It was 6:20. I just woke up and made myself ready. Ready for a day hike. At this point, I still had no idea of what I’m getting into.
As I stepped outside the mountain hut, my sister was waiting for me outside. She signed us up in the mountain book. In the column for profession, she wrote ‘Lebenskünstler’ eng: life artist or bon vivant. I smiled and thought, Yes, that’s what we are.
Not a sunrise-hike to the Schönberg
We put on our jackets and backpacks and started walking up the trail. It was still a little chilly in the morning, but the sun was just peeking out from behind the mountain peaks. Soon we took off our jackets. The climb wasn’t too steep, but steady.
The closer we came to the peak of the “Schönberg” (engl. Nice mountain) the steeper it got. This would be our first stop and our breakfast destination. The sign said 2 hours, but my sister thought we can do it in less time. Since we started at a pretty good pace.
Usually I need breakfast right away after waking up, but for cases like this I pack protein bars, which I enjoyed on the way. On the path, we saw two chamois crossing the path. Jumping over the rocky mountain terrain and enjoying the calmness of the early morning.
The morning sun covered the mountain slopes in a golden light. Not a soul was near us. Just us, the animals and nature. Austrian mountains and hiking activities became more popular during Covid. But in early mornings like this, it’s incredible to enjoy the tranquility of nature.
The way was longer than I excepted, and I was so happy when we finally reached the peak.
The view was clear. But all I had in mind was food. So we checked a place which was a little wind sheltered, with a view of the mountain hut where we started. Here we enjoyed our delicious breakfast of cookies, fruits, bread and tea.
After that refreshment, it was time for pictures. From the peak we could see the Traunsee, the Dachstein glacier and multiple other mountains. This 360° view was the first highlight of the hike.
Here we also met the first other hiker.
Facing my fear of heights in the Austrian Alps
As we walked to the next small peak, which was only 10 minutes walk, if even. I realised that we needed to hike down a steep ridge. Not the best circumstances for a person with a fear of heights. But luckily I had my personal certified mountain guide with me – my sister. And I knew from previous hikes that I could do it with her encouragement and help.
I tried not to think about my fear of heights or look at the steep terrain to the right and left of the path. Following my sister step by step, I took a deep breath.
I could feel my heart beating and began to pay more attention to my steps and my breathing.
The ridge path seemed long and in-between I needed a break to catch my breath. Although it was only a descent, it was exhausting because we both needed to pay more attention to each single step we took.
Finally, we made it off of these dangers mountain paths and we took another short break, where we discovered a huge snow rock. From afar, the view of a gorgeous lake, the Traunsee.
The fascinating landscape of the “Tote Gebirge” in Austria
The path splits here and we can go left to join another path (which would probably be more crowded) or we can take the right path that goes down in rocky and dry terrain. We continue on the right path.
The rocky terrain lead downwards. I enjoyed this path after the difficult ridge.
When I stopped for a moment to enjoy the scenery, I looked down and couldn’t believe my eyes. “Hey, is des Schnittlauch, Pia?” – “Hey, is that chives, Pia?” I called out to her in front of me. She turned around herself and found it as well. Wild chives. Something I never saw it in the mountains. My sister started to collect it.
At some point, the path turned, and we missed this point. We walked through densely overgrown mountain pines, looking for the red-white-red mark of the trail. It took us a little time to find it.
We came to the topically moon landscape of the Tote Gebirge (Death Mountainrange).
Huge flat stone surface, with grass bushes and pines in between. I was fascinated by the landscape and the vastness of it.
We didn’t meet many hikers on this trail. No wonder since the trail marks weren’t very clear, and we needed to pay more attention to the course of the path.
The sun got stronger and on our short break; I tried to hide in the shade of the pines. We were still above the forest line. A hiker overtook us on our break and we watched how he walked passed us, how his figure became smaller in the distance. My sister mentioned we can follow him with our eyes to know how the path goes. But it also seemed he had problems to find the trail.
We continued walking. It was hot, and the backpack was heavy, but the landscape was incredible and no people insight. We didn’t talk; we followed meditatively one step after another, appreciating the beauty of nature.
After a while, we reached a small clearing of mountain pines. In front of us was a straight expanse of rock, with fine, thin grass growing between the rocks. It looked like something out of another world. My sister crossed this small rocky area and realized that we had strayed from the path again. We were so distracted by this beautiful nature.
Hardest part of the hike
For a while, we walk off the trail and quickly find the marked path. That lead to the more occupied path. We left this little known path and join the trail where we met more hikers.
The path ascended. It was midday and the intensity of the sun increased. I hoped for a water spring, since I almost finished my water. The steep trail didn’t make it easier. It was mentally the hardest part of the hike. I was exhausted, hungry, thirsty and longing for shadow, a brise or clouds. Soon we decided to have a break and have some energy balls (balls with nuts and dates). I was laying down in the shadow of a mountain pine. I was so exhausted and could hardly move. We both enjoyed our refreshment, which gave us new energy.
My wish for clouds came true. After our break, the intensity of the sun weakened, and I felt much better. At this point, we still had no idea of the long stretch to Wildensee. Once we got past the uphill part, the trail continued up and down, but more downhill.
The landscape was once again incredible. We walk around slopes that lead to other mountain peaks and after a while the Rinnerkogel came insight.
Some years back we did a hike to Rinnerkogel, so we were a little familiar with this trail. Which was a very popular one. We saw the hikers at the peak of the Rinnerkogel from afar. It was pretty busy. All of sudden also the amount of people we encountered increased.
A long stretch to Wildensee
A day before we were planning this hike and talked about the possibly also include the peak of Rinnerkogel. Which at the end we didn’t do, since we just wanted to reach the Wildensee, to have a dip in the water and lunch.
It was a very long stretch downwards, through a very rocky terrain. We met other hikers, some ask us where we started and were really surprised at how long we have been on the hike. Our exhaustion level wasn’t that high (yet).
Hungry, we reached the Wildensee. We found a sheltered spot, took off our clothes and enjoyed a refreshing swim in the Austrian alpine lake.
Austrian Mountain hut delights
Not in particular well fed but strengthened, we continued our way after a short but strongly needed break. Half an hour later, we reached the Rinnerhut. My sister was hungry again. This hike was really demanding, and our packed lunch was clearly not enough. We order a big salad with beans and enjoyed big class of apple juice.
The last part of the hike stretched out to the endless. We meditatively hiked the steep path downwards with only the goal of arriving. It took much longer than we thought. The pebbles’ path was at some points slippery, so we had to give special attention to our steps.
I started to feel too extensive use of the hike in my legs, but I didn’t put much attention to it.
After half an eternity, we reached Offensee. The lake that was nestled in-between the mountains was a great way to finish the adventure and wash off the sweat of the hike.
It was a great hiking day. Spending time in the Austrian mountains is one of my favourite past times. And I hope I could give you a little taste of it.
Starting point: Parkplatz Schwarzenbach
End point: Parking Offensee
This route comes close to the one we did.
The Tote Gebirge is more or less in the middle of Austria. Not so far from Salzburg, the closest bigger city is probably Linz.
Make sure you have enough mountaineering experience or take a guide before going on an adventure like this.
[…] is hardly any elevation. To put things into perspective, I’m an Austrian girl. I grew up in the Alps, although I wasn’t always into hiking. For me, hiking means going uphill. Everything else is […]