My Favourite Day

When I recently joined the Across Austria's Zillertal Alps trip, my favourite day was day 5, trekking between the Berliner Hut and to the Furtschaglhaus. This was because of the variety of the scenery we saw today and like most of my trip, we were blessed by good weather.

The trek starts like most of the other days with a decent in to the valley before climbing up over a ridge before descending to the next hut.

The guide pointed out where we would be going from the veranda of the hut. The way up looked interesting / impossible from a distance, but actually on the ground the path was obvious and well defined and marked in the usual European way with paint on the rocks.

As you look around you can really see where the glacier had been and the change in the size / type of vegetation which has grown since it has retreated.

The walk up starts a lush green ramp with great view back to the hut and our decent from the previous day. As you climb out of the valley you can see the landscape become more barren grassy at first and then rocky as we continue to head up.

Towards the top of the ascent the ascent the path take the route of a rocky ridge which narrows towards the summit, the way forwards is a little scrambley with the odd cable to pull on the way up, but never knife edge giving variety to the day.

Once on top of the Schonbichler Horn the view in every direction was magical, peaks, ridges, glaciers

After taking in the views you soon realise the next hut is way down in the valley below, just a speck in the valley.

The decent starts steeply but soon becomes gentler. As the path twists and turns past a mountain lake towards the historical Berliner Hut

What a great day!

My Favourite Hut

I love sleeping in huts, the opportunity to spend a comfortable night high in the mountains is always better than returning to a hotel down in the valley in my opinion.

For me, my favourite hut on this trip was the Kasseler Hut, which is the first hut on this trip. It had everything you need in a hut.

It was not the biggest hut on the trip, it was old with character and small enough for the guardian to come and say hello tell us stories and find out where we are going a great personal touch. I feel this gives the hut a good atmosphere.

The views from the terrace towards glaciers and the high mountains at the head of the valley in my opinion where stunning - a great place to realx and enjoy a well earned beer!

We slept in single bunk beds rather than an alpine dorm (a number of mattresses on a sleeping platform) which is always a bonus for a hut and to have a warm shower (even for a few euros extra) is worth every cent.