Sonnberg

The morning after the wild night before was clear and promised to be another beautiful day. Although we were quite fatigued we wanted to make the most of our last full day. We ventured out along the now familiar Schwarsee path, along by the golf course and then upwards on a good forest track.

The track climbed through Ratzen with views down to Reith and Kirchberg and the higher we climbed the view became more lovely with open meadows and views of the Wilder Kaiser.

Lunch view

 We stopped to have our sandwich overlooking the Hahnenkamm (around 1300m) and we could see Gaisberg, which we had climbed previously. The walk carried on upwards through the Dillmooswiese forestry until we reached the top and started our decline.

A restful moment on our descent

The path down was more of a woodland footpath rather than track and made for good going though I did slip three times as it was quite damp and there were a lot of exposed tree roots. Through the trees we had glimpses of the lovely views down the valley and eventually we came out at Wirtsalm. Just down from there we stopped at a bench for a while soaking up the peace and tranquility and the views - we never met a soul.

Look, a path!

Tra-la-la-la!

Path mowed out of meadow grass

Continuing our descent we came out at an open meadow where a path had been neatly mowed in a straight line all the way down field (we later found that this was a children’s snowboarding and skiing area and it looked ideal for that - long and nicely rounded). There was a chapel in the middle of the field and views of the Wilder Kaiser were beyond that, framing a beautiful scene with the lush green grass and the grey one-dimensional looking crags.

Wilder Kaiser

Hidden chapel

We reached Reith and then continued our return to Kitzbuhel through the woods at Schwarsee and then on tarmac path getting back to the Hotel about 4.15pm for a shower, change and afternoon tea.

19km

E-bike cycle to Trattenbachalm

The day of hiring e-bikes has arrived and we set off from Element 3 at around 9.15am. Our intended route was from Kitzbuhel, along the riverside to Jochberg and then up a gritted path which took us through woodland and along the Trattenbach river. The road was very steep in sections and this is where the e-bike has proven its worth. Both of us worked hard but we gave ourselves a turbo boost on occasion (though the road surface really wasn’t conducive to it as the back wheel was skidding on occasion).

Stopping for a rest

We stopped for a rest and to look at the views and watched a family of e-bikers coming up the road behind us. We let them pass and then carried on our journey right to Trattenbachalm at 1628m. We stopped for lunch here and I had Käsespätzle (macaroni and onions again! - but to be fair I thought I was getting the cheese dumpling) and Blair had a sausage with bread, mustard and cheese. We both had Kaiser beer which seems to be the common beer here and is very refreshing despite being lager.

Our lunch awaits in the alm ahead

Having a full belly is probably not to be recommended when you still have a last leg of cycling to do and we knew we had to take it easy going downhill due to the slippy road surface. Brakes were on pretty much all of the way down and at one point we had to get off and walk the bikes down as Blair had skidded off the path due to the brakes being in reverse compared to UK bikes (our minds were never far away from the fact that these bikes are worth upwards of 3000 Euro and we were responsible for any damage!).

The Aubachgraben woods were on our right on the way down and this was very picturesque. We passed several Alms and then finally made it onto firmer ground back at Jochberg where we joined the riverside path back to Kitzbuhel.

An early bath for Lynne

We still had some time before handing the bikes back so we attempted another small tour but got a bit lost and ended going half way up the Kitzbuhler Horn road before turning back along by the Farmhouse Museum and back into Kitzbuhel, arriving around 3.30pm.

We took a short walk up and beyond our hotel after dinner. It was such a hot night and we were sweating while eating dinner - it was almost airless. We took only a short walk - it was a lovely night and getting back to the hotel I saw a flash of orange tinted lightening. That was the first of many electric flashes that lit up the sky for the rest of the night, mixed with some deep rumbles of thunder and eventually rain. It was mesmerising watching the lightening light up the hills through the darkness.

Stuckkogel via Aurach from Kitzbuhel

We set off after breakfast walking from Kitzbuhel to Aurach along the riverside we had followed the day we had visited the copper mine.

From Aurach we started our ascent to Oberaurach passing Haller Alm where we had previously enjoyed coffee. The route at this point was all well tarmaced road and once again the ascent zig-zagged to Tonstock where it then became a single track footpath, passing various Alms until we could see Bichlalm chair lift and Alm.

We came out at a lovely Chapel which looked newly built.

We headed from there over to Bichlalm and started our ascent. We had originally intended to do Brunnerkogel (at 1749m) as, for me, it looked a bit less rocky and difficult on the map. However, with Brunnerkogel on one side and Stuckkogel (1888m) on the other, we decided on the latter as it appeared to be a good grassy path all the way up.

The views from here were panoramic and far reaching and we could see many paths leading to and from the mountains around us. We stopped at the top for a while marvelling at the views and the mountain ranges in the distance which appeared very similar to the Wilder Kaiser.

At the top of Stuckkogel

Then, to the descent… down the grassy slopes and there were the cows on the footpath. We had been warned by a couple over breakfast that the cows here weren’t very friendly so we were on our guard and right enough one started running straight for me! Blair threw his arms in the air and the cow made a detour past me and carried on running down to its mates on the footpath.

Not wanting to put ourselves at any risk we crossed the electric fence to avoid the cows and then re-crossed the fence a bit further down where it was safer. After a short distance we made it to the Kneipp Pool - a pool of water for you to walk through which apparently has healing properties. I dipped my feet in and Blair walked through it from one end to the other. It was icy cold but soothing and I couldn’t stay in long enough to walk across. There was a also a basin with the same water and we both bathed our hands and arms in it for a while. Our skin tingled from the feel of the water for some time.

We left Bichlalm for our descent to Rosie’s (an Alm which we recommended to us). Rosie’s was a welcome sight and we were looking forward to our Kaiserschmarrn and beer!  Kaiserschmarrn is a sweet shredded pancake and is a national dish here (and in Bavaria). We ordered a portion each and it was delicious and the beer was very refreshing.

Suitably reinvigorated we continued our descent to Kitzbuhel which was a mixture of pasture, footpath and tarmac road. Not sure I need dinner now….. But I will!

Another well deserved rest day

On these active breaks you can often go home feeling exhausted! Although an active holiday in itself is relaxing you still need to have the odd time where you just take the weight off and do little. Today was one of those days.

In tourist mode today

We went for coffee, wandered round the shops and re-visited the Chapel and cemetery. The main chapel was closed which was a shame as the sheer size of it indicated that it would have been beautiful inside.

We were out for a good few hours before returning to the the hotel to lounge in the garden reading and relaxing. It was a reasonably cool day, probably around 17 degrees and after a while we ventured back indoors.

After dinner we headed back into the town centre to listen to the local brass band, who play twice a week in Kitzbuhel. They were appropriately suited and booted and looked and sounded fantastic.

Gaisberg

It looked like another promising day (weather-wise) so after breakfast we caught the bus to Brixen im Thale for a planned ascent of Gaisberg (1770m) via Gampenkogel (1957m). The climb was quite steady at first, heading out of town and onto forest track where there was some engineering work going on to build new weirs (work that started in 2016 and which would be completed in 2029 so I expect it was more than just weirs they were doing).

The walk zig-zagged up reasonably steeply and some mountain bikers passed us in first gear (Blair also found 15 euros on the ground - Prost!).

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Lynne with Gampenkogel in the background

We walked for approximately three miles on the track before the route veered off on a single track footpath which was steep but thankfully quite short (approximately ½ a mile). We reached Wiegalm where the cyclists, who had passed us earlier, were sitting having refreshment.

Blair with Gampenkogel in the background

From here Gampenkogel was on the right of us and the lesser Gaisberg off to the left. The signpost informed us it would take us an hour and a half to reach Gampenkogel and, already knackered, I persuaded Blair to forget about the larger hill and head directly to Gaisberg instead.

The walk up to Gaisberg again was steep and stoney and I was nervous about the thought of coming down the other side as these sorts of paths often make for unsteady footing. I was surprised to find so many walkers on route but the fact that it was accessible by chairlift from the other side explained that. Chairlifts and cable cars make these mountains much more accessible for those who don’t normally go in for climbing; instead opting to take the lifts and daunder around the tops and taking in the views. Nothing wrong with that of course but it can ruin your peace and quiet!

Cattle for company over lunch

We stopped for our lunch next to some cows but didn’t hang about too long and from there we started the descent down which, as I had imagined, was a very stony and slippy route. It was a typically zig-zaggy descent and we made it on to better ground eventually reaching Kirchberg where we had planned to get the bus back to Kitzbuhel.

Bursting for the loo we went for a pint in Kirchberg and fueled and, re-energised, we opted for the walk back knowing from experience it would take us about an hour. Approximately 18 miles walked.

We dined out that night as the hotel restaurant was closed.

Krimml Falls

We were joining a Thomson tour bus at 12.15pm to head out to Krimmel Falls in the Hohe Tauern National Park in Salzburg State. Before that though we did a circuit from Kitzbuhel-Schwarsee-Reith which took us a couple of hours. We had rain in the night again but it was drying up and making way for another lovely day. We had coffee and then joined our bus tour.

The journey to the Falls took approximately an hour and we had just shy of 3 hours to spend as we pleased. The Falls are the highest in Europe and apparently the 5th highest in the World with the highest part of the waterfall being 1470m above sea level with a total drop of 380m/1247ft.

We could see the immense scale of the falls as we approached and we knew it would be busy with tourists and with reasonably limited time we decided we’d climb to the top and do more of the sight seeing on the way down.

First impressions of the world's fifth highest falls was WOW

We took on a nice sheen, part sweat and part spray

We climbed the 1247ft in 40 minutes and stopped for our sandwich at the Krimml Ache (river). From here the path carried on on various routes, one walk taking upwards of five hours, and there was a view of some snowy peaks.

Walking down we stopped off at various points to take in the views and feel the spray. The path was steep but thankfully we stayed on our feet reaching the bottom well in time to do some reading up on the national park and then to catch our bus at 4pm.

The journey back was eventful in as much as we had pan pipe music followed by a few Austrian tunes. The tour guide also said it was tradition to tip the driver as well - after that bloody music you can sing for it!

Kitzbuhel looking lovely in the twilight

We ended the evening with a stroll round the town.