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