'Summer in the Alps' Day 23 - Biberacher Hütte to Zug (Gasthof Auerhahn)

Tuesday 24 July 2018 - incorporating Stage 3 and parts of Stage 4 of the Kalkalpen Traverse.

I've just read Sue's account of yesterday - much better than mine. It even mentions the black grouse I startled. We both nearly flew off the mountainside, the black grouse being rather more adept at that than me.

The dormitory with over twenty people in it was surprisingly quiet. Despite being amongst some climbers - notorious for early starts - it remained quiet until 6.30. Buffet breakfast at 7am saw a large queue forming. Everyone seemed to be getting up at the same time. With large groups milling around, Sue and I got going soon after 8am on what was to be another nine hour day.

It seems that a popular hutting route is the Lechquellenrunde. This involves a short hike from Bregenzerwald to Biberacher Hütte, then short daily walks to Göppinger then Freiburger, on to Ravensburger and finally to Stuttgarter Hütte before descending to finish at Lech. There were lots of people doing this, taking all day to get from Biberacher to Göppinger.

Anyway, due to Stuttgarter Hütte being booked for days on end after tomorrow, I was forced to adjust our route so that we stay there tomorrow. That involves a short cut that means we are omitting three easy but crowded sections of the traverse. In order to achieve the short cut we had to descend beyond Göppinger to the valley today.

What a contrast to yesterday! Deep blue skies and much easier paths.

Here's Sue's account (with a few extra bits):

"Under a blue sky, we set off by 8.15, traversing past a cow that was bleeding profusely from a broken horn, to a farm building. Then we started a descent on a heavily eroded path through muddy cow pasture, then shrubs, to cross a river flowing down a narrow valley. Wires on the far side pulled us up, only to drop further, emerging from shrubs at a track that was the start of a long but stunning ascent.

The track soon evolved into a path that climbed the hillside in wide sweeps. At 10.30 we stopped for a snack behind a farm building, which were told was being relied upon for the provision of lunch for one of the groups. There would be disappointment.

The ascent just continued. Cow pasture gave way to steep grassy slopes dotted with flowers. Frog orchids and 4-petaled Field gentians were amongst the many varieties. At the midday stop we watched a marmot, whose head was sticking out of his burrow. He disappeared when two other walkers passed.

After an easy down climb through a steep gully we rose to a huge flat meadow, full of yellow flowers and Spiniest thistles; there must have been a lake there once. Beyond that, a limestone landscape with a river tumbling down and lateral moraines telling of an earlier glacier.

Ciliate rock jasmine, pennycress and deep violet Long-spurred pansies proliferated in this sparse landscape, plus pink splashes of Moss campion. A broad col, and the Göppinger Hütte  (2245 metres) were reached at 1pm. We sat on the leeward, south facing terrace for lunch. It was hot. More sun tan cream please!

Despite the lovely clear views, not everything ran to plan. Our order for soup was mistaken for the tagesüppe, and not the more substantial hüttensuppe. So we got broth with crispy balls rather than potato soup with meat. We had to top up with apfelstrudel with cream! A promised confirmation with Stuttgarter Hütte for tomorrow night was achieved. (How we get there remains a mystery.) But our water bottles couldn't be filled from the tap. A big bottle was purchased and decanted into our water bottles. It was fizzy.

Soon after setting off downhill, a noise was heard, the expanding gas blowing a hole in Sue's water bottle.

After that, it was a lovely afternoon, with a well-graded descent to a pine zone, then along a track to the valley. The path to Zug followed the river, mostly easily, and we were accompanied by the sound of a helicopter making journeys from the valley to the vicinity of our lunchtime hut, where some digging work was in progress.

Once round the golf course, it was easy to find Gasthof Auerhahn, at around 5pm after nearly nine hours of walking. An old building, looking a bit sad, but we have a nice if creaky suite. We watched the last 12km of the Tour de France stage 16 from Carcassonne to Bagnère de Luchon, both of which places stir happy memories for both of us.

Then, much washing and showers before dinner at a nearby hotel (the dinner offered by Auerhahn at €42 each seemed to offer more than we needed). Although still quite expensive at €50 for beers and a main course for the two of us, the food was delicious - a rilette of pork with bread and melted butter as an amuse-bouche, then ragout of deer, spätzle and red cabbage etc (Sue) and red snapper with potatoes and cream sauce etc (M). Very tasty.

Today: 19 km, 1200 metres ascent
 
Today's pictures:
Leaving Biberacher Hütte
A view to the east
Göppinger Hütte
Field Gentians
Our current library (minus flower book)