On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
BigJimSlade
So then we took FlixBus to Mayrhofen in Austria. We stayed right in town this time (in GP we were a mile+ down the road from the main part of town). And after resting up for half an hour, we hiked up the hillside right across from our balcony and up the valley to the next town, Finkenberg, down through a forest next to a gorge, and back down the valley to Mayrhofen. The trail was full of nice, little surprises.
View from our balcony. It was a nice, modern building, but we had a view of a more classic, Alpine hotel right across the street. On the hillside, you can see the hut we hiked to, then the trail turns left, staying along the hillside and heading up the valley. Enlarge
Now looking back at the main part of the town. See the big white building near the middle? We were staying in the dark, little building just to the right. Enlarge
Here’s one of the surprises, a lounge bench! Enlarge
I like the rocks + moss + trail scenes. Enlarge
The trail also surprised us with wild strawberries. They were very small, so I included an inset picture so you can see the scale. Enlarge
And yet more surprises – there were 2 waterfalls on this trail we weren’t expecting – here’s one of them! Enlarge
After circling through Finkenberg (and hitting the Spar 3 minutes before it closed for some salad and chocolate to bring back, in face, we had to power walk up like 100 vertical feet of hill on a small road to get to the store just in time), we crossed over this gorge, and you can see Mayrhofen in the background. The trail goes down the forested hillside on the right. Enlarge
See, I told you it did. Typical for this trip, it’s now like 6:30pm and we’re getting some sunshine. Enlarge
Wide-bellies! Down off the hillside, the path shares land with the local grazing ground. Enlarge
I saved the cutest for last. Enlarge
OzarkHillbilly
Good stuff.
Ummmmm… No, no I can’t. ;-)
AM in NC
Question for you: Do you speak fluent German? Thanks again for sharing your photos and commentary with us!
eclare
Great photos and descriptions! And yes, the sheep photo is the cutest.
JPL
@OzarkHillbilly: I found it!
Great pictures.
eclare
@OzarkHillbilly:
Embiggen and it’s pretty much a straight line left from the flag on top of the hotel. I think.
OzarkHillbilly
@eclare: Thanx, I can see it when enlarged. It was one of 3 possibilities I had.
Manyakitty
Baaaaa!!! 🐑
stinger
I like the rocks + moss + trail shots too. And I’ve grown Alpine strawberries — in fact there are still a few plants out there in my garden — delicious, but it takes a lot of them to top a bowl of cereal! That view of Mayrhofen is spectacular, perhaps the more so as I have to scroll to see it all. And a cute little sheep! Superb set of pics yet again!
twbrandt
Wonderful series. Thanks for sharing!
stinger
@eclare:
For some definitions of “hut”! I clicked on the Enlarge link, then clicked on the image to enlarge it further, and there certainly is a building there!
eclare
@stinger:
I know! Plus it looks like some serious elevation to get up there on foot!
Anyway
Yes, great pics and descriptions! Love the waterfall…
SkyBluePink
I have enjoyed the whole series- thanks for the journey!
BigJimSlade
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, it’s pretty hard to make out, but maybe if you zoom in on this you can make it out. I mean, there’s not to much to see there, but I was just trying to show the abrupt climb we were about to do
Edit: Ah, I see I’m late to the game and others have pointed it out!
BigJimSlade
@AM in NC: I took some German classes in the mid-90s, so I have a familiarity with it, but miles away from fluent. I can say a few phrases, but when someone speaks I’m going to miss 90% of it.
BigJimSlade
@stinger: “I’ve grown Alpine strawberries”
Neat! Yeah, it takes half a dozen to make a small mouthful. I probably ate about a dozen of them and was pretty excited about it :-)
BigJimSlade
@stinger: Yeah, except for that are really for mountaineers, the huts, or “refugios” in Italian, are usually decent sized buildings with sleeping quarters, a dining room, and outdoor seating for more dining. They’re great :-) (We’ve never slept in one, just had plenty of much appreciated lunches at them.)
BigJimSlade
Thanks for the nice comments everyone.
Now please hold some good thoughts for our cat. Phoebe (11 years old) is in the hospital right now getting biopsied (I think the most likely thing is intestinal lymphoma, but we’ll know more in a couple days.) Sigh. She’s the sweetest thing.
way2blue
I planted one of those tiny alpine strawberries in my garden. Look straight out of a fairy tale. Thanks for sharing photos of your adventure.