To be honest I was surprised I slept as well as I did in the cabin, but come 6 am every little movement of my neighbours, including going to the loo and the dog next door meant I gave up on sleep and thought I’d try my luck in grabbing an early shower (a bit of an experience when you have to go outside, see if anyone is up to give you a key, and then go back again, then give the key back afterwards and finally back to your room). Anyway the net result was I started really early today, about 8 am which was good to avoid too much of the afternoon heat.
In contrast to yesterday’s walk today’s was almost all down hill. And for the first two thirds at least, it was relatively straightforward and really beautiful. More open than yesterday, and feeling more remote than the day before, the walk boasted wonderful views wherever you looked. There was the oddity of having to cross a number of barbed wire fences, warned about in the book, and clearly the right way to go by the accompanying signs. I had learnt from my Devon trip how easy it was to tear your trousers when crossing these so had to be extremely careful.
After a while the paths met a farm track and it was then easy going downhill on an open switchback route, with little bits where you could cut off corners by taking a path. This accounted for about half the descent so I was feeling confident today would have few challenges. However I should have known better…
After reaching a village and the taking a little descending forest path, an enormous gaping gulf in the side of the hill emerged, and the path started to lead very steeply down the near side of it, though forest. In one or two bits I shuffled on my back almost sliding down as it felt safer, with the ground being a bit loose. Luckily this part didn’t last too long, but I did find that when you did this, standing up again was really quite difficult, especially with a heavier than usual rucksack. Anyway, at this point an Austrian couple I’d seen at the mountain cabins passed me by and shortly after I joined a little lane with a suitably placed bench where I could have a snack, admire the views and take a breather.
From there on in, it was very straightforward and a bit more built up. At one point I heard what sounded like an air raid siren, and wondered whether things had been getting worse since I left home! It turned out as I descended that there was a massive timber plant in the valley, and the siren being exactly at midday was probably a factory whistle.
Talking of timber, the last two days have seen fallen trees (which I have had to clamber under or over), cut down areas of forest, and big timber trucks passing. Stacks of timber line the track at intervals and clearly it’s big business here. Apart from anything else most of the houses appear timber built. No doubt it makes sense to have the sawmills in the valley close to where the timber is cut down.
After a last couple of miles of walking on residential streets, albeit nice ones, along the valley, I finally reached the end point, the little village of Stall. Here there was no accommodation available so I had to wait for a arranged 3pm taxi pickup to take me to where I was staying, meaning I had a couple of hours wait. I met and chatted to the Austrian couple who had overtaken me earlier who were waiting for the same taxi. They told me they had finished their trip now, having done the first four days and were now returning home to be with their family near Vienna. As ever I felt guilty about how much effort people obviously not fluent in English made to communicate in English, when I knew absolutely no German. And fortunately the taxi arrived half an hour early in the end.
Tomorrow is a big day. The first I have to go both up and down in a day, climbing more than 1500 metres and then descending again the other side. It’s the first of five days on the trail graded ‘difficult’ so I will have to see how I get on. I can guarantee it’s going to be a long day , and I will be tired at the end of it.
Across the Alps to the Adriatic 