Day 78 – 81
Day 78 – 81

Day 78 – 81

Km 2800 to km 2921, Landshuter Europa-hütte (Italy/Austria) to near Jezens (Austria).

For most of this section I followed an alternative high route.

Day 78

10/07/2022 – 37km

Lots of the trails today were hard (or at least harder than I’d anticipated). I think for this high-route alternate I’ll be reducing my distances even more. The last 5 or so kilometres of my path were perilously sheer, and often secured by cables. It was good fun, but tiring and slow going.

To balance all the hard work, I really pigged out in town (Brenner Pass, not really a town). As well as my resupply, I bought a lot of food to eat there and then outside the supermarket. Let me see if I can remember:

  • 1 Pizza bread
  • 1 Pack of blueberries
  • 1 ice cream sandwich
  • 6 profiteroles (with chocolate sauce
  • 1 pouch of puréed fruit
  • 750ml yoghurt drink

Also today was the first day in a long time that I saw no other hikers, and in the Alps no less.

Day 79

11/07/2022 – 28km

Something of an “easy” day today, doing only 28km and finishing at 4pm. Easy is somewhat relative as I still went over 4 passes, totalling more than 2500m.

The scenery was just gorgeous, with multiple glaciers.

To top it off, the hut I’m staying at (Dresdener Hütte) is really setting the bar high in terms of facilities. Hot water, electricity, a drying room, WiFi, only 6 people to a dorm room (and the beds are nice). And all for only €14.

Day 80

12/07/2022 – 36km

More beautiful alpine passes. Also lots of wildflower meadows.

I treated myself to lunch at a hut along the way; Käsespätzle, which I absolutely love. Non German/Swiss/Austrian readers might need to Google it.

I have also noticed that in Austria everyone wears boots in the mountains, compared with Slovenia and Italy where other people wearing trail runners aren’t at all uncommon.

Day 81

13/07/2022 – 34km

I lost my spoon today. I put it down after washing it to wash my pot then just packed up and left without it. I’m pretty bad when it comes to losing things, it really bothers me, but of course by the time I notice it’s too late to do anything about it. I went into a café and got a disposable fork to use for the time being. There are lots of sports stores in the Alps, so I should be able to find a suitable replacement soon.

I also took a slightly different way than the main route. I think the shortcut I took cut off about 10km, which I don’t mind so much as many of the alternate routes I’ve taken have added distance. It was a very nice way and passed by an amazing waterfall.

For those interested, from Schweinfurter Hütte I descended to Umhausen (which has good supermarkets for resupplying), then climbed up to rejoin the trail at Erlanger Hütte.

2 Comments

    1. Hey Bob, yes Käsespätzle is very filling and delicious. An ice cream sandwich is a block of ice cream sandwiched between two pieces of soft biscuit that by some chemical magic don’t just disintegrate. Perhaps they are an acquired taste.

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