Austria (A Tromp through Tirol)

A Tromp through Tirol  

in 2009, while we were living in Naples, Italy, ourdaughter went to a summer swim camp at a "sporthotel" in Mittersill, Austria.  Lyn and the boys spent the week in the same hotel and did their own activities while Natalie participated in the daily Swim Camp activities.  This is where Lyn fell in love with the Tirol (often written as Tyrol in English) region of Austria and with the concept of the Austrian sporthotel.  Between the scenery, the accommodations, and the healthy vibe of fresh air, fresh food, and exercise, it was an easy choice to come back and experience more of what Austria offers.  Many of the sporthotels are designed to support winter skiing but they double as excellent lodging for hikers, bikers, walkers, and climbers in the summer months.  In addition to serving amazing meals, they are equipped almost universally with a sauna and steam bath in their wellness center (typically in the basement) and some also have swimming pools and hot tubs.

Summary

[the following section is the Facebook post that got deleted because I ostensibly violated "Community Standards".  Maybe the AI algorithm thought it was an elaborate advertisement.]

We booked a tour to hike the Kitzbuhel Alpine Trail (KAT) in the Tirol region of Austria. The “tour” is self-guided and in its simplest form went like this:

- The Austrian “sporthotels” are in the valley at the bottom (850m above sea level) where it’s green.

- The majestic views are at the top (1700-2000m above sea level) where it’s white.

- The adventure and sense of achievement is stretched along mountain hiking trails

- The day starts with dropping our bags in the lobby for transfer to the next hotel and then having a breakfast buffet of breads, fruit, meats, cheeses, and coffee (the Austrians know how to do breakfast!).

- You walk up, over, and down the mountain to the next hotel, check in, spend an hour in the basement wellness center taking a steam bath and sauna, then have dinner.

- Crash hard.

- Repeat four more times.

- Take 800mg Motrin as needed.

- On our biggest day, Lyn’s Apple Watch logged 30km (16 miles) and 315 flights of stairs.

- Six nights, four hotels. We visited several Tyrolean towns (all charming): Hopfgarten, Brixen Im Thale, Kerchberg, Kitzbuhel, St Johann in Tirol, Oberndorft, and Erpfendorf. Most of the time, though, we spent walking the trails and taking in the alpine scenery.

- For three days we thought we’d found the prettiest place on earth…and then the sun came out.

- This was the last week for this tour to operate because the snow closes some of the trails at the top. As it turned out, the first snow came early this year so we did a little bit of “adapting and overcoming” and got a little more risk and adventure than we paid for. We also bought trekker poles which came in very handy and probably saved us from a hospital visit.

- We met a few fellow hikers from UK and the Netherlands and made some new friends. We also proved you can get by remarkably well knowing almost no German because the Austrians are incredibly fluent in English (so embarrassing).

- That last scene in The Sound of Music is B.S. Walking over mountains is hard.

Our tour:

https://www.macsadventure.com/holiday-2357/the-kitzbhel-alpine-trail/

Day by Day

The tour is marketed as 7 days (six nights) but this counts the arrival day (from Iceland to Austria) and the departure day (from Austria to Italy). I count the arrival day as Day 0 followed by five full days of activity and adventure.  If you look at the Macs Adventure tour website, you have to add one day to the numbers you see below to make it match.

Sep 17 – Day 0 of 5 (arrive Hopfgarten)

We got up at 0430 in order to complete the rental car return and baggage check-in for our 0720 flight out of Keflavik.  Since it was an EU-to-EU flight, we checked in online, printed baggage tickets at a kiosk, dropped our one checked bag at a self-scan drop, and went through security without little trouble and virtually no human interaction.  Landed in Munich on time and got our bag with no issues.  We left Munich Airport around 1:30 p.m. and took a sequence of four trains to Hopfgarten, Austria (Airport-Munich East-Kufstein-Worgl-Hopfgarten).  The train system was simple to use and we never waited more than  20 minutes for the next train; truly public transportation at its best. Arrived at the Hohe Salve Sporthotel and were pleasantly surprised at how nice the accommodations were.  As it turned out, this was the nicest hotel we'd have all week (the others were good but this place was awesome).  Celebrated the start of our Austria adventure with beers in the bar (4 Euro for a half liter) followed by an Italian buffet dinner at 7 pm. Other than the rainy weather forecast, we were off to a great start.

View from our balcony in Hopfgarten.

Sep 18 – Day 1 of 5 (Hopfgarten to Brixen Im Thale)

Hiked from Hopfgarten to Brixen Im Thale over Hohe Salve peak.  We departed the sporthotel and began our journey with the first and only cable car ride of the week which started at 850m and dropped us at a midpoint around 1200m, which left us with a 600m vertical hike followed by a descent on the other side of the mountain back down to the valley.  We were prepared for rain so had on our raincoats and rain pants.  It was misty and foggy at times but the rain held off.  Nonetheless, when you hike up a mountain in (relatively cheap) raingear, you quickly get soaked anyway because the rain gear holding in the heat and moisture from the exertion of walking up hill.  

We reached the snowline around 1500m and had to plod through a mix of fresh snow and mud to reach the 1800m peak.  We stopped for lunch at the top and had a good reset from our first taste of uphill hiking. After lunch, we headed down and that's where the trail went from rough to really rough.  We knew we'd be fine if we could just make it below the snowline so we pushed forward and followed the narrow, rocky, slippery, muddy, and cow pie strewn path as best we could.  We had footprints to follow and saw that other hikers had wisely used trekker poles (big lesson learned).  We took it slow and and eventually got into good conditions for the walk down into Brixen Im Thale.  Exciting first day.  We were rewarded with good views and occasional breaks in the clouds to see the surrounding valleys.

Arrived at Hotel Reilwirt with a traditionally decorated restaurant.  Had sauna and steam bath in the wellness center followed by a nice three course meal served by a pleasant young waiter in the hotel restaurant (second of four suppers included in the tour package).  Overheard two British ladies talking about the hike as well and figured out they were also booked on the same tour.

Morning view from our balcony .

Ready to start our hike up Hohe Salve peak. Our sporthotel in the background.

At this point in our adventure, cows were new and exciting so we took some photos.  We figured out pretty quickly that we'd be seeing A LOT of cows in the coming week.  Austrian cows have to be the most fortunate bovines on the planet with terrific fields to graze and beautiful views.  I imagine they spend the winters in a barn eating hay, but their spring, summer, and fall sure seem glorious.

Two other features that come with the cows are the cowbells they wear that can be heard from tremendous distances.  Most of the week, you could hear cowbells clanking somewhere in the distance if you listened for it.

The other feature is the ubiquitous cow pie.  Need to watch where you walk because our trail in Austria had more land mines than the DMZ.

And some goats....

Reached 1500m, fresh with snow.

This is a signpost typical of what we'd see throughout the week.  Lot of trails. Lot of places. Most of the time our map and directions matched the signs...but not always.

Mountain pond with a bench overlooking the valley.  Someone else built the snowman.

Heading down.  Doesn't look too bad in this photo but our initial descent on Day 1 was a bit dicey with the slipper downslope and not having trekker poles.

Made it to Brixen Im Thale. Cheers to a successful first day on the KAT.

Our room for Night 2.  Typical of a sporthotel.  It was a double bed but we each had our own duvet; a great design for sleeping with cover hogs.

Sep 19  – Day 2 of 5 (Brixen Im Thale to Kirchberg)

First item of business was to buy trekker poles at the Intersport down the road from the hotel.  

Hiked Brixen Im Thale to Kirchberg.  Had a steep initial ascent and came across the stations of the cross on the way, which I imagine is done as a church community event during the Easter celebration.  Each was sponsored by a local business with beautiful artwork.  

We bypassed the peak due to snow and crested the mountain at around 1400m.  Came down into Kirchberg and found a series of children-focused activity stations along the way including some awesome slides (which we of course tried).  Stayed at Hotel Alexander in Kirchberg; slightly more dated but the restaurant was very nice with several guests having their dogs along. Talked to the British ladies and a fellow hiker from Netherlands briefly before dinner.

Impressively stacked wood outside a very tidy Tyrolean house.  This was a common sight on our hikes as we walked through clean and pretty neighborhoods set on the hillsides.

Not as clear in the photo but the green and yellow trim caught our eye and made us wonder how Green Bay Packer fans ended up in Austria.

Trekker poles.  We are a learning organization.

Almost phoned brother-in-law Erich to ask if we could eat these, but our Verizon cell phone plan charges $10 per day after the first use from an international location.  Trying to minimize text and calls to absolute essential until we get European SIM cards.  We opted not to try eating them.

8th station of the cross.  Being somewhat familiar with Jesus' journey to his crucifixion, we did our best to puzzle through the German explanations and achieved probably 40% comprehension.

First sighting of the valley on the other side of the mountain.  24 hours later, we found ourselves on the other side of this valley looking back at where we had been when this photo was taken.

Slides. They aren’t just for kids. Our best footage of this was mp4 clips. I had felty gloves and could really get moving if I sat on my hands.

Made it to the bottom. Two days down; three to go. 

Sep 20 – Day 3 of 5  (Kirchberg to Kitzbuhel with round trip train to St Johann)

Left Kirchberg and met our fellow hiker from the Netherlands, Wendy, who had been following our itinerary (booked through a different company) and talking to the British ladies.  We ended up walking with Wendy the rest of the day and enjoyed talking with her about Austria (she has been several times) and our respective lives in the U.S. and the Netherlands.  Saw the famously steep ski slopes above Kitzbuhel  (85% slope in places) and dealt with some rain on the way down.  Logged 25 km on Lyn's Apple Watch. The extra distance was due in part to discovering the train to St Johann was not running from the first station in Kitzbuhel so walked through town to the main train station and caught train for St. Johann.  Had sauna and steam bath then had dinner in Hotel Bruggwirth restaurant. This was our fourth and final hotel in which we stayed for three nights.  On the following morning, we trained back to Kitzbuhel (15 minutes going around the mountain) and then walked to St Johann over the mountain. Wendy's itinerary diverged (she was staying in Kitzbuhel) so we said farewell.

More cows.

Day 3 at the top. Paths were much more passable than we had on Day 1.

Looking down at Kitbuhel. The mountain ponds are used as a water source for artificial snow makers in the winter.  This one was very still and perfectly reflected the bright blue sky.  This was viewed from the top of a famous double black diamond ski run that reaches 85% slope in some areas.  It was crazy to imagine skiers do it and would have been entirely impossible to walk down on foot.  The record for the 1200m ski run is less than two minutes.  We were proud of ourselves for walking it in less than two hours.

Despite a rough forecast, we ended up dealing with real rain for only about two hours the whole week.  Our new Dutch friend Wendy is on the left.

Another lovely Tyrolean house on the hillside just above Kitzbuhel. Every house and hotel was loaded with flowers in the windowboxes.  At times, the scenery was so stereotypically perfect, I thought I was at the Germany section of Busch Gardens Williamsburg or EPCOT Center.

Kitzbuhel on a rainy day. 

End of a long hike and on our way to find a train to St. Johann.

Sep 21 – Day 4 of 5 (Kitzbuhel to St. Johann)

This is the day the sun came out and we had beautiful weather the rest of the week.  Took train back to Kitzbuhel and walked up Kitzbuheler Horn.  At top of peak (2000m) the trail was heavy covered with snow so we had to improvise and took an alternate route down to circumvent the ice and snow.  This would not have been doable if Lyn hadn't downloaded a map onto her phone which allowed us to use GPS for seeing where we were.  The hike was supposed to be 16km but we ended up walking 30km and getting to Oberndorf (a town 4 km away from St. Johann) at sunset.  Had to take a bus back to Kitzbuhel and then a train to St. Johann. Had dinner at an Italian restaurant in St. Johann (pizza). 

Pointing at the tower on the top of Kitzbuhel peak where we were heading.

Made it to the top.  2000m ASL, sunny, snowy, above freezing, and thankfully not too windy.

Walking down a ski and off any marked trails in order to circle around (and below) the closed trail at the top.  The problem with going down is that we had to go back up to recover the original path. Could not have done it without the map Lyn had downloaded to check our position with GPS. We were alone and unafraid and each of us were wondering what we'd do if the other person broke their ankle.

This tree had "peek holes" (or is it "peak holes"?) drilled stright throw and labeled with the various peaks of the surrounding mountain vistas.  Worked great for learning what each mountain peak was named.

A hanging picture frame suspended in the trees with a sign next to it labeled "Wolkenkino".  According to Google translate, this means "Cloud Cinema".

"None shall pass".  We were warned to remain 20m clear of cows but that was a little difficult in this case.  The cows were quite docile although we moved carefully and watched for signs of aggression. They generally stood their ground until we got within 10 feet then they moved in a somewhat fearful manner. 

Kitzbuhler peak looked a lot prettier coming down.

Approaching the golden hour of sunset.

Long day but made it down (just) before sunset. While waiting for the bus in Oberndorft, the local fire station arrived to do what appeared to be a routine training drill on the street. They were fully kitted up, flaked out the hoses, pressurized them, and directed traffic around their training area.  I'm not sure how our fire departments train, but this was a great public display of professionalism and taxpayer money being put to good use for fire readiness.

Sep 22 – Day 5 of 5 (Griesbachklamm forest trail)

One nice feature of our tour package was getting daily a "Tourist Pass" to use the public transportation free of charge.  We took the bus to Erpfendorf and did the Griesbachklamm forest hike, including a walk up a gorge then an ascent to an alpine meadow where we stopped for lunch and met the restaurant’s pet pig.  Took the bus back to St. Johann after finishing the hike and relaxed the rest of the day.

Walking up the gorge. This hike was unique from the first four days in having  a well groomed and highly engineered trail to make the hiking easier.  We also saw a lot more people than on the mountain trails.

Cairns in the river bed just before a waterfall.

The Austrian fountain of youth, I hope.

Stopped for lunch in the middle of the loop. Lovely setting with cold beer and great food.

We enjoyed watching and meeting the resident pet pig.

Church in Erpfendorf which we passed while walking to the bus stop.

St. Johann merchants gearing up for Oktoberfest.

Back to our hotel for our final night in Tirol.

View from our balcony in St. Johann.

 Sep 23 – Day 6 of 5 (Depart St. Johann. Arrive Modena)

On the train from St. Johann to Kitzbuhel, we saw hot air balloons floating in the sunny and still morning air.  At Kitzbhuel, we transferred to a bus because of railroad track repairs (the same repairs that made the train station non-functional on Day 3).  Took a bus to Worgl then boarded a EuroCity train for Bologna with stops in Innsbruck, Brenner, Bolzano,Verona, and others.  Met an interesting gentleman about our age on the train with a colorful life story that spanned South Africa, England, undercover counter-narcotics, personal security, and buying a farmhouse in Italy.

Changed trains in Bologna and rode a jam-packed commuter train to Modena.

Sidenote on mask mandates:

- Germany requires masks on trains and people were 50% compliant. It's kind of spooky when Germans aren't following the rules.   

- Austria does not require masks and maybe 5% of the riders wore them

- Italy requires masks on trains. Compliance was low on the train coming from Austria and fairly high (80%) on the commuter train from Bologna to Modena.  We asked the South African/British guy about his experience in Verona during COVID; he said the pandemic was terrible in Italy and killed a lot of people. That sentiment seems to be reflected in the high compliance rate on Italian trains.  It's kind of spooky when Italians ARE following the rules.