Autumn is definitely the off-season in Austria, with self-proclaimed "Ibiza of the Alps" (Ischgl) more like a ghost town. Erinna and I made a rainy hike to the Wiesbadner Hütte, a location I'd last visited on my first ever ski tour in 2015. On Sunday we were sad to discover the longest staircase in Europe was closed for repairs, so instead we made a surprise hike up to Versalspitze on the opposite side of the valley.
Steinernes Meer - a sea of stones. I'd spotted this large, high plateau on the map some time ago and wanted to explore what was here. The area lies at around 2000m and sits on the Austrian/German border between the much more popular areas of the Watzmann to the north, and Hochkönig to the south.
Erinna and I started from Hinterthal, and slept the night on the approach in heavy rain, before hiking up to emerge from the clouds and traverse the ridgeline to a high point at Brandhorn. The entire landscape is devoid of greenery and consists entirely of limestone boulders and water-worn slabs, plus a (fortunately) well marked trail. We descended to Totes Weib and a beautiful campspot just outside the National Park, waking to an amazing view of the Watzmann and his children. Our final descent took us down to the boat back across the Königssee and the finish to a beautiful three days backpacking.
After we abandoned Zermatt, we all took the train to sunny weather in the mountains around Salzburg. Will, Will & Cameron went for a short climb on the Adlerspitze, whilst I went for a long hike up to the summit of Brennerin just east of Attersee. The last of the winter's snow will linger for a good while yet.
After yesterday's exertions, I fancied an easier day, so Erinna and I went for a small hike over the hills south-east of Ötztal-Bahnhof.
Two days on wheels eating cheese, meat and bread, touring the vineyards and drinking the sweet nectar of the world's finest grapes
As Erinna's second ski season drew to a close, we headed back to our favourite intermediate slopes at Alpendorf for some powdery red descents and a last trip to see the woodland Krampus.
