Finally, the day had arrived. The first day of my long anticipated journey along the Alpe Adria Trail. It almost seemed like it would never happen, after two years of Covid restrictions, and seemingly never ending travel restrictions of one sort or another.
And what a spectacular starting point this trail has. Over 2300 metres above sea level, the Grossglockner road in Austria’s Hohe Tauern national park may be one of Austria’s top attractions, with around a million visitors each year, but nothing can detract from the natural splendour of the high alpine setting, the snow covered mountains tops, the Pasterze glacier and the blue-green glacial lakes.
Seeing me off, and walking with me on my first day, were my long suffering wife, Jeni, and my recently graduated daughter, Rachel. All of us had visited this spot before, although Rachel can hardly be expected to remember, as she was only two years old at the time. In the intervening twenty years, the glacier has diminished, but it and its surroundings have lost none of their splendour.
The walk began with a long steep, but stepped descent to the level of the glacial lake, Sandersee. Admittedly we could have taken the gletscherbahn funicular to save half an hour but that would have seemed like cheating right at the start!
After climbing down to the lake, with its little iceberg like glacial remnants, after crossing a little suspension bridge, it was not long before we were climbing again. All around us were pretty alpine flowers, colourful butterflies, set against the backdrop of the massive snow tipped mountains. The expansiveness, the space, is difficult to describe if you have not been there. Even when you can see the Grossglockner road, which brought us there, humanity seems small and insignificant besides the mountains, and the colours of the rocks, grassy slopes, and water complement each other perfectly.
After a stiff climb, it was down to the dammed reservoir of Stausee Maragaritze. Having a picnic near here we saw a couple of marmots nearby.
The afternoon’s walk took us up from the lake and then down the other side through steep forest. Then as the path levelled out, we were confronted with two cows heading towards us. Us and another family made space for them as the cows decided what to do, one heading up towards fresh grass, another turning round while we followed, but not too closely for obvious reasons. Eventually we reached an open area where were able to pass.
Further long slow descents followed, interspersed with easier bits of track walking, some waterfalls, and a little isolated chapel.
By the time we reached Heiligenblut we had been on our feet for eight and half hours – not the five optimistically referred to by some ( and the three and a half at the first signpost!). All of us are particularly slow going down, and there was over a thousand metres of descent today, plus 267 metres up, as well as a total distance of 16.6 km , so we think for a first day that wasn’t bad. I’m usually more likely to meet the expected times going up, funnily enough.
As a result of our long day ( and that Jen lost one of her walking poles towards the end, as it fell down a hill) Jeni and Rachel look like they won’t be joining me walking tomorrow. But they will be staying with me another day which will be nice. And I have another 36 days to look forward to.
Across the Alps to the Adriatic 