Breathtaking

The first of May is a national holiday in Austria. My host family was heading to the mountains and offered to take me along...

We drove about one and a half hours southwestwards from Vienna. These mountains are considered forerunners to the Alps.



My host "father" is chair of an Alpine club that has a cabin up in mountains. In the mid 1830's, the Alpine club designed and built a mountain cabin in Vienna and then transported it here (approx 4,357 ft. above sea level). Although the cabin was looted during the war (supposedly by the Russians), most of the original furnishings (including paintings of the Hapsburg emperors and photographs of women making the climb in long gowns and riding side saddle) were returned. Apparently the "Russians" were actually locals.
Membership to the Alpine club is limited to men only (following the original traditions of the club), but women and children are allowed to visit the cabin. Every member has a key to the cabin and is allowed to come here whenever he wishes. Some of the members celebrate New Years here: no central heating (just two wood burning stoves), no plumbing (just an outhouse 30 feet from the door) and no lighting (just a large stash of matches and candles. However, there are some definite benefits of staying at the cabin: two overflowing bookcases, a large collection of schnapps (and brandy), beautiful scenery and above all - quiet. To bad I'm not staying over New Years. That sounds really relaxed and cozy.



Another picture of the Gamsecker Hütte. In the 1800's Vienna bought this land and the springs on it as a water source for the city. Today much of Vienna's drinking water still comes from this area.There is a little dip in the mountain (not as large as a valley, just a little dip) in front of the cabin. A tiny spring bubbles down through the dip and one of the club members built a little bench to sit on - very practical as the spring doubles as the cabin's kitchen sink.




Towards the back of the cabin is a rock cliff face - these flowers were about seven feet up.


So you get an idea of where things were....the little red house is approximately where the cabin was and the cross is, well, keep reading and you'll figure it out.



What a view. This is about 30 minutes past the cabin - we had to trudge through ten inches of snow to get up here. I haven't gotten that muddy in a while, but it was worth it. The view from here was breathtaking. I wish you could have been there. The picture doesn't do it justice.


We ended up hiking ten kilometers that day. In the mid-afternoon we headed to Mariazell, but that requires another post. I'll try and post that tomorrow.