The Alps I - Between Heaven and Hell

Tobias Heller
5. Sept. 2016
16 Min. Lesezeit

My Alps Tour was the beginning of my travels. After a rough and sleepless night we start drowsy, going by car with a friend of mine who would bring us to Munich, where we were supposed to start our tour. Anxiety, uncertainty? Everything is a bit of a mixture of everything, but overall excitement to start that journey! The path that lies ahead will cover more than 450 km over steep mountains ranging up to over 3.000 meters of altitude and the complete meters of altitude will be more than 21.000 m. It for sure will include various dangerous climbing segments, rain, sweat, exhaustion, tears, blisters, joy, and laughs, and it will lead us through the most fantastic and unique landscape of the Alps. Venice is waiting, and the way is long.

Day 1, 5. September 2016

Vorderriss - Karwendelhaus

We start our first Tour from Vorderriss - Karwendelhaus, which shouldn't be a too long hike for a starter, presumably it should take us about four to five hours - only. Slightly uncertain and not sure what will wait for us along this long and strenuous way to Venice, we start the hike on an overcastday. After several meters we already need to stop, fumbling around at our backpack's strap for readjusting and undress from quickly heating up rain jacket with fleece inlay. The start is somehow clumsy and it still feels like we are just up for a little day hike, not at all submerged into the ongoing process and the mountains, which will come with the time.

As I have been working on a mountain refugio in my hometown and as I did quite loads of endurance sport before the trip started, I was used to walk uphill and stress my legs to the limits - but not really for a very long time, nevertheless days with 8 hours in demanding terrain, harsh weather conditions are waiting for us in the following days, testing our endurance and stamina. After a while, we already encounter a wonderful meadow placed in the middle of smaller mountains, which seems like someone lifted the bar for the saturation up higher, though we still are in real life. Finally we made it to the Karwendelhaus, which sits spectacularly on the edge of a mountain slope overlooking the valley beneath. Due to a sleepless previous night we go straight to the dormitory, lay down and fall asleep for at least two hours. This abbreviated first hike already finished us off for today! Once we get up again, we treat ourselves with a nice meal and a beer, taking a shower but going to bed again quite early, as we would have to wake up early to follow our path that lies ahead.

Day 2, 6. September 2016

Karwendelhaus - Hallangerhaus

Refreshed we start into a new morning. As the weather is bad and with advice from the owner of the Refugio not to go up all the way to the peak as we invented to do in order to go down straight to the Hallangerhaus, we decide to take the long circumvention of the massive mountain complex. It didn't take long for us to finally use our rain covers which are attached to the bags - it keeps on pouring down. Not the best condition to start an 8 hour hike - which after all wouldn't be 8 hours but more as we were about to find out soon - but we proceed our way despite bad weather conditions. Along the way we pass nice meadows and alms, with cows accompanying us constantly with the melodic clangs of the bells around their necks. The rain subsides with the proceeding day and amidst this idyllic place we devour our lunch supplies while sitting down on some branches. After some sandwiches, nuts and fruits, we are able to proceed our way, which is going along an easy pathway and then reach our first goal, a little village where we stock up our supplies and try to find out how far we can go today.

It is already early afternoon, but still the signs tell us we would have to hike more than additional 20 kms to get to the Hallangerhaus, which would take us about further 5 hours. We walk along the river, where strangely uncountable piles of stones have been placed here, apparently by all the hikers who went through this area, and those stone figures stand like an army along the river bed. After hours of walking on simple pathways, with our feet beginning slightly to hurt in the hiking boots as we are not used to hike longer distances, we finally arrive at another alm where we strengthen ourselves with a beer. We consider the possibility to stop here as dusk is already settling in order to put up the tent around the alm. Uncertain if it would be allowed to do so in that area we decide to go the last distance to the Hallangerhaus, even though it is already getting dark. The last bit is even steeper uphill and we have to climb several meters of altitude. My companys mood starts to drop remarkably once we walk for one additional hour up, bathed in sweat and our feet condition worsening by the minute. Complete darkness has fallen amongst the mountains and trees, which forces us to put our forehead-flashlights into action.

The atmosphere to walk in the middle of a forest without anyone in vicinity at that late hour is slightly creepy. My heart drops a beat once I spot red eyes looking straight out from the dark at us as the rays of light from our torches flashes in their direction. Realization kicks in, and I start breathing again: it is just the cows. Anyways I am incapable of getting rid of the feeling that someone - or something - watches continuously as we go on. The last meters are the worst, my friend is about to collapse, as he keeps telling me to go on without him. But finally! In the distance we see the promising, delightful sight of lights nestled into the dark. After strenuous and painful last meters we finally reach the end, behind several more curves and steep segments. We stumble breathless into the mountain shack, panting, exhausted. The owner, an older lady who gives us a puzzled look - it is already 10:30 p.m. when we enter. She asks where we come from and once we reply that we walked the distance with over 40 km from Karwendelhaus this day, she smiles approvingly and congratulates us for the achievement. We take the free shower gratefully - normally there is a fee for the coins in order to use the shower for a few minutes, but assuming that we had the appearance of ghosts, lifeless and on the verge of collapsing she just drops them in our hands. We then go straight to the already darkened dormitory and drop off into sleep within minutes.

Day 3, 7. September 2016

Hallangerhaus - Hall in Tirol

The night was horrible for both of us. The tissue of our skin is so wound on several spots from rubbing against fabrics while walking, and moving turns out to be painful. A look at my aching feet in the morning confirms that this isn't the best condition. Huge blisters had developed over night, the whole heel is reddened, the skin hanging loose with water accumulating underneath it. Oh no, already after the second day! Anyways there is no other choice than getting back in the boots. We step into the fresh morning air, a bit exhausted from yesterdays long hike, but finding a steep slope to start with right in front of us. Not taking breakfast before starting was indeed a bad idea, intending to take it on the way. We have to go extremely steep uphill, with nothing to burn to get energy from. We finish at the first smaller peak rendered breathless, energy drenched. Inevitably we have to take food into our bowels, unfortunately up here in the cold wind, in order to be able to go on. We feel much better after a few bites.

After climbing up to a peak, there always comes the necessity to walk down again. We try out our hiking sticks to soften the impact on the knees while descending. They would proof their incredible worth on several occasions and difficult segments. They not only soften the way down for the bones, but also reinforces the legs strength by help of the upper body. First an unloved burden but later on a precious travel friend. The ground is covered with small stones causing us to slip down along the slopes. On the way we encounter a shepherd with his herd of sheep, rarely other hikers but one quite adventurous biker - a poor guy who pushes his bike up the unnavigable path after struggling hard to move on the the layer of stones. The hike doesn't seem so exhausting, and going downhill is better for my sore heels letting them off the hook for the length of the descent. By the end of the day we arrive in Hall in Tirol, a small city to the foot of the mountainous landscape. We decide to put camp here and erect the tent for the first time.

Day 4, 8. September 2016

Hall in Tirol - Tulfes - Glungezer Refugio

From Tulfes starts the steep and long hike uphill starts to the Glungezer Refugio, which lies at about 2610 meter hight. A lot of meters of altitude to manage today! Once we put down our tent we start walking through Hall's streets and simple forest ways. Despite the simplicity of the way I notice the immense pain as my blisters have become around the width of a thumb already, so I decide to put the shoes in my backpack and wear the crogs I normally use for the mountain accommodations. How weird it must look, a hiker armed to the teeth with hiking equipment, wearing Crogs. At least that prevents the shoe's fabric to rub against the sore skin. Once we reach Tulfes, we stock up our supplies from the supermarket as we wouldn't be in reach of any village for the next 3 days. From here on I need to wear my hiking boots again as it is steep uphill and will soon intercept into a pathway covered with stones which need to be climbed. The weight of the supplies presses down heavily on me but this is bearable compared to the stinging, aching pain on my feet. Every step feels like needles piercing my skin and spiking into the flesh violently.

Giving up is not at all an option to me, so I endure the whole day, refusing to take any painkillers - I would make it without! Once we reach about 2.000 meters of hight, we look around our fantastic surrounding, which compensated at least slightly for the pain. The Refugio indeed is quite hidden up here, as we are not able to spot it until we are within reach of 300 meters. The owners, an austrian couple, are so extremely nice and welcoming as well is the Refugio. A fire crackles in the large oven which emanates waves of heat. Cosy and with a wonderful smell coming out of the adjacent kitchen, we are eager to have dinner and of course: some beers! My feet despite that, are now covered with huge open wounds, the whole skin has gone off, was rubbed away. I asked the refugio lady if she knows any trick for mending those injuries quickly and she then applies a dark, reeking and by all means overall disgusting paste to my blisters and wraps them in tissue. Thanks so much, my hero.

Day 5, 9. September 2016

Glungezer Huette - Lizumer Huette

When wrapping my feet out of the tissue I am happy to see that indeed new skin has develped to grow over the open spots. I deem it best to put lots of tissues around my feet, hoping it would lessen the rubbing against the boot. Outside we encounter a cloudy mess of fog. We are constantly hiking along several grates, connecting various peaks which we are about to climb along the way. All the while we are not able to see any further than several meters, which complicates estimating the terrain. Anyways, the red marks on the stones help us to find the right way, and we also encounter other hikers who started at the Glungezer this morning. The way consists only of rough stones, the landscape with all this fog is tranquilized, reminding me of some weird science fiction movie. A lot of climbing up and down is required and we proceeded several hours through this foreign and strange surrounding, until we finally get down in a steep descend, finding ourselves once more amidst promising greenery and meadow. Occasionally softer, sometimes slightly steeper hills with lots of stones determine the landscape. We pass through an area, which warns with yellow signs that this very ground is military terrain, advising us to not leave the pathway as undetached missiles could be encountered. What a nice welcome. Somehow this remains stuck weirdly repeating itself inside my head, but nonetheless we have to push through here. In the end we reach the mountain refugio we intended to find shelter in this night. It is modern, not in a too high altitude, therefore fully equipped with quite luxurious facilities, such as a drying chamber in the cellar - luxury we would lack later on, the more we would proceed towards Venice.

Day 6, 10. September 2016

Lizumer Huette - Tuxerjochhaus

Today we are about see the true beauty of the Alps, the weather offers perfect hiking conditions with the sun in the sky and scattered clouds around, the temperature due to the season warm despite the hight but not cruelly hot. The way today starts through a valley and then passes over into a steep slope, which is about to take lots of our energy resources away. It consisting of small stones and we slip and stumble a lot despite the stabilizing hiking sticks. Once we are uphill the way leads downwards again, and offers a marvelous landscape with a wonderful view to the Junssee, a little lake that lies nestled into the middle of a hilly landscape flooded with light. Far ahead we can already see snow covering the peaks, knowing that we will have to go in that direction and we also might soon encounter snow. We take a rest at the peaceful lake, eat some of our supplies and then proceed onwards.

Up and down it goes, though along an easily walkable small pathway which winds itself throughout the scenery. My mood is at the top, I am in love with this very adventure and the pure beauty of the Alps renders me speechless. When we arrive at another steep climb, we swear silently under our breath, but the view that awaits us once we are up is covering up for the arduous labor, as in front of us lies a magic valley, green down at the bottom and flowing into bluish grey the higher up my eyes follow, until the white stains announce the peaks final hight. I start to have the feeling that joust around the corner could pop up some pipe smoking Hobbits that cross our way. This funny thought would accompany me much further along the way. To reach the Tuxerjoch, we need to climb down first in order to get up again. We also meet a group of travelers, 4 guys in our age, who are hiking the same direction. We walk down the soft slope - which turns out to be moreover relaxing and soothing and which we walk dreamily in the face of that marvelous scene. Below we encounter a wonderful shimmering waterfall, those origin starts somewhere high up in the mountains. We happily have some sips of that fresh, cold water and bathe in the admittedly freezing water. Having that kind of refreshment enables us to go the rest of the uphill distance without any complaints or breaks and we finally reach todays goal with a happy smile on both of our faces.

Day 7, 11. September 2016

Tuxerjoch - Olpererhuette - Pfitscherjochhaus

Today my company doesn't seem to be in the best mood, so we keep hiking silently, me far ahead, him far behind. The way demands a lot from us, physically as well as mentally, so when the decision falls that the hike should be together with another person, one should be prepared to encounter some lows and downs from time to time, it is inevitable part of the journey. We have to go steep up to the Frisenbergscharte, which is located on 2912 m hight. The way up here is hard and it seems to consist of one huge pile of enormous rocks and various flat stones, which we have to half walk half climb to reach the top. And as expected, we also find snow here, not deep and dense but several piles of snow ares spread around the area.

Once on the top wind is whistling strongly in our ears, and we need to cover them tightly. Now a steep way down lies ahead of us, which seems dangerous as for safety reasons there are steel ropes attached along the way and climbing irons thrust into the stones. Despite the fact that this path is more dangerous than everything else we walked before, we enjoy the climbing task and the imminent danger of falling. Halfway down I try to grab one of the steel ropes and find out that the middle security ring isn't fastened to the rock anymore how it is supposed to be and try to find another way to get enough halt to climb the steep section. My hiking friend Dominik tries to do the same but slips and grabs the rope and he drops several meters down the steep way. The rope finally catches his weight right in time. What a terrible feeling to see someone falling, all happening within a heartbeat, rendered to do nothing but stare motionless and in disbelieve those few seconds. After recovering from that shock, we arrive at the bottom and proceed through stony pathways. Already after 4 - 5 hours we arrive at the Olpererhuette with a narrow bridge in the front leading over a river that tumbles down into the depths. The view with the lake beneath and the peaks in the distance is absolutely breathtaking and both of us stand here, not saying overly to much. We simply take in all it's splendeur

As it is early afternoon, we decide to not stop in Olpererhuette, but instead do a following half of tomorrows tour, which was supposed to be done the previous day but it is a shorter distance so it wouldn't be mad to think it can be done in one day. It looks like it is about to rain as dark clouds are beginning to cover the sky and thunder is audible in the far distance. Despite that we proceed, taking a slight risk of ending up in a thunderstorm - somewhat not an appealing thought. Luckily despite some drips we didn't encounter any heavy rain and also the storm kept to be far away from us, going in other directions. The path Olpererhuette - Pfitscherjochhaus didn't cause any problems and finally along the way we crossed the border and find ourselves now in Italy! We arrive happily at the Refugio which lies just directly behind the border, with an austrian owner and his family.

Day 8, 12. September 2016

Pfitscherjochhaus - Pfundes

We start to climb down, as we have to reach our goal which lies quite far away today and will cover more than only one tour again. From this Refugio we have to climb down a bit in direction Stein, according to the book we should take the path leading sideways off the street once the street makes a third turn. Unfortunately this time, we miscalculate and somehow get on the wrong track, something which did not happen to us yet. We recognize the mistake early enough to turn around and walk the way back, thankfully we only walked about 2 kms in the wrong direction - anyways, time that we would be missing later on. On the way back we encounter the group of guys again, also making the same mistake but we are kind enough to tell them the right direction. Once on the right track, we have to hike up again through winding pathways flanked by high grasses, thereby passing several old bamboo shacks in which we pause to tend to our several injuries which have accumulated meanwhile.

We then find ourselves in a little valley with a river, from which we drink plenty of water and proceed alongside it. At a certain point the way starts to climb up again and we are rendered without breath once more, sweat dripping from our heated foreheads. Once we arrive at the top of the little passageway between two higher peaks, we spot on the other side a small lake lying in the half shadow of another high peak, flanked by thousands off small fluffy flowers. We could actually.... Yes why not, lets put those sweaty clothes and the heavy backpack down and jump into that lake naked - no one is around! Maybe this is not the best idea after all, as the water is freezing cold, once inside the cold knocks out my breath, causing me to gasp heavily for air, panting. Once out of the river, the warm sun helps to dry us soon and shake the freezing feeling off. What a refreshing push! After that we lie down in this deserted paradise and have a little nap of half an hour. The further way would lead us past two Alms with several animals around, but no other sign of human life is to be found here. The walk down is long again, and we then start hiking along a riverbed for a very long time until we finally, late in the evening, reach our goal, Pfunders, a Village in the heart of the Alps. Luckily for this night we find a lady who would let us put our tent in her garden.

Day 9, 13. September 2016

Pfunders - Kreuzwiesenalm

We get up in our tent early in the morning, the air humid and everything feels slightly damp and wetted, despite leaving the tent door open, with only the mosquito net as protective layer during night for air to circulate. We start with a coffee from the lovely lady who allowed us to sleep in her garden. The way is steeper in the beginning, leads through dense forests and past some alms with old rotting wooden houses. On the way we pass another Refugio, which is loaded with day trekkers and bikers, so we make a stopover there to treat ourselves with a cake and a coffee as refreshment. The rest of the way intrudes the quietness of meadows and along the way we can already make out the shape of high spikes of mountains piercing into the sky - the dolomites. As we arrive earlier today at the Refugio, we have time to sort out our things and supplies, hand wash some clothes and hang them to dry as well as treat our wounds and enjoy a nice dinner. We go to sleep early in order to be fit and renewed for tomorrow again. In retrospect, today didn't seem so demanding - or maybe we just got used to the hard daily labour.

Day 10, 14. September 2016

Kreuzwiesenalm - Schluetterhuette

We start the day early - this time having a really nice an prolonged breakfast here. We are now briefly before the dolomites, and will encounter those strange but yet impressive rock formations we have spotted already yesterday on the way to Kreuzwiesenalm. The path leads along nice meadows with cows and smaller wooden buildings, a harmonic scenery with the dolomites blinking appealingly in the distance. On the way we cross a little lake, which lies embedded inbetween the mountains, and strangely a ship sticks out of that lake which contributes to a somewhat weird scene as I couldn't come up with a story why anyone would place that little ship in the middle of nowhere. After a longer hike through lots of smaller hills and forest that lead us up and down, we finally arrive in a little valley which seems slightly more touristic. From there we make our way up to where the Schluetterhuette is located. Another exhausting hike up the mountain, with lots of stones and pebbles in our way, but yet the scenery offers a nice view the higher we get up. Once we reach the gash between two peaks and we are able to look onto the other side. We finally see what was hidden from our view all the time and what lies ahead. An overall amazing view - simply put, we stepped right into the dolomites. White, massive rocks are piercing out of the landscape, the mellow, juicy meadows are dotted with white stones like someone put them there because he fancied the pattern, and the cling-clang of cow bells greets us here again. Pushed into a mood overflowing with happiness and joy, we proceed our way, which now is simply straight along the slight descent of the mountains and finally arrive at our goal.