Klagenfurt and Graz photos, and Stubai Alps trek description

I give up trying to figure out how to move pics in blogspot. Above is the Klagenfurt, Austria church

Above is a view of Klagenfurt, Austria

Klagenfurt taken from the church tower

Interior of a building in Klagenfurt, Austria

September 9:

From Vienna back to Innsbruck I decided to do a big loop around Austria, visiting for a few hours each the cities of Graz (Arnold's home town) and Klagenfurt, each had a medieval alt stadt part of town. It was 9.5 hours of traveling but I only used one day of my 5 day train pass and I saw a lot of Austria that I had not seen. The country is like Switzerland, very green and pastoral, with hills of green forests rising above. In the west are the alps which rise to rocky peaks, snow and glaciers.

In Graz I took a tram to the inner stadt, where there is big hill where they dug tunnels and caverns, so up to 50,000 people could seek refuge when the city was being bombed during WWII. I took an elevator up to the top to get a couple pics. There were very few tourists, the city is near the border of Slovenia. Compared to Vienna, this city had a gritty and working class feel, with beggars (like santa barbara). I bet this is the first time you have seen Graz pictures! Here they are, Graz, Austria:

I gave this guy one euro to take his picture.

The old town part of Graz still looks medieval

View of Graz
Graz from the top of the hill which has tunnels and caves to protect 50,000 residents from allied bombs during WWII

Klagenfurt was more cultured with another great medieval center of town. After a couple free espressos at the first class train lounge, I enjoyed the church tower, the town hall, the coat of arms hall. The train was late, so I missed a connection in Salzburg, arriving at the hostel in Innsbruck at midnight. Their breakfast included calf liver spread.

STUBAI ALPS TREK DESCRIPTION, SEE NEXT POST FOR PHOTOS:

Then I took a bus to Neustift to start the Stubai Hohenweg high mountain tour. I took the gondola up and walked about 4 miles, dropping 650' then climbing 2500' to the Innsbruckerhutte. It was beautiful scenery, up a green valley following a river, until the hut, where the landscape changed to brown and grey shattered rocks. It started to sprinkle and the hut was shrouded in fog and rain as I arrived, it cost only 9e = $12! Swiss huts cost twice that. Toilets, hot water, and a nice menu, I had tomato soup and made my own salad I brought. All served by pretty Austrian girls in local dresses. I took 2.5 hours to do the 3.5 hour hike, 28% faster than the sign! Unfortunately, that is the most i beat the sign by, it it not too smart to rush on rocky terrain as you will soon read. The dumbest thing I did to save weight was to cut my toothbrush handle off - now I have to stick my fingers in my mouth to brush my teeth. Lame! There were 2 snorers in my room so I slept in the hall. Again. Why do so many people snore, or, why can other people sleep through it and I cant?

Day 2 I hiked 2 stages, over 9 hours. By lunch I had climbed 2850 feet and dropped 2700 feet on a technical trail of mud, goat poop and shattered rock (scree). The rain had stopped and it was a sunny day, but the rocks in the morning were icy and I slipped twice. It was rocky and not very pretty. At 2PM I left the lunch hut (Bremerhut) and had a 1200 foot climb to a ridge - dont Austrians believe in switchbacks? There were fixed cables to help pull you up the steep parts, and then there was snow and more fixed cables to help get down to the Nurnberger Hutte. Today's total was 4250 feet up and 4580 feet down, and I was pretty tired! This hut was also pleasant, with free hot showers, a $13 fee for the night, I had 2 choices for rooms, I interviewed the occupants first, asking if they snored, then picked the room. Unfortunately today I sprained my ankle, more of a tweak, about a 3 out of 10, but I could feel it.

Day 3 was 3440 feet up and down. I had a long conversation with my legs (you have a lot of time to think when you walk for hours) and they told me to take the longer flatter way instead of the trail straight up the ridge. There was no need to rush today, I paused at the Grunersee, a beautiful blue green glacial lake, and made my own soup at the Sulzenauhutte. It was mostly walking on shattered rock again, there is no green nor shade at this altitude. Each step was on non-steady rocks, and sure enough, one gave way and I fell over, letting out a scream, hurting my ankle again and cutting my hand so it bled down my wrist. I limped to the Dresdnerhutte, in the middle of a ski area, with a gondola down. These huts had klettersteigs, and you could rent the harness for only $6 ($20 in Switzerland). The hut was more like a hotel, again only $13 with hot showers, internet access, and great apple strudel. That night it snowed and was snowing in the morning, so it was not a difficult decision to go down back to Innsbruck.

Innsbruck has an alt stadt with a golden roof as its main focal point. I found Nepomuk hostel right in the medieval part of town which was fun. In general these Stubai alps, and the Austrian alps in general, are not as pretty as Switzerland, its a harsh landscape above treeline with no shade, no green, barren and difficult walking. So, I think I'll cut short my plan for the Lech area huts and head to Chur, Switzerland, to catch the Glacier Express train to Brig and then Chamonix.

I did go to Lech and found a bus to a lake with a half hour walk to a great hut, the Ravensburgerhutte. Unfortunately, my ankle was hurting though the green scenery was fantastic. I took the bus back down rather than walk back to Lech. I took the train to Chur and bought an ankle wrap. I think it will be OK during the upcoming 10 daytour du mont blanc...