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