The walk began with an immediate climb into the woods and we continued to climb until we reached Maria Eck Kloster (now a restaurant though there were other buildings which indicated that a monastery might still exist). As is the case with most buildings in the area, the display of flowers is very eye-catching and you can't help approaching them for a sniff - sometimes there is a scent and sometimes not!
The path was typical of what we have experienced so far: wide and gritty; and it was a very quiet walk, we encountered only a few cyclists as they whizzed past us going downhill. Through a clearing in the trees we could see the cable car station to Hochfellan (5492ft/1674m). We left the path at one point and meandered through the woods on a more natural woodland path - this path being very short. As we cleared the woods we met an Austrian couple who attempted to speak to us and we couldn't remember the German for 'I don't speak German' which was a bit embarrassing and we floundered a bit not able to answer them.
The path back to Rhupolding came out at the Steinberg Alm and through the haze of the morning sunshine we had a good view down the valley. The journey back was now on a steeply declining tarmac road which was quite punishing on the legs and hips!
As we entered Rhupolding we spotted St Georges Church which sits on the hill just above our hotel. The frescoes in the church are enchanting and there is a lot of gilt. By the door there was a very sorry figure of the devil being squashed by what looked like a cauldron - not being religious myself I don't know what it was but you could certainly tell what it symbolised.
Walk: 9.3 miles/3.5 hours.
