Niedere Tauern, I am back!

We ended up fitting in two hikes, yesterday and the day before.

Yesterday’s hike led Steve and me to Moaralm and Moartörl. As expected, the Alm has packed up for winter, and surprisingly, we did not even meet a single other hiker. We did, however, see several workers operating heavy machinery for a new small hydropower station and other construction.

55 – 60% of power generated in Austria is from hydropower, and much of it does not come from the kinds of dams you see along the Colorado River, but adds up from many small run-of-the-river power stations. And apparently 9% of Austrian electricity demand (more than 50% of households) is covered by very small generating stations (http://www.kleinwasserkraft.at/wasserkraft). I do wonder how many households this baby can supply…At any rate, the echoing engine noises did not make for the most idyllic hike. But the views were still gorgeous.

This is the view from Moartörl, into the mountains surrounding Admont.

 Fall colors from the larches, a deciduous conifer:

For today’s hike, we raced the bad weather, from Edelrautehütte to beautiful Ochsenkar.

My mother calls this view: “At our home, in Canada.”. I have not been to Canada a whole lot. From what I have seen of the American landscapes, I think she is spot on when it comes to the beauty of it, but way off when it comes to the scale. This is maybe a miniature version of a Canadian landscape. Cute, easy to get to within a morning and no grizzly’s anywhere near. This is Steve and me on the bridge:

Steve and my father turned around soon after and my mother and I made a quick sprint to “Gefrorener See” (frozen lake), which was not exactly frozen, but not far from it, either. 

The tip of a finger was as far as I wanted to immerse myself in it, even though the Arizonan in me screamed: “It’s clear water! Jump in!”. The Arizonan in me also insisted on taking this picture:

 

By the time we turned back, the clouds had crept over the ridges. It was starting to snow when we arrived back at Edelrautehütte.

On a different note: Today I found that I can still drive a stick shift car. It’s quite a bit of fun on the mountain roads.