Summary and Videos

Quick summary.

• 34 days, Alps in 4 countries
• N'ern Italy, Austria, SW Germany, Switzerland
  
• 270+ miles (average 8 miles per day).
• Just under 600,000 steps
• 101,000 feet in ascend/descend --- without injury :)
• Pedometer worked great. GPS confirmed daily mileage.
• A thumbs up to Leki (model Makalu) hiking sticks. Awesome, durable.

Hover mouse over slide-show to view controls. Click on a picture to open full-size in a new window.

We took around 25 little video clips in the different areas (listed below). Our cameras did a pretty good job, but you may need to resize your viewing window or in the bottom right corner hit the down arrow key and select 'View in Original Size' in order to get maximum resolution. Let me know if it is not streaming properly, or is quirky.

• Rome Track Meet (one legged runner)
• Rome- Javelin Injury
  
• Rome. The Forum
• Rome. Boy playing accordian (for money)
• Rome. Ancient ruin where Caesar was killed.
• Rome. The Pantheon
• Florence- old bridge and river
• Cafe in Florence with Musicians
• Cinque Terra (Vernazza) village on ocean beneath hills at noon.
• Dolomites (Video of Val Gardena loop)
• Long horn video (I need to get the correct name of these instruments)
• Dolomites: Mother and young daughter descending over a 1000 feet from the summit.
• Dolomites: 360 degree video from summit of Gran Cir (peak in the Dolomites)
• Salzburg, Old Town panarama
• Salzburg, outdoor concert. Middle school playing Abba hit.
• Salzburg, street performer playing glasses (with water)
• Salzburg, street performer playing harp. This guy is good.
• Hallstatt, Austria: Outdoor Internet Cafe during a rainstorm on the lake
• Gliders over Ehrenburg Ruins (near Reutte, Austria)
• 360 panarama from our Pension below the Ehrenburg ruins.
• Swiss Dancers (on National Holiday)
• Swiss Holiday. Cowbell March. Amazing.
• Murren, Switz. Pension Sonnenburg panaroma of Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau.
• Shilthorn (summit). Panarama of Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau, and more.
• Cows, high alpine valley, and mountain views above Murren
• Scuol, Switz. Tiny picturesque village in the Silvretta Alps.
  

Aug 13, Mon: Return flight home: Zurich to Portland

4am alarm. 7am flight from Zurich to Frankfurt to PDX.

• Shuttle to Airport and a breeze checking in.
  
• Stuffed full pack into a strong net-bag and zipped it shut. This always works well.
  
• Packed critical stuff into day pack.
  
• 1 hour stop-over in Frankfurt, then back in the air.
  
• Great flight back. Good company (business man from Austria coming to the NW).
  
• Finished reading Bowerman- The Men from Oregon.
  
• One of the best books I've read in many years. Thanks to Eric Lindauer for the loan!
  

Feels good to be back home.

Aug 12, Sun: Liechtenstein, Zurich

Caught the 9am train out of Scuols back to Zurich.

• Local train from Klosters out to Landquart for the main train.
• Don't need to be in Zurich until evening.
• Decided to stop in Sargons (about 30 minutes) for an additional side trip. Caught a local bus and took a 30 minute ride into Liectenstein. Their main town is Vaduz, and I spent several hours here.



• They were having an outdoor sand-lot volleyball tournment which was fun to watch.



• Then stopped at a local outdoor cafe, had some snacks, and spent an hour reading Bowerman, The Men of Oregon. I've been working on this book the whole trip. If you have any interest in track and field, then this book is a must.
• Several little shops selling local goods (many wood and glass creations.



• Left on bus around 3pm, back to the train, and also stopped shortly in St. Gallen. Called a friend who wasn't home so hopped back on the train and arrived in Zurich by 5pm.

Decided to walk about a mile from the Hotel to a little suburb that was primarily Albanian.

• Stopped at one cafe and the owner sat down with me and we had a great visit. He told me about this community and how it formed back when the Serbs were viciously attacking and wiping out their people. Over 200,000 escaped the tragedies and ended up in this little part of Zurich.
• He proceeded to thank me over and over for Bill Clinton who is a hero in their country. He is given the credit for assembling the worldwide forces to come in and stop the Serbs and bring peace back into their region.

Yet another wonderful experience and great ending to a great trip.

Fly out at 7am tomorrow morning.

Aug 11, Sat: Special hike thru Swiss National Park

One last surprise arose last night.

• Met two men at the Hotel Alpenrose last night. They wanted to know when I needed to return to Klosters and I stated not til tomorrow night.
• Their response was 'you are in our village of Scuol and need to hike through our countries National Park' which has a trail head 30 minutes out of town by bus.
• So, my plans immediately changed.
• 7 am breakfast
• 7:45am day pack with food, water, and parka (still low clouds but expected to clear as the day progressed). Took bus to the Minger trail head to the National Park. Took about 30 minutes as it wound up, around, and through some very steep v-shaped valleys. Very special trip.
• Got dropped off (along with 4 other folks).
• Proceeded from 1500m up the Val Minger (followed the water drainage all the way to the pass). Elev. 2317m (around 7500 feet).



• Hiked solo right from the beginning as my day pack was light and my legs were on go mode. Very peaceful trek winding up through the steep valleys and across the pass.



• Descended through the Val Ploona.



• Was hoping to run in to Philippe, Lisa and Beppe who were hiking up from the other side to where I started from. Actually ran in to them around 10:30 which was kind of fun. They were quite surprised to see me walking towards them.


• I told them that when I carried my parka on the outside of my pack that it never rained, so decided to come up from the other side to assure them good weather.
• They told me of several trails to take upon descending that would be free of people and stay high on the side of the valley. They were easy to find and definitely made it more fun.
• My legs felt so strong and the gentle descent was calling for a run, so I ended up jogging about 3 miles back down into the town of Tarasp. Took time to take a 360 degree panorama. Hope to post it eventually.
• Ate lunch in Tarasp (bananna, juice, cheese, jelly sandwich, nuts).
• Walked the last 4 miles back to town passing thru the same villages as yesterday. Stopped at an Internet Cafe to update this log and get a cup of koffee. Nice break.
  
• Will take train from Tarask back to Klosters later this afternoon. It passes directly under the Vereina Pass which we trekked over several days ago. It is the longest 'local train' tunnel in the country. It looks to be many miles long and I understand it is only 12" to the walls of the tunnel.

12 miles today with 5000 feet of ascend/descend. Would be nice to spend several days in this national park. Nice way to finish up the trip.

Aug 10, Fri: Guarda to Scuol

Hard to leave our hotel in Guarda. The temperature dropped soon after we arrived yesterday afternoon and the snow level was only a thousand feet above us. The pass would have been covered had we waited to later in the day to depart.

• Great breakfast.
• Took an hour to tour the town and Lisa explained all the history and details. She lived in this area for several years and knew it well.
• Thus, many of the unique trails we ended up hiking between these little communities were based on her experience and knowledge of the area.




• Left about 11am down the valley toward several other small communities. The town of Tarasp was their destination, and my goal was about 7km farther down the valley in Scuol. They were continuing tomorrow over to the Swiss National Park area and will have a very long day.
  
  
• We stopped at Tarasp and celebrated our 3 days of great hiking and new friendships with their version of a banana split at a little cafe, looking up at all the peaks they would be moving around in the next day.




• I continued on down the valley in to Scuol. Lots of history here and you may want to Google this for more info. Cobble streets, lots of scraffito (wall art). This is a haven for outdoor sports, esp. mountain biking, running, ice skating, skiing, hiking, climbing, etc.

Stayed at Hotel Alpenrose. 61F inc breakfast.

9 miles and another 1000 feet of ascend/descend.

Will return to Klosters tomorrow by train and do a short day hike of some type before returning to Zurich and flying home.

Aug 9, Thr: Vereina Pass to Guarda

Today is the last major day of hiking over passes for me.

• Morning weather was pretty thick clouds, but initial forecast of decent weather until afternoon.
• We quickly ate breakfast, packed up and were on the trail by 8:30am
• No rain, big tail wind as we ascended from 1943m up the Susertal and over the Vereina Pass at 2585m.
  Wind chill was about freezing.


• Hole in clouds allowed view of Mt Plattenhorner (3220m), just over 10000 feet.
  
• Weather not such that one would want to stop for a break. Somewhat interesting finding the trail through the wide pass. The GPS was handy in several instances. Also a very detailed topog map confirmed our decisions.
  
  
• Descended to Lavin (1500m) through the Val Saglians valley and then tool some local trails to our destination of Guarda (1665m). Since Lisa was familiar with this valley she guided us on some unmarked wonderful upper trails that followed the hillsides above Lavin and we descended right into Guarda.
  





• Suggestion: look up Guarda, Switzerland in Google and read all about it. We stayed at Hotel PizBuin.
  

• HOT shower, great 4-course dinner and large breakfast. 100F but worth every penny. This was the last night of any major hiking so wanted to celebrate.
  
  
  
  
• This town is authentic. The artwork on the buildings was created by layering different layers of colored plaster, then scraping off layers to create magnificant designs. I believe this is called scraffito art.
• The windows are set about a foot back into the wall, and the edges of the wall are at about 60 degrees outward which lets in more light.




• Hiking with these 3 people was a wonderful experience and we had many conversations and became good friends.

12.5 miles, 6100 feet ascend/descend over 5 hours of hiking.

Aug 8, Wed: Berghaus Vereina. Pass to next valley

Cloudy, rainy in morning, so descended back to Alp Sparra (about 1/3 of the way back down the valley to Klosters.

• Then hiked up adjacent v-shaped valley to the Berghau Vereina, which sits at 1943m.
• Took about 3 hours walking time to do the 7 miles.
• Beautiful trek up winding valley with water falls coming out of both sides of the valley.
• Huge thunderstorms over the past few days so these falls and streams to cross were really full.
• Forecast still bad for tomorrow. Not good. The plan is to cross over the Vereina Pass to the next valley tomorrow (Lavin, Guarda). Will just have to wait and see.
  
• Met another group (Lisa, Philippe, and Beppe) from Zurich.
• They have the same trek planned as I do for the next few days. They have programmed their GPS with the key waypoints and stated they would like to have me join them if I wished.
  
• Ate dinner with them and had great conversations as we got to know each other. They are really outdoor people and very fitness oriented. And they have all had many interesting careers that were fun to hear about.
  
• So, the decision to join them for the next few days over the passes and in their own territory was a no brainer.
  
  
• In my room (8 beds) was a family from Germany: grandpa, mom, dad, and 2 girls about 7 and 10. Grandpa was singing good-nite songs and the girls chimed right in. So cool to observe. I asked the girls if they snored and they said no, but that their grandpa might.

7 miles and 5,100 feet descend/ascend today.

Aug 7, Tue: the Silvretta Alps (4 day trek)

I have 5 days left before returning. How to make the most of it? I read about a remote, beautiful area called the Silvretta Alps and selected a suggested 4-day trek that hit several of the main passes and Swiss huttes.

• Train from Zurich to Landquart, then a small local train to Klosters. This is located just below Lichtenstein on the Swiss border to Austria.


• Bought a local topog map of the region and had them point me in the right direction.


• On the trail by 11am.


• Klosters (1100m) to Schwendi to Alp Sparra to Alp Sardasca (1648m) and finally up to the Silvretta Hutte (2341m). This is at the foot of the Silvrettagletcher (glacier). Hiking in clouds most of the way and just beat an oncoming storm at the time I hit the hut.
• Met a family (dad, mom, 10 yr old son) coming down out of the high pastures next to the hut where they tended their cows. Fun chatting with them.

• Also met 2 ladies (pic), one who has a somewhat unique summer job. The lady on the left resides in a very small 1-person hut about 600m up the trail from the Silvretta Hutte. Her daily routine is to take her daypack and notepage and do a head-count of all 140 cows that reside in this valley. Every cow has an ear tag with a number. She often needs to whistle or chase some of them off the more dangerous higher slopes where they have drifted. The weather can be real interesting up here (like very thick clouds, storms, etc.). One tough lady.


• 47Francs, inc. breakfast.
• Forecast- possible snow on the pass the next day. Darn. Need to rethink the plan a bit.
  
  9.5 miles and 4300 feet ascend.

Aug 5 - 6, Sun, Mon.- Return to Interlachen and Zurich

Summary to date:

• 220 miles and 80,000 feet of ascend/descend. I promised Lee he would be in good shape by the time he returned. He has a 50K McKenzie run coming up soon.

Aug 5, Sun.
9am- Train from Murren to Interlachen.

• Stayed in the Happy Inn Hostel.
• Needed to store packs in locker at Baunhauf (hostel not open til 3pm.)
• Walked around town, lots of handgliders, tourists, etc.


• Uneventful day --- took a needed day of rest before Lee flies out of Zurich.


• 4 other room mates. One musican from Spain was on a 42 day hike from Spain to Italy. We had some great conversations. Reminded me of Darren --- passion for music and following his dreams.


• Other couple also from Spain (Madrid). The young lady was at the end of her chemical engineering degree, and the young man was working towards a degree to become a dentist. They both went hang gliding that evening, and he text-messaged his folks upon landing. All ok.

Aug 6, Mon.

9am train to Zurich

• Stopped at Thun and Bern before hitting Zurich.
• Free shuttle to Ibis Zurich Messe Airport (hotel where we are staying).
• Lee flies out at 7am tomorrow morning.
• Took train back into town and did some site seeing.
• Crowded, touristy, tons of stores, a few nice pics, but very anxious to get back into the hills.

After Lee takes off tomorrow I will proceed to a region called the Silvretta Alps, doing some hiking and hut hopping in the southern end. Train from Zurich to a little town called Klosters. It is snuggled just below Lichenstien on the Swiss/Austrian border. Will hit the Silvretta Hut, Berghaus Vereina, Guarda and Scuols before returing to St Gallen and Zurich the 13th.

Aug 4, Sat: Murren to Rotstock Hutte, climb Shilthorn, to Murren

8am, Grindewald to Murren.

• Nice 30 minute train ride.
  
• Murren sits on a ledge at 1638 meters, directly facing the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

• Plan was to hike to the Rotstock Hutte, but it was full (we called ahead).

• Went to Information and got 2 bunks at the Pension Sonnenberg (800 meters up the hill from Murren).


• Dropped packs there and went for long day hike-climb.
  


• Sonnenberg to Shiltalp Hut to Rotstock Hut.


• Visited with several folks who were descending the Shilthorn and discussed the route.



• Made very good time ascending the Shilthorn (2970m), or around 9,500 feet.
• Took a 360 degree video from up here. One can see the entire Bernese Oberland, and there were 8 to 10 peaks around 3000 meters in view. Picture perfect day.
• By 5pm we needed to descend via a more direct route to the Sonnenberg because dinner was to be served at 7pm.
• Picked a route that descended to the Shiltalp via a small alpine lake (Grauseeli).




• Descended nearly 4000 feet in 90 minutes.

• Pic of grandsons little play yard (with toys) outside of the Shiltalp Hut. Priceless pic. He even has a little collection cup on the post that says if you like this then please leave some money.

Long, great day. We rated it a 10+. Near 9000 feet ascend/descend over 12 miles.

Hot shower and dinner (port steak, noodles, salad, desert), slept good.

Aug 3, Fri: Climbed Schwarzhorn (2926m)

11am: bus from Grindewald to Gr. Scheidegg, then climb Schwarzhorn. Return by 6pm.

• Hike from Gr. Scheidegg (1961m).
• Very cloudy, temp around 40-45 degrees, mild wind.
• Decided to summit Schwarzhorn (2928m), a little over 9,000 feet.
• Climb similar to Mt Washington or 3 fingered jack.
• Hiked 3 miles on a `high trail` across the valley towards First (end of gondola ride). Then branched off to the summit route.
  
• Ascended a little over 3000 feet in mostly clouds.
  
• Only 4 other climbers on the mountain today (who were descending). They said the weather was mild, and the forecast was possible rain but no thunderstorms.
• It was obvious only one pair summitted, as the other said it was only a short distance to the summit (5 minutes). It ended up being a false summit (gendarme) and due to the clouds couldn`t see across to the true summit.
• We descended the gendarme to the other side via a 15-20 foot chain rail and continued climbing on a narrow ridge and hit the summit in about 20 minutes.
  
• Very cloudy on top, but still a fun ascent.
• About a 7000 foot descent back into Grindewald via First and random trails leading back into the valley and eventually town.

11 mile trek, near 10,000 feet ascend/descend.

• On the descent the sun poked holes in the clouds and we got periodic views of the Schreckhorn. It is over 4000m (over 13,000 feet). It sits behind the Eiger and is actually higher. Got several great pics, including a flock of birds flying across the valley.
  

Train over to Murren tomorrow and hike to hutte (about a 4 hour trek). Weather forecast is good.

Aug 2, Thr: Grindewald (attempt Faulhorn)

Stormy, cloudy upon waking in the morning.

• By 10am weather cleared a little. Decided to attempt Faulhorn (2686m. summit between Eiger/Jungfrau and Interlachen on our side of the valley). Trail took off right out our back door as we are 800m up the hill from town. Our hostel is at 1050m.
• Route: via Aellfluh (few good pics here when clouds cleared for a minute).
  
• Very interesting local `land art` by this hutte. People take local materials (rocks, twigs, etc.) and build little structures that look like fancy trail markers.
• Ascended to Waldspitz (1918m)
• Great suppe (vegetable, bacon bits)- 20 minute break at this nice hutte. Met 2 Britains that said we had to try the suppe. Good decision.
• Still no rain, but cloudy. Met several people descending and they said it may be sunny above this cloud level so we decided to ascend another 1200 feet up to Bachalpsee at 2265m (a high lake).

• Hit an incredible storm 3/4 of the way up. Suddenly very high head winds, temperature drop, sleet, thunder, and eventually lightening. Added layers to shirt, including wind breaker and pancho, gloves. Kept body heat just fine and decided to continue to Bachalpsee shelter as it was closer than descending. Hit it within 10 minutes.
• Totally soaked head to foot.
• 8 ft x 10ft x 6 ft high. Flat roof. 15 people huddled in then until the storm blew over. They all chatted in German, so didn`t understand much. Two elderly locals (in their 70`s) kept peeking out the door to check the wind direction, and we continued to listen to the gap and location between lightening and thunder.
• Kept body heat pretty good and after 20 minutes everyone decided to move on to the next hutte.
• They all went one way, we decided to head back down the other direction.
• Descended over 4000 feet in 1 hr 20 minutes. That`s flying. Legs and body responded perfectly. Lee is a great partner and very agile in these conditions. No problems whatsoever. Didn`t take long to regain body heat.
• Thank goodness for hiking sticks. It`s like having 4 legs. We were able to literally run down slippery trails, over rocks, and crossed 4 streams that had significantly increased in size in less than an hour.
• Ears popping constantly.
• Ended up with 8 miles and 8000 feet of ascend/descend but unable to summit. Maybe tomorrow (as the weather is expected to clear).
• Another great day full of interesting experiences. Hot shower felt great.

Aug 1, Wed.: Oberstdorf (Germany) to Grindewald, Switzerland

Ready to enter our 4th country today --- Switzerland.
Travel day.

• Oberstdorf (8am) to Immenstadt to Lindau.
• Lindau to Zurich to Bern to Interlachen
• Transfer again to local train up to Grindewald
• Beautiful country. Mountains spectacular (13-14,000 feet).
• Went to bank and switched from Euros to Swiss Francs.

Stay at NaturFreundHaus (hostel) about 800m steep uphill from station.

• Very gracious hosts, our room looks right out at the face of the Eiger.
• 50Euro inc. breakfast (for two).

• Hang-gliders in front of Eiger.
• Eiger at night.
  

SWITZERLAND MAJOR NATIONAL HOLIDAY (like our 4th of July).

• Festivities all evening at the main Plaza.
• Hard to believe we hit this incredible scenic spot on this special day. Couldn't have planned it better.
• Entertainment (yodel, dancing, speeches, etc.)
• Fireworks that made the valleys sound like ongoing thunder. They just rattled.
• Imagine looking up at the stage, with fireworks, with the face of the Eiger in the background high up in a valley surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks.
• Every hutte in the upper regions set a large fire at the same time. Looked so cool from Grindewald. It also showed Lee and I where we would be hiking in the coming days as we explore the upper regions of the great region.
• The spokesperson on stage spoke 6 languages, so everyone was pretty impressed.
  

Walked back uphill to hostel in dark --- interesting, but we found it.

Another great day.

July 31, Tue: Return to Oberstdorf, Prep for Switzerland

Goal: return to Oberstdorf from Einodsbach Hutte, prep for Switzerland

Lazy day. Slept in. Followed Sign back to town.

• Great breakfast at Einodsbach Hutte and visit with owner



• Drop 1000 feet to valley floor and about 6 miles back to town. Lots of neat old houses, all with flowers. Took a side route through the forest above a beautiful lake. Went underneath the largest ski jump in the area. Can´t imagine how anyone could accelerate down a 60 or 70 degree slope, sight unseen for the landing area.



• Crossed river many times, often with bridges that are works of art. See pic.
  
• Interesting water trough in town.
  
• Hit town, went to Information and found another place to stay for the night. Needed to be nearer the Bahnhof (Train) to exit town early tomorrow morning for Switzerland. We also needed someone to offer breakfast at 7am. Found a great place for 50Euro for two.



• Washed clothes and hung out to dry; stopped at Bank and got more Euros.
• Stopped by Interet cafe to update this blog.
• Went to Baunhof and bought train tickets to Interlachen and Grindewald and reserved room at NaturFreundeHaus (hostel).
  

July 30, Mon: Heilronner Weg- AMAZING

Goal: Climb from Kempener Hutte (1845m) to Madelegabel (2645m) and high trail over to Rappensee Hutte.

• Awoke at 6am with storm dying down.
• By end of breakfast, stopped raining.
  
• Everyone scrambled to prep their packs and try to beat the weather, hoping it would improve.



• After 30 minutes on trail hit main junction. Left is E5 trek and everybody went that way.
  
• We turned right and headed upward into the clouds.
  
• Got to mini-summit with view of 10 to 20 meters, wind howling, and snow field to cross.
  
• Previous night it snowed up here and wiped out the foot steps. One pair of climbers were ahead of us some where, so followed footsteps. Did figure 8 as they too were looking for signs of the trail.
  
• We were very fortunate to view a somewhat rare animal on 10 m from us in the clouds. We found out later it was a steinbock. Will research it later.
  
• Never did see them, but heard someone below us in the clouds. Eventually connected with them --- a wonderful father/son combination from Germany.
  
• We ended up becoming good friends and hiked with them for the remainder of the day.
  
• Navigated over the passes up to Madelegabel (2645m) amidst hail, high winds, and the boys hair had icicles on it. We were dressed well with a shirt and windbreaker, light gloves and as long as we kept moving it was bearable.
  
• See pic for horizontal and vertical ladder at the Heilbronner Weg to move between peaks. I´ve seen pics of this and have wanted to accomplish this trek for many years. So cool.
  
  



• Shortly thereafter the trail squeezed through a verrrry narrow opening. Must have been interesting creating this route.



• We all took turns breaking trail and leading. The young son (19 yrs) was very good on the uphill (humbled us with deep breathing).
  
• Lee and I both agreed this was the most amazing day yet, and it wasn´t even half over.
  
• Descended to Rappensee Hutte, 2092m (our goal) by1:50pm.
  
• Had deserts and tea at the Hutte (with the father/son). We all decided it was much to early in the day to stay, so continued on down the valley.
  
• Hit the Enzian Hutte an hour later, and keep on descending back into the Oberstdorf valley and decided to stay at the Einodsbach Hutte (1115m). Great decision.



• 24Euro per person, inc. breakfast.
  
• Had a great dinner with Rainer and Felix (father/son). We had a local special called LeberKase, mit spiegelei and bratkart for 7.50Euro.
  

Long, hard, beautiful, incredible day to remember. 7700 feet ascend/descend, 11.5 miles (over 27,000 steps according to the pedometer).

To date:

• 46,000 feet ascend/descend
  
• Over 170 miles hiking/climbing.
  
• Every day rated a TEN to this point.
  
• No injuries worth mentioning, ready for Switzerland in two days.

July 29, Sun: Oberstdorf Hut Hopping

Goal: hike from Obersdorf up to Kemptener Hutte (3000 feet above town).

• 10am left town
  
• 2pm arrived at Kemptener Hutte.
  
• Funny Priest story (will tell later)



• Kemptener Hutte, 1845m (elev), 14Euro/person, 3rd floor attic (see pics).



• 36 beds in groups of 6 (side x side). People of all types (German climb-hike clubs, families, solo hikers, etc.)



• Single COLD shower on 1st floor.
  
  
• Great menu and cooks. 7Euro for bockwurst and puree, and nudelgericht and pasta.
• Met couple from Berlin who are on a 6-day E5 hike. Many groups do this trek from Germany into nérn Italy. Sounds like alot of fun.



• Met 2 Germans on trail. One spoke a little English. The other one, very litte. When we said Oregon, he responded Washington. Then Rainier. We conveyed we climbed in several years ago, as did they. Immediate bonding and was fun.

Rain storm that night. Huge thunder, downpour, very high winds just howling through our bunk house. Clouds so thick one could only see 10 or 20 meters.

Hope it clears by tomorrow so we can continue the main piece of our trek.

8 miles today, 3000 foot climb.

July 28, Sat. Travel Oberstdorf; climb Rubihorn

7:10am bus from Reutte, Austria to Immenstadt to Oberstdorf, Germany. Arrive 11am.
Hike 1 mile uphill to Gausthaus Liberia (33 Euro/person inc. breakfast).

• 1pm: began climb to summit of Rubihorn. 3,500 feet in 2 hr 45 min with daypack. View of entire valley, including range we will be hut-hopping in the next 3 days.
• Descend via different route through Gaisalpsee (high lake). 3 mile trail around mt back to Cafe Breitenburg (a small cafe above the city). Great dinner.
• Walk through town at night.

14.5 miles today.

July 27, Friday: bike to Castles, Climb Tegelbergkopf

Another great day. Bike, Hike, Climb, more bike.
8am rent bikes (10 Euro for the day).

• Biked 12 miles from Ehenbichl (Austria) -> Reutte -> Pflach -> Pinswang (crossing back in to Germany) on a steep 10% grade to a trail that wound through the mts to Hohenschwangau. Butt very sore.



• Parked bikes. Hiked up to Castle Neuschwanstein then up to Marienbruke Bridge. Great pics.



• Crossed bridge and suddenly no tourists. We climbed a narrow trail up the ridge (over 3400 feet from the valley floor (our bikes). Took 2 hours and ate lunch at the Tegelbergkopf Hutte.



• Descended by a different route back to the valley floor (1 hour with ears popping). Legs somewhat fatigued. Biked back to Ruette, took a shower and short nap, then biked back to town for dinner.

Great day with some good pics.

Biked 28 miles, climb/descend 6800 feet (9 miles hiking).

Travel to Oberstdorf (Germany) tomorrow for a week in the Bavarian Alps.

July 26, Thr: climb to Ehrenburg ruins

We are in the community of Ehenbichl. A hidden gem in the heart of the Tirol/BavarianAlps region. Slept til 9am. Crisp cool air and tired body will do that. Best breakfast to date. Breads, jams, yogurt, meats, fruit, cheese, juice, coffee. Plenty to keep us going for much of another beautiful, sunny day. Most all our clothes are dirty and we asked Sieglinde (the owner) about a laundry mat. She just smiled and said I´ll do them for you. Upon returing later in the day they were all done. This place is too good to be true.

Headed up the mountain behind us that contains the Ehrenburg ruins. Worked through some fields and hit the forested base. Eventually found a small trail that headed upward. Pretty steep towards the end as we approached the old rock walls. I can´t imagine trying to attack this fortress. The base walls were steep and it took us quite a while to find a weak spot where we could work our way through to the interior. There were additional walls as we continued upward, but there is an upper trail system that is well developed, apparently from the other side of the mountain and it was easy going from here.

I took a 360 degree panarama video from the summit. Hopefully I can reduce or stream it for all to see. Looking back down into the valley, the river flowing through it, and all the surrounding mountains makes this place my favorite so far. Most folks just don´t drift over this far. They stop where the train stops (Fussen) and have no idea what they are missing.

There is a tiny airport runway where hang gliders take off once the winds pick up. We watched about 6 or 8 take off and cruise around us for about an hour. For launching, it appears they have some type of motorized contraption that accelerates them less than 100m down the runway then they rise at nearly 45 degrees to 1000 feet (level with us) in a few seconds. Then they drop this device and it plummets down to the earth and lands at the end of the runway (kind of parachutes). Not only are they buzzing around us, but there are hang-gliders on the other side of the valley also.

We met a young man (only 56) who came up from the other side of the runis and had a good conversation. He is from Colo. Springs but his wife is stationed near Reutte for a few years so they are currently residing here. He loves the area and says it is one of his favorites of all of Europe. He hasn´t been to Switzerland, but barring that I would certainly agree.

Took a little different route down. Went over the walls in a more direct route towards Reutte. Eventually pushed out to a path and side road which led back to town. Phoned home, got a bite to eat, stopped at the Information booth to get more info of the area, walked around town a little, then walked the 2 miles down the river back to Ehenbichl.

We decided to stay an extra day. Called over to Oberstdorf and said we´d be a day late. No problem. We decided to rent bikes tomorrow and bike about 10 miles back into Germany on a back road and visit the castle created by crazy von Ludwig (Neuschwanstein). Enough people have talked us into taking the tour, although it´s not really our thing. We´ll then lock up the bikes and climb up to the Tegelberg Hutte (several thousand feet) which will look down into Forggensee Lake area and over to the mountains near Reutte. Get a quick bite to eat then then descend a different route that goes back into the valley floor and back to our bikes. Bike over to Fussen for dinner and back to Reutte/Ehenbichl by dark.

July 25: Travel day. Steve to Munich. On to Reutte.

Long travel day (or rest day). Travel included 1 boat, 1 bus, 1 car, 6 trains, walking.

• 6:50am Hallstatt boat to Hallstatt train stop
• 7:10 On to Salzburg, switch trains, on to Munich.
• Arrive Munich to drop Steve off (flies home tomorrow) around 2pm
• 3pm Lee and Barry on train from Munich to Fussen
• Arrive by 5pm. Eat dinner in this touristy little town at the base of the Tirols at a local cafe. Chatted with a young lady who just graduated from a college in Texas and taking a break before starting law school. Her friend bailed at the last minute and she decided to go on anyway. Also talked with a retired police officer from England. We had an interesting conversation (as his place is currently flooded in the recent storms).
• 7pm Bus over to Reutte (back in to Austria). Met a cute couple (both Phd students from Slovakia) who were also taking a break before going back to school. Learned a little about their country and the transition they went through when breaking away from the Czechs. They were both very fit and did an impressive hike/climb of the main peak between Reutte and Fussen. Got to Ruette about 7:45pm.
• Called Segrinde of the Pension Hohenrainer in Ehenbichl (about 2 miles out of Reutte).
• She picked us up at the Platz (plaza) in Reutte and drove us to her place. Very gracious, kind lady.
• I took a 360 degree panarama from our porch. We are at the base of the Ehrenberg ruins and are encircled by mountain peaks.
• This place is like a dream. Tomorrow we will hike out the back door (after breakfast in this great pension), across the fields and up the cliffs and climb over the old ruin walls to the top of this old fort. Then descend and cross the river and up a peak on the other side of the valley. Then back to town where they have a huge olympic size outdoor pool to cool off.

Summary: very long day but great scenery and alot of fun. Looking forward to tomorrow.

July 24, Tuesday (descend from Simony Hutte)

Spent night up at the Simony Hutte. Slept great and breakfast was amazing for a summit hutte. Juice, coffee, cheese, meats, yogurt, granola, bread, apple and jams/honey. Left at 9am to descend 5,100 feet back to Hallstatt. For reference, that´s about the distance from the summit of Mt Hood back to Timberline. Full cloud cover on summit so decided to work the downhill pretty hard to beat the incoming weather system before it hit the valley floor.
7.5 miles, 17000 steps, 3 hours downhill (a little more than half the 5.5 hours we needed to ascend). Legs felt great and we´re recovering quickly. We took several detours on the way down. In one area we discovered a little tree house platform. Not sure what it was for.

We had several great peeks of town from above so hopefully the pics will do it justice.

Just as we hit town the rain, thunder and lightening began. Perfect timing.

Our hostel was closed from noon to 2pm (or that´s what we thought we interpreted from the German note on the door) so we stopped at an outdoor tent restaurant and had lunch next to the lake. Also updated this blog. The guy here is a computer enthusiast and likes new things so we showed him about blogging. He also told us that our buddy (Steve) had stopped by and emailed us. Steve´s feet are pretty trashed so he did a salt mine tour and some lighter hiking. Anyway, it turns out that our Hostel decided to close down for the day even though we had reservations. Steve checked around town and found us another place to stay.

Had a great meal at a little restaurant right on the lake looking up thorough town. See pic.

Summary: this little trek out of Hallstatt really shows off the best of the Dachsteins and the town, although a little touristy, is very picturesque and fun to visit.

July 23, Hallstatt (Austria)

Left Salzburg on the 7:10am train to Hallstatt. Several transfers over about 3 hours. Took boat across Hallstatt See (lake) to this beautiful town built in the side of a cliff. Arrived 11am. History dates back to around 500-800 BC salt mines. This is a great base to hiking and climbing in the Austrian Dachsteins. Beautiful mountains consisting of limestone and karst.

Found Hostel on side of cliff for 13euro per night. Steve stayed here on night one. Lee and I left at noon for the Simony Hutte which sits just below the summit glacier of the tallest peak in the Dachsteins. Steve hiked up the first 2 miles to a roaring spectacular water fall that cut deeply into the 1000 foot cliffs.

Lee and I hiked 7.5 miles up 5100 feet with full pack in 5.5 hours. This is about the same elevation gain as Timberline Lodge to the summit of Mt Hood. Had to conserve water so drank about .4 liters per hours. Worked out just fine. Passed Weisburg Hutte on the way --- very dark and unfriendly and we are suggesting to fellow hikers/climbers to pass it by. Arrived at 5:30pm at the Simony Hutte. Very friendly and welcoming people. Awesome view of glacier, summit, and surrounding country.

SIMONY HUTTE: stayed on 2nd floor, which is just a large room (low ceiling) consisting of 20 bunks side by side. Cozy --- families, hikers, climbers. Had noodle soup, cheese and sausage for dinner. Slept like a rock (pretty tired). Another great day.
Had long conversation with a teacher from Berlin and a couple from Stuttgart. Learned all about their city and area. Lots of fun sharing stories.

Couldn´t resize pics (sorry) so they average 1mb.

Stories - travels in Salzburg

Quick story. We arrive at the B&B at 2pm. Barry stayed here 4 years ago and knew the family. Nobody home so we drop our packs and head to town (about a 2 mile walk). Spent several hours getting the layout, a bite to eat, etc. Returned to B&B --- nobody home. BUT the 3rd floor of the house was open and we knew that was our room. Unpacked, showered, hung out the clothes, etc. Bridgette arrives home about dark, looks up and I say HI from the window. She kind of freaks --- who are you? I showed her the confirmation email and she apparently did not recall. But, once we worked through that she was a very gracious host and treated us fantastic. I believe the main problem was that in Europe all the floors are off by one. Example, the 1st floor for us is really the ground floor for them. Therefore, we were actually in the WRONG room. We were in their Apartment. The actual room she had for us was very tiny. But, no one had reserved the apt so she let us use it. Full kitchen, extra bedroom, very nice.

We definitely need an easy day. Steve has some pretty bad blisters and our feet/legs are pretty trashed. However, we wouldn´t have changed anything to this point.

Rented BIKES. Awesome tour of town, nearby hills, forts, beautiful gardens, plazas, fine dining, street performers, the works. A day to remember.

July 21-22 Salzburg

Travelled from Selva to Salzburg. What fun. 7:15am bus to Waidbruck. Transfer to bus to Brixen (made it by 2 minutes --- whew, barely made it). In Brixen we had to speed walk over the river to the train stop and had 2 minutes to spare. Geez this is getting interesting. Train to Innsbruck where we transferred to Salzburg.

Well, ALMOST. Got onto the wrong train (right track, right time, wrong train). Local college kid new enough English to let us know ... this train is not LONG enough for the train to Salzburg. Must be the next one. We chose to believe him. He was correct. Had a great conversation --- they know more about our culture and politics than we do. He know about all the Democratic candidates and was convinced the American people would overwhelming vote that way due to the decisions of the current administration. We could not argue.

At the border the train stopped and the kid explained that the electrical system was different in Austria and they had to switch engines. Interesting.

Arrived by 2pm and proceeded to walk about a mile to our next Bed and Breakfast. The main street from the train station to the river is Jahnstrabe (Jahn Street) so had fun taking some pics. One lady looked at us kind of funny and I attempted to say Jahn was my name. She replied I´m married and immediately went back into her apt and closed the door. What did I say?

Selva Stories

1- Families are fit and do alot of hiking. We got one great pic of a family climbing the Gran Cir. This is narrow, steep, and demanding. We were impressed. One mother from Berlin actually had her child in a pack on her back and was descending a slippery, tough 2000´drop.

2- Steve hike the other side of the valley. Met 3 family members from Germany. An hour later 2 more family members joined in (from another trail) and about 2 hours later 3 more family members joined in. All met here on a long holiday and this is what they do. One guy (a runner) wanted to practice his English so he and Steve had a good time with that.

3- On the high-trail up to Puez Hutte 3 other club hikers got a little competitive with Lee and Barry. Option 1- let them establish their superiority. Option 2- we´re at 7000 feet and feeling strong- get more aggressive with the climbing pace. Took the heart rate up to 130 and gradually pulled away and broke them. Saw them on the summit and they just smiled.

4- As we hit the valley bottom we ran into 4 guys playing a local swiss instrument (name eludes us at the moment). What a way to end a perfect day.

• Here is a short V I D E O of these 4 guys.

July 20 Selva Hiking Day 2

From Selva, took the Dantercepies gondola to 2300 m.

• Short hike and decided to climb Gran Cir (2900 m.) 9,570 feet. Similar to 3 Fingered Jack or Mt Washington. No special hardward needed. 51 minutes up, 23 minutes down. About 2000 foot climb.
• V I D E O (360 degree panaroma) of the Dolomites from the Gran Cir.
  

• Then hiked the Dolomiten hohenweg (high trail) to the Puez Hutte. 2.5 hours of ascending and descending. Hutte sits at 2475m (8200 feet).
  
• Descended valley wall (very steep and a real foot/knee/leg burner). Ears popping all the way down. 4,400 foot drop back to town. 13 mile loop and about 10,000 feet in ascend-descending.
  
• Legs are pretty trashed --- plan for easy day tomorrow. Great dinner in valley (Val Gardena) watching gorgeous sunset.

july 19 Selva Hiking Day 1

We are in the magical