In the shadow of the Schneeberg

And with a zap of magical energy, we return to the misty past, September 2017 to be precise. Although I wasn't living in Austria at that time, on my frequent visits I did manage to get in the odd hike. As I mentioned in my last post, Autumn is by far the best time of year for hiking in Austria so I was especially keen to organise something for that time of year.

The Schneeberg is famous as the easternmost 2000m peak in the alps and the easiest big mountain to reach from Vienna. Although the autumn weather is still not too bad, it starts to get a bit chilly on the top of the big mountains. Fortunately, the Schneeberg is faced on the North side of the valley by a ridge of hills reaching just above 1000m high. For our autumn hike we chose a route from the head of the valley up a very small climb, followed by a smooth long descent along the ridge, offering panoramic views of the Schneeberg and some nice Autumn atmosphere.

The usual autumn weather was in evidence, with wisps of cloud blowing quickly overhead, letting through occasional beams of light, and at other times obscuring the Schneeberg almost completely. Our route took us first through conifer forest, then fields of alpine cows, and then into more open forest carpeted with blueberry bushes, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch we followed the long lazy descent along the ridge, looking out onto cloud-filled valleys that slowly cleared in the afternoon. After leaving the crest of the ridge we descended more steeply and found ourselves circling around from the top to the bottom of a large waterfall carving a smooth algae-covered notch into the rocks. The final part of the journey led us out onto the flat floor of the valley, and we picked up our pace in an effort to catch the hourly train and not be stranded waiting for the next one. Our swift march was rewarded, getting us to the station in Puchberg just in time to return to Vienna without an extended wait.

Please check out the small gallery of pictures at this link, and stay tuned for pictures from the less distant past.

bis bald,

Der Tom

Speckbacherhütte from Payerbach-Reichenau

We now warp dizzyingly forward in time to last weekend! Autumn in Austria is probably the best time of year to hike. It isn't as hot as in summer, and the weather, when it is good, stays much more stable than in high summer. This year has been particularly sunny, warm and dry, even in Vienna, which is normally hidden from the sun in thick banks of fog while the mountains bask in autumnal sunshine

I got a hut recommendation from my former supervisor and after looking it up, I realised there was an area of the alpine foothills near Vienna that I had overlooked. Every time we hiked out of Payerbach-Reichenau we had always headed north, through the narrow limestone gorges onto the high mountains bordering the Schneeberg, or west, towards the Rax. The hills to the south are much lower and less dramatic than these two limestone massifs, underlain as they are by metamorphic rocks instead. However, they still reach up to 1000m in height and situated as they are between these two larger mountains they offer excellent views of both of them if the weather is good.

We set out around 10am in the unseasonably warm sunshine and headed through the village and up the constant gradual slope of the hills, a pleasant change from the steep initial climbs you get on the nearby limestone. The autumn colours were not quite in full swing, but here and there there were splashes of gold and orange in with the green. The route climbs higher and higher through the forest, along a ridge crest. However, views of the surrounding mountains are rare due to the trees, except for occasional parts of the track that emerge into fields for a short time.

We reached the hut in good spirits, eager to test the food recommendation. It was indeed very good, though I was glad of the soup I ordered to keep me warm at the chilly shady table that was the only one unoccupied. Everyone else can read the weather forecast too it seems, and there were a lot of people out and about! After lunch we headed further along the warm and sunny ridge and then downwards again, joining up a wide circle close to our point of departure in the village. Descending the slopes in the afternoon sun we passed through more open fields, filled with cows sunning themselves and opening onto broad mountain views, almost as if they had been planned by landscape gardeners. We easily made it back before 5pm, ready to catch the train back to Vienna for one of the last warm autumn evenings.

As usual, there's an extended gallery of photos from the hike for you to enjoy (if you enjoy photos) at the link!

bis bald,

Der Tom

Kaunertal, July 2017

Hello! I've been lazy and distracted for a long time, and it probably won't change anytime soon, but I have still taken lots of photos of the places I've been, when I thought they were worth showing. The next ones in the queue are these, from my trip to the Kaunertal not this summer, but last summer, in July of 2017. I was there for a full ten days of teaching students of biology (in fact, of biology teaching) the basics of geology, along with two colleagues, one botanist, and one zoologist. I do this field trip every year and this "interdisciplinary excursion" as it is called is always a highlight of the summer, allowning me to dodge the heat in Vienna and experience nature with some expert company!

Last year I stayed in the valley after my duties were done and I was joined by my girlfriend. My goal was to introduce her to the joys and beauty of the mountains, which I mostly managed, although our first proper foray into the high mountains was met by an unforecast intense rainstorm, which, to be fair, is an important aspect of the alps, if not joyous or beautiful. Thankfully the sun came out in the afternoon and we were able to dry out before strolling down to our destination. Several days were somewhat cooler and cloudier than one might like for hiking, but this at least offered fantastic opportunities to photograph the threatening skies and clouds and take advantage of the many cable cars in the region to get some spectacular views in the gaps between the clouds.

There's a whole bunch of photographs over at the link to enjoy!

bis bald,

der Tom