Eating My Way Through the Stubai Alps, Austria

Introduction

If you like to hike, you can:

• Backpack, carry 40+ pounds, eat freeze-dry food stuff, sleep in the mud, not wash
  
• Trek in Nepal, let porters or mules carry your pack, sleep in cozy tea houses (inns)
• Hike in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, stay in the Appalachian Mountain Club Huts, and eat hearty meals
  
• Hike in the European Alps, eat delicious food every night, and even enjoy (often) hot showers 

I have done all of these, but in my dotage, I am not sure if my knees can handle a heavy pack and carrying all my supplies for traditional backpacking (option 1 above). Using the services of porters and/or horses is luxurious (Kilimanjaro 2015, Nepal 2007, 2011, and 2017). In some countries, using porters is the common way to trek. But the last option above looks better and better, especially if you want good food and easy access (and you like to wash). 

 

Stubai Alps (from Cicerone Press)

The Stubai Alps are an awesome complex of limestone peaks in western Austria, southwest of Innsbruck. They are easy to reach from almost any US gateway airport or European city.

 

One of the classic mountain tours is the Stubaier Höhenweg, or the Stubai rucksack route. It is an 8-day walk in fantastic mountain terrain. It can be extended a couple of days with an alternate start route. Route Information: buy the Cicerone Press guidebook of the Stubai route. You can also plan your trip with the help of the Tirol web page's interactive map.

 

 

Changing trains in Munich

I flew into MUC (Flughafen München), took the train from the airport, and was in Innsbruck in about three hours (yes, the Europeans are civilized). Once I reached Innsbruck, I bought a few munchies and a SIM card for my mobile. Then I took the bus to the village of Mieders and the cable car up to Hoch Series, and was ready to start. 

Stubai Rucksac Route (from Cicerone Press)

Below, I will list each day's walk and and where I stayed (and ate; after all, I ate my way through the Stubai Alps). Please note: this is a long article with no urban decay.

 Day 1, Maria Waldrast Monastery (1638 m)

Maria Waldrast Monastery (1638 m)

Health food dinner at Maria Waldrast

I started my Stubai trek on the alternate start, which adds two days to the total. So for me, Day 1 was a short walk from the cable car at Hoch Series. I was exhausted from the long flight across the Atlantic and the train ride, so a healthy Tirolean dinner (see, I ate a salad) and it was bed for me. The monastery operates rooms like a hotel. They are immaculately clean, and hot shower is in a tiny lavatory.

 

Day 2, Padasterjoch Haus (2232 m)

Padasterjoch Haus (2232 m)

Typical room in a mountain hut

More health food, locally-clucked eggs

The good stuff

This was a short day distance-wise but required 1300+m elevation gain. I try to take it easy for the first few days of a hike because I am totally out of practice. Padasterjoch was a nice hut with superb cuisine. The serious apple torte was to share among several people at my dinner table.

 

Hiker note: This and most of the huts do not accept electronic payment, so take cash.

Days 3 and 4, Innsbrucker Hütte (2369 m)

 

Innsbrucker Hütte (2369 m)

More health food

This the first hut for the normal start of the Höhenweg. Hikers take a taxi up the up the Pinnistal valley and climb to Innsbrucker Hütte. Because I was already up on the ridge to the east, I had to plunge steeply down 1000m to the Pinnistal valley, rest (and eat a pastry), and then ascend 1400 m to the hut. Long day! The hut was welcoming and had showers. The hut was crowded and I had to stay in a lager (bunk room) rather than a room. I stayed two nights here because the next hut on the route, the Bremer, was full.

Day 5, Bremer Hütte (2413m) 

 

A welcome sight when tired, the Bremer Hütte (2413 m)

Frühstück at the Bremer

Room with a view - from the lager at Bremer Hütte

The Bremer Hütte is in an austere spot with a lake and snow patches. When the mist clears, the view is fantastic.

 

Day 6, Nürnberger Hütte (2280 m) 

Nürnberger Hütte (2280 m)

Afternoon in the sun at Nürnberger

Obligatory mid-afternoon nutrition snack. The glass contains Radler, light lager beer and half sparkling lemonade. The whip cream comes from real cows.

This was an easy day's walk to the Nürnberger Hütte, only 5 km, and I had plenty of time to sit in the sun and eat the obligatory pastry and Radler (to rebuild my strength, of course). This beautiful old hut dates to 1886 and functions more like a hotel than mountaineers' hut. The same family has operated this hut for over 100 years.

Day 7, Sulzenau Hütte (2191 m)

Sulzenau Hütte at a comfortable 2191 m.

Most of the alpine mountain huts gain much of their revenue from day-hikers, who stop for food and beer (or many beers). They head down late in the day, leaving the over-nighters to enjoy the views and the quiet evenings. 

Families welcome and locally-sourced food

Sulzenau Hütte is a gorgeous hut (hotel) with expansive views. This building was erected in 1976-1978 to replace an older hut that was destroyed by an avalanche. Like many of the other huts, the hot showers are coin-operated. You insert a token or 1 Euro coin and wash quickly before you quota of hot water runs out (often 1 or 2 minutes).

School group near the Grunau See (lake)

I saw school groups on mountain outings. These children were bright-eyed, intelligent, disciplined, well-spoken, and well-equipped. How refreshing to see good parenting and encouragement.

 

Day 8, Dresdner Hütte (2302 m)

 

Dresdner Hütte (2302 m)

Dresdner Hütte is very popular because it is next to a cable car station. Mid-day, hundreds of hikers and casual tourists come to eat and enjoy the view. It becomes quiet and lonely at night after the last cable car departs.

Fresh bread, beer, veggies - does it get better than this?

Danger, danger, health food overload. By now, I was running out of cash, so I took the cable car down to base station, went to an ATM, and headed back up by cable car.

Day 9, Neue Regensburger Hütte (2286 m)

 

Wild ferocious mountain animals en route

Neue Regensburger Hütte (2286 m)

Dehumidified (or air-conditioned) boot drying room

This is a beautiful hut in immaculate condition. The hut was built in 1931 and enlarged in 1967-1968. This had been a 7½ hour walk, and I was tired. When you enter a hut, you must place your boots in racks or shelves and wear slippers or flip-flops in the building. This helps keep dirt and mud out of the hut.

Danger, danger, health food alert

 

Day 10, Franz-Senn Hütte (2147 m)

Franz Senn Hütte (2147 m)

Instructions for the uninitiated?

Obligatory torte ünd espresso

Franz Senn Hütte is another beautiful accommodation with good food, hot showers, and internet. This hut began life in 1885 and has been added to and enlarged several times.

Day 11, Starkenburger Hütte (2237 m)

Starkenburger Hutte (2237 m)

Crush your mobile phone here

Tiroler gröstl (more health food for the rugged bergsteiger)

Starkenburger was the last hut on the Stubai Rucksack route. This had been an 8-hr day, covering 13 km on a spectacular trail that cut across scree fields and below towering limestone peaks.

 

Day 12, Off the Mountain to Fulpmes

Mountain marathon at Kreuzjoch Panoramarest

This was my last day on the trail. I walked a few miles below towering limestone spires to the Kreuzjochbahn Berstation (cable car). The crowds watching a marathon were a rude awakening to being back in normal civilization. I took the cable car down to Fulpmes, then caught a bus to the town of Neistift.

I felt like a fish in Neustift. No problem, from the hatchery at the nearby stream.

Summary

Dear readers, this has been longer than I originally intended, but the exercise of sorting my pictures reminded me of the fabulous 12 days in the high country of the Stubai Alps. Everyone I met was unfailingly courteous and friendly. It is hard to find more rewarding hiking than the European Alps, be it in France, Switzerland, Germany, or Austria. Of course, Austria is a fantastic destination even if you are not a hiker. Once the pandemic restrictions have passed, just go. Enjoy the good life, experience good governance.

These were all digital files from a Moto G5 mobile phone.

Weekend in Vienna - from the Archives 1979

Many years ago - a previous life - I took the train from Vienna to London en route back to USA. I had spent seven months in southern Europe, and it was time to return to the US. My original plan was to take the train all the way from Athens, but at the last minute, I bought a cheap student air ticket to Vienna and bypassed the long and questionable train ride through Yugoslavia. 

It was March, winter, the best time to tour a city like Wein, when the cultural season is in full swing. I took a few frames with Kodak Tri-X film using my Nikkormat FTn camera. I can't recall who developed the film, but it is a mess of scratches.

Dorky American traveler in the Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna

Schönbrunn Palace Glorietta

Schönbrunn gardens, 28mm ƒ/3.5 Nikkor lens

Schönbrunn gardens, 28mm ƒ/3.5 Nikkor lens

Vienna is full of astonishing cultural and artistic treasures - churches, palaces, statues, concert halls, and museums - remnants from the glorious years of the Hapsburg Empire.* And it looks amazingly good. It is not an urban decay place. The photographs above are from the Schönbrunn Palace, the main summer residence of the Habsburg rulers.

The Karskirche is a Baroque church located on the south side of Karlsplatz. It is a curious architectural mixture of ancient Greek and Roman elements with Byzantine, Renaissance, and Baroque styles. Vienna is full of sights like this.

Photograph of Strauſs from https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8453822q/f1.item

Vienna is the city of music. Here is Johann Strauſs the Younger (1825-1899). You see him all over town, along with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791). Joseph Haydn, Antonio Vivaldi, Christoph Willibald Gluck, Antonio Salieri, and Franz Schubert also spent time in Vienna.

Staatsoper from the student ticket section

As I noted above, European cities are rewarding in the off season, when cultural events are in full swing. As I recall, I bought a student ticket at the Weiner Staatsoper and had to stand in the upper balcony for a 5-hour performance of Tristan und Isolde. Note how in those days I traveled with a suit and neckties. That is how you dressed in a city. Not only that, back then, gents wore a suit on the airplane, and ladies were similarly properly attired. Today, we have become swine, especially Americans.

In the future, you will see more photographs from the archives. Despite the flaws in these 1979 negatives, the data is still there. Will our digital files be readable (or even last) 40 years? Think about it - you already know the answer.....

* My grandmother told me she remembered visiting Vienna with her sister when it still was Hapsburg. It is amazing how many changes have occurred in one century.

On Foot down the BrennerPass

The Brenner Pass or the Passo Del Brennero (1371 m) has been a major gateway between the central Alpine countries and the Italian Peninsula since ancient times. The Romans marched their legions across the Brenner and traders for thousands of years plied their goods across this route. Viewing the Brenner from the south, it does not look too impressive, but its relatively low altitude made it a critical passage point between south and north.

In 1867, this mountainous terrain was all part of Austria, but today, the Austrian/Italian border is right at the Brenner Pass. As a child, I remember driving over the Brenner with the family and having to stop at the customs booth for an inspection of passports and car contents. But now, both countries are part of the EU and the border stations are unmanned (although the migrant crisis may force Austria to re-institute border controls).

On a blisteringly hot day in August 2013, I walked (trudged) southwards across the border. I was tired and thirsty and a modest restaurant beckoned. A modest snack? It's so nice to be in Italy, they are so civilized, and they believe in good food! After this "small" lunch, chased down with several glasses of wine, I continued south down the Eisacktal.

The Brenner Railway (German: Brennerbahn; Italian: Ferrovia del Brennero) was one of the major railroad engineering feats of the Hapsburg Empire. The line climbs steadily southwards from Innsbruck up the Wipptal (Wipp Valley), traverses over the Brenner Pass, and descends down the Eisacktal to Bolzano/Bozen. As written in Wikipedia, "The railway line was designed under the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the mid-19th century to ensure rapid and safe transport between Tyrol and northern Italy, especially Lombardy–Venetia. It was thus strategically important not only for economic but also for military reasons, as Austria was strongly committed to maintaining its borders south of the Alps." The 127-km route took three years to build and opened on August 24, 1867. The railroad has recently been rerouted through new tunnels, and the old right-of-way is now a paved bicycle/rollerblade/walking trail. This is also part of the "Jakobsweg," the medieval Road to Santiago, which ends at Santiago de Compostela  in northwest Spain. I saw some pilgrims carrying crosses - were they intending to walk all the way to Spain?

Some of the old railroad work sheds and stations remain, now abandoned. This stone workers' hut was in Commune Brenner.

A little further south, I came across this old station at Moncucco Schelleberg or La stazione di Moncucco.  Note that the name was still shown in German, although this area had not been part of Austria for decades. But many traditional German names linger in the South Tirol. We forget how many borders shifted in the 20th century.

I finally reached the town of Gossensass, and I was beat. It was a charming town with old mansions dating to the Hapsburg era. The temperature was about 35°C, and I wanted an air-conditioned hotel and a beer.

Well, no air-conditioning, but I got a beer and a fish. I love Italy....

Photographs taken with a Nexus 4 phone (sorry, no real camera this time).