The morning dawned and it was another hot one. I knew today’s walk was relatively short, but also that it was almost entirely uphill.
In fact things are never exactly as you anticipate. The first two or three kilometres was a mainly level, riverside walk , with a lot of it in the shade (this became a bit of an obsession today due to the heat). Out in the sun I passed a field of sunflowers- they really did seem to have turned round to face the sun.
I then crossed the river to the town of Radentheim, which was having a market or jumble day. Or maybe every day was like this. The road twisted and turned uphill leaving the town, and any shade, behind.
I caught up with the couple from Linz that I’d chatted to briefly the day before (the lady had taken my photograph), who had also been at breakfast that morning in my hotel at Dobriach. They were doing a week’s worth of the Alpe Adria trail as far as Bad Kleinkirchheim (ie another three days).
All three of us struggled up the hill in the searing heat, which felt dry and hot, maybe 30 C, even at 10:00 am. When I was out in the sun, it was unpleasant and I was drinking so much water I was in danger of getting through it too quickly. Nor did the water seem to help, as I just needed more.
As I went a little ahead, focused on getting into a bit of shade, I suddenly heard ‘achtung’, and realised that I had been carrying on up the road when I should have turned right. The couple had been shouting out to me. I think I was so anxious just to get back in the shade somewhere I hadn’t been paying proper attention.
So we walked together for a little while until a phone call interrupted and I went on ahead once more. I was soon on a little forest path which led out to a road at an old farmhouse called Turkhaus.
Beyond Turkhaus, which is obviously a popular spot for families, with lots of benches and carved figures, it was shady, which made a huge difference. The walk passed a series of mills with waterwheels- a sort of open air museum- as a river to the right flowed downhill in a series of waterfalls- another schlut, if not quite as dramatic as the others I’d seen last week.
At some point after the busier section had ended and I had crossed the river, as a sign indicated, I went a little off track. Not disastrously and I could have just walked back when I realised. But I saw on my gps that there was an alternative, and rather than walk steeply down hill and back again, I took this, which was soon signed towards my end destination, Erlacherhaus. After about 40 minutes it led me back to the correct route, probably adding a kilometre to the day, but with no extra height gain.
I passed a series of huts in the last part of the walk. The first, like Pichlhutte a couple of days ago, was doing a roaring trade. Lots of cars, people drinking and eating outside. Another a bit later on was strangely silent, though there were still big parasols outside. This one the guidebook had harsh words for, saying visitors were often told to do their own washing up after ordering a rather underwhelming meal, so I won’t mention its name. Sounds a bit like an old fashioned British youth hostel to me ( they are not like that any more I hasten to add).
Essentially it seems many mountain huts in Austria are often just like pubs, not necessarily offering accommodation, although some do. In the higher mountains (off road) they are more likely to be more basic and youth hostel like, for serious mountain hikers and climbers, as is the case in France and elsewhere.
A further steep climb was saved to the end by which time I’d ascended over 1100 metres since my overnight hotel. A little frustrating in that I’d gone all the way down into the valley essentially just for an overnight stop. This time though,while the accommodation is more basic for the next two nights, I won’t need to go straight down again.
While I loved Millstatter Hutte I’m relieved that in Erlacherhaus I have my own room tonight, and it’s clean and modern. And there is more than one shower between 30 people, which I have already used. Bliss.
Tomorrow promises a day of high mountain walking, before I descend to Bad Kleinkircheim on Saturday, for a long awaited rest day. I’m looking forward to tomorrow, but the day after sounds a bit daunting, judging by my guidebook. Hopefully I can cope now, after two weeks experience.
Across the Alps to the Adriatic 