Last Friday I came back from the Austrian Alps. It was a road trip I went on with Jonas. Our last journey together. None of these trips that I lately go on are planned as they have been moment decisions made thanks to the circumstances I have come to live in. An outcome of my situation.
I did not hope or think that I would hike an actual mountain. Nonetheless a 2,5 km high pile of dirt and rocks. I had no plan for it and I surely was not ready for it. And yet, on the first day of our arrival, I did it. Not without feeling like I would die any minute and not without climbing down in the darkness of the night after. Yeah, plan your time according to your skill! But the most important part is that I did it and did not give up until reaching the top. And reach I did! Twice.
My only mistake was starting late. I woke up at nine but did not start for the hike until 2 PM. To be fair, there was no plan to go up the mountain. I wanted to take a much more lax trail that went to the other side of the mountain but did not go up so steep. But as I am trying to be spontaneous again, I and Jonas saw a hidden trail and decided to ascend on it. Now, it was not really an unmarked pat. It had all the signs that just gave you names instead of real destinations, so do not worry, I was not completely reckless and my life was never in danger. I approached with caution. Somewhat.
This is how my every morning started. The view was breathtaking as I was residing in the middle of a valley crossed by a river and ending in a glacier. I had a waterfall right behind our home and it was massive. Not Niagara falls but a nice tall drop of refreshing alpine water. Then there were the snow-covered peaks. Not many but enough.
For someone born in Latvia where everything is flat and our highest hill (not a mountain) is approximately 300 meters small, that was something that will stay with me forever. I know, because I have seen these mountains once before from up-close. I was eight years old back then and I still remember the grandeur and my reaction to it. It was spectacular!
So, let us get back to business. On this mountain hike day, the first thing done was me scouting out and about. I joked about climbing a mountain and I think, it was 70% just a joke that turned into reality. You see, I do not like to leave things unfinished. I also like wild berries and mushrooms, and I am quite educated about them. In that, I know how wild blueberries, cranberries, and red bilberries look and I adore their taste. Spoiler alert, they grew by the trail, everywhere. The higher we got and the more unexplored trails we took, the more delicious and big the berries were. Yes, my tongue was blue from the blueberries and yes it was supposed to be that way. That is how you know these berries are the real deal! They also taste amazing, especially if you eat them a handful.
But wait. There is more! I also picked some mushrooms and finally, after some years, made a real mushroom sauce. Leccinum aurantiacum is the second best mushroom you can find in Latvian forests. No, truffles are not the first and I have no idea why the deal about them is so huge. Keep in mind, I have not tried them. I picked a bag full of the type of mushroom while hiking up the mountain. It was not much as my bag is small but it was enough to bring amazement into eyes of Jonas who had never tried real forest mushrooms. These things taste like Heaven!
At first, I just walked past the mushrooms and could not believe my eyes. I did not think that people would just leave great, amazing eatable mushrooms behind. But it also makes sense, nobody wants to die from mushroom poisoning. Plus, you need to do the worm check and clean them out properly and a clueless beginner has no clue. Hehe.
When I decided to actually check them I was positive that these were the mushrooms that I had loved so dearly as a child. So, I broke one off (without removing the root) and checked it for worms. There were none in this one. So, I emptied my tiny bag into a backpack, took a debit card for cutting and went on my way. There was also the red Amanita muscaria with white dots on it and it is a huge no-no even though you could potentially eat it in small quantities if you absolutely know how to prepare it so it loses all its toxins.
This is at the beginning of my trip upwards on the mountain. And it is the best picture of where I stayed. Between the two mountains, there is another one in the distance. There is also that waterfall that I talked about earlier. And, finally, one of these houses is the place Jonas had booked and we stayed in. The trip together was 4 days long and the room we slept in had a kitchen added to it so we cooked on the spot most of the time.
You can see a rocky mountain between those two forest-covered ones. That is approximately how high I hiked as I could see the top of that mountain and everything else when I was on my own peak. I would say that the other mountain, on the other side of the valley was a little higher. Maybe a hundred to two-hundred meters closer to the Moon.
I photographed the same mountain all the way up to the top. It is ridiculous how it changed and now, looking at the pictures, I get confused for a second before saying ''Yes, that is the same mountain!''. You see that in the first picture it looks like those are completely separate tops but when I started hiking up, up, and away, I realized that the mountain was right there. It was only steep at the top and you could possibly, probably, maybe climb it.
As I hiked higher and higher the vegetation changed. From meadows to forests, to waterfalls, and then, berry bushes, later just dry grass and only rocks on the top. I did not notice if it got colder as the sun left us early on. It hid behind the mountain and we never really caught up to it until the top when it shone on my face like there was no tomorrow. On the peak, there was also a little bit of wind. Just a bit but enough to make it chilly.
Close to the top, my hiking trail went missing and I climbed random rocks keeping as much balance as I could. It was not easy when I went for the second peak. But it was not that hard either. I felt like I could see all of the world. And let me tell you, it does not look like the Earth is flat from up there!
I saw snow but not where I stood. The glacier in the distance made the valley seem smothered. I saw the other side! Where I had wanted to walk to before taking the tiring alternative. It was inviting but the time was already late. It took me 5 hours just to get to the top. The last hundreds of meters I sat a lot as my legs had started to let their discomfort be known. It took me two hours to get down which is a simpler way of showing that year old saying in real life. I paraphrased it as I do not remember the true line.
The trail I started on was not the hike I finished. From a country road, I ascended on a wide forest path and picked mushrooms lazily in my tiny bag. From there I found waterfalls that needed crossing and were easy to get over as human foot had walked them before. And often. After that, another forest. Here the berries were bigger and more. Here the mushrooms hadn't been touched. Here people did not walk so often.
The path only got narrower as I and Jonas continued our journey. We came out of the forest into a meadow that had a couple of trees. The berries here were the best and the biggest. The mushrooms here did not grow anymore. One second they were there and the next they were gone. But the passage here was still visible and simple.
Then the fun started. On a trail that was hidden from me, under bushes. Where you could only walk a person at the time. Where there were rocks under the sand and where you actually needed to be careful. This is where the real journey to the peak begun. Here only cranberries still grew and I ate them in between my breaks. I wanted to give up but I knew I could not. I am a closer! That is what I told myself as I whined loudly. Yes, I am that person...
It was the most beautiful, alluring thing in the world. To be on top of it. Here I kind of got why people climb mountains like Everest. It is breathtaking and you realize how puny humanity really is. I felt like I belonged in the world. I felt like I was a part of it. I saw the sun and it was dancing on my face. I was in love with the world even though I was tired as a horse.
The sun was already starting to set when we reached the top. I knew we would walk down in the dark but before it was that, we had to get down that dangerous path I had come up the mountain on. I used to do mountain climbing when I was a teen. I had trained my balance then. You have no idea how fast I shot down that mountain but because of my speed, I was on a safer path right when the black sky hit. Jonas a safe distance behind me.
It was colder in the night and only one phone that we had with us was still full of battery. We used that as a flashlight to walk through a forest and get on the road that we had encountered while walking up. My legs took going down much kinder than they did going up. I was keeping up a moderate pace all the time and was at home a little after 10 PM. Overall, it took us 8 hours. From 2 PM to 10 PM.
I had no idea which mountain I had climbed or how high it was. But I did go mountain carting on the other side of the rock cluster two days later and there was this map. I still do not know which mountain I did climb with 100% precision so I circled both possible options for you. First, I reached a lower top but the real top was only a couple of meters higher so I tortured my legs a little longer and went off-trail to reach it. And that second peak was either the 2616 meter high Mittagskopf or the 2702 meters low Poter Scrofen. I hope it was the Poter thing because I am all for the wizarding world, so... I do however think it was the smaller one.
Overall, I would suggest to anybody to take an adventure that leads up a mountain. You can start earlier to finish not in the darkness. You can find a smaller or higher mountain depending on your skills. You can actually train before going, so the whole of your lower body does not hurt after. But I did it spontaneously, on the first day of my trip and I have no regrets. I walked the next days but not that much and I did complain a lot about my leg pains but I also did other amazing things even though none of them were as great. Well, maybe the mountain carting was. But I almost flew off a hill doing it so the hiking trip was safer. For me and my reckless driving at least.
Pack a good deal of water with you. No sodas or fizzy drinks. None of that nonsense! Take some food and on the way eat only things that you are absolutely sure about. Take a warm jacket as evenings and mountain tops get cold and windy. If you get lost but do not know the mushrooms, do not eat them! Poisoning will lead to dehydration and dehydration will lead to you not being able to survive.
Okay, I am all dramatic but I did mention eating a lot of things in the forest. Even ripe wild rose buds. But I know about these things and was raised with them around me. Even mushrooms, especially mushrooms. I saw a type of them that I thought I knew but I was not sure. So I left these ones behind. If you are not sure, skip it! If it tastes different from what you know, spit it out!
And now, the part that you probably came here for. The actual images of the trip.
The gallery
It took me a while to make this one. I know, I am horrible with videos but I made one! I hope you enjoyed the trip with me and will stick around for the next ones! There is more about Austria and this wonderful place!
Linda