieval tower providing an excellent view out towards the hills beyond and over the river Vltava (which will later flow through Prague) and the smaller tributary that joins it in Budějovice. My main impression of the place was that it was one of those quiet, beautiful central european towns with abundant parks and enough room for everyone to have a very nice life, though I am sure there are plenty of inhabitants who would still want to swap it for London :-)

The coolest building in town was in my opinion the Dominican Monastery, a gorgeous gothic church with baroque flourishes, filled to the brim with medieval wall paintings incuding an almost TEN METER HIGH wall painting of St Christopher from around 1450 (apparently he was often depicted as a giant?!). In the nearby village of Hluboká we saw a building that, while not as reserved, was the only thing that topped the monastery, using brute sheer architectural exuberance. The castle, home for many years to the rich and powerful Schwarzenberg family (who had a knack for winning battles of europe wide importance against enemies like the Turks and Napoleon), is currently in its third or fourth incarnation: a mock tudor-style castle modelled after Windsor Castle. The outside is stunning enough, but the insanely complex carved wood panelling and almost casual assortment of vastly expensive objects really blew me away.

Our final day and a night were spent in the nearby (and pretty famous) Český Krumlov, all winding medieval streets, piles of tourists and an impossibly fairytale castle looming high on a cliff over the rest of the small town. We were lucky to have accidentally arrived during a middle ages festival, and proceeded to eat big lumps of grilled pig (I ate so much pig fat on this holiday) and drink rather a lot of Budweiser. Our very successful party evening brought us medieval electric guitar solos, drinking companions from Britain, Canada and the Czech Republic, a firelit procession of medievally clad locals, and a lot of fun! Our journey back to Vienna the next day was subdued but satisfied...

Catch the bumper 16-photo album of what I did on my holidays right at the link!

Bis bald, 

Der Tom

Hohe Veitsch Hike

Among young Vienna based hikers, one object is highly prized: the car. Given the advantages of bikes and public transport for everday transport around the city, most of us city dwellers, especially the non-natives, do not own one. However, it is in the nature of mountainous regions that they are never perfectly accessible by public transport, and the rare offer of someone with a car opens up exciting possibilities beyond the everyday.

This blogpost reports on one such car-assisted trip to a peak I had not climbed until now. There is a whole chain of biggish mountains heading West from the Schneeberg and the Rax, made of the same tough limestone as those two peaks/plateaus. I had visited all of the major limestone mountains in this row between Schneeberg and the Hochschwab but one, the Hohe Veitsch (between the Hochschwab and the Schneealpe, much closer to the latter). We set off on a beautiful sunny summer morning in June.

After a much-more-rapid-than-the-train journey it was time to hike. Starting off in shady forest we crossed occasional hot stretches of felled trees before reaching a gorgeous flowery meadow with isolated trees. The flowers were definitely the theme of this hike, we seemed to have hit exactly the right time and from that point onward the mountain was always colourful. Skirting the edge of a large ridge to avoid going over it, we climbed a steep saddle and easily made it up to the small summit plateau of the Hohe Veitsch. Sweeping grassland with flowers gives way to distant views of the other limeston peaks in the region, and I had great fun at lunch mentally ticking off all the ones I had been on! Especially nice was the view of the whole Hochschwab massif, which I really love to walk in but have never seen a good overview of from a distance before now. The domed head of the Hochschab itself was prominent, as were the snowfields collected in the nooks and crannies of the 2000m high plateau.

We started back down, thinking to get back to Vienna nice and early. A navigating error led us to miss a hairpin bend and continue heading straight, towards the ridge we had skirted earlier. From the back of the group I was pretty sure this wasn't the way we had planned, but quite honestly, I had been eyeing the ridge enviously all day. We reached it, and agreed to take the high road back to the car. This was absolutely the highlight of the walk, scrambling along the very top of the rocky limestone ridge with fantastic views to each side, and the whole place festooned with alpine flowers and almost no other hikers in sight. A brilliant wrong turn! The walk down to the parking place was more direct than the way there and we made it back for a quick icecream in the hut there, later but also happier than planned!

The photos attempting to capture the magical flowers and views can be located by clicking your manual interface device on this text! Hope you enjoy them and maybe it will inspire you to go outside!

Bis Bald,
der Tom

PS the ridge is called der Wildkamm if anyone wants to check it out themselves!

Perchtoldsdorfer Heide take 2

Hallo! I was away being other places and doing some science for the last couple of weeks, which meant the week or so before was full of preparations for those goings-away. All in all, little time for writing on the internet, but, due to the going away, new photos have been generated! Before that though are a backlog of things from late May and early June.

After enjoying the beautiful view from the Kammersteiner Huette lookout tower and the grasslands of the Perchtoldsdorfer Heide (which are part of the previous blogpost on this site) I knew I had to share the magic with my trusty companion Ash. The Aussichtsturm really isn't all that far from the edge of Vienna so can be reached with public transport for a nice 1 -2 hour stroll in the woods. The summer months also mean you can start the walk pretty late, which is a nice bonus.

On the weekend afternoon I chose to show Ash the route we had gorgeous sunshine, and the Heide was looking very nice, and also very Chiltern-like, as befitting its status as grazed land on limestone... There were a whole bunch of grazing sheep in small temporary fenced enclosures. These sheep were doing a great job of mowing the lawn, chomping down the grass rather noisily. Not once did any of them bother to lift their head for a good photo! The view from the Turm was as dramatic as before, though the photo conditions weren't perfect due to the bright sunlight. Thus I had more time just to sit and soak in the vista, which was improved by a view of the Schneeberg 50 + km away as the air was much clearer than on my first visit.

After some absolutely delicious Eierspaetzle (that's just eggy Spaetzle to you but these were done perfectly) at the hut we headed on back down to the Heide to admire once again the grassland plants and beautiful flowers. A short but sweet afternoon out! Here's the customary link to the full album.

Bis bald,

Der Tom.