The Großglockner High Alpine Road: Austria Part 4

Almost the highest point of the High Alpine Road

Today was one of the (many) highlights of the week for me, as we took the trip up the Goßglockner High Alpine Road. Rather than me trying to explain, it, this is taken from their website.

The mountain pass road with a total of 48 km and 36 turns leads deep into the centre of Austria’s largest national park with an area of 1,800 km² that extends across the provinces of Salzburg, Tyrol and Carinthia. The highest point of the mountain road is the Edelweissspitze located at just above 2,500 m. Several 3,000 m peaks open up to the wandering gaze, but the largest of them all is the Grossglockner. The striking mountain towers above the entire region at 3,798 m, and is at the same time the highest summit of the Alpine Republic.

At this point, and especially in relation to todays trip, I have to thank my brother in law Paul and his brother Mark, who drove us to all our destinations this week, as in addition to Paul picking us up and dropping us off at Salzburg for our outward and return journeys home. We're very grateful to them.

For a couple of days prior the website had been advising no cyclists or motorbikes, with cars and motorhomes requiring snow chains, but today it looked like 4 greens, as the snow continued to melt.

The entrance to the valley where the high alpine road begins

Turning into a valley just before Zell am See, the road meanders through the valley floor before starting to climb steeply. After a mile or two of climbing, we hit the first proper "bend" marked appropriately with a blue sign saying "Kehre 1". Only 35 to go. The views were truly staggering as we climbed higher through the hairpins. There was plenty of traffic, so the going was slow (also because of the massively steep drops off the side of the road), although we did get overtaken at one point by a twat in a Ferrari who was clearly hell bent in showing off. There were plenty of opportunities for stopping an admiring the glorious views.

At a couple of points there are tunnels in the mountains

Considering the altitude of the road, the environment it sits in and the amount of traffic it gets, the road was seriously well maintained and smooth. Where meltwater was running off across the road, there was a slight concern that it might have frozen into a thin sheet of ice, but luckily that wasn't the case.

Seriously gorgeous views!

The Gang

High up amongst the peaks

Finally, we reached the end of the road at a huge set of buildings, housing a massive car park, shops, restuarants and a visitor centre. It was very busy, but likely not as bad as it gets mid summer. We treated ourselves to the no obligatory coffee and a huge meringue/strudel type pudding, before having a wander. The view is dominated opposite by Großglockner, the 3,978m peak, the highest in Austria and the adjacent Pasterze glacier.

Grossglockner (the pointy peak centre) 3,978m
at the Pasterze glacier

However, what we all wanted to see, my wife in particular was a marmot, a large species of ground squirrel that lives high in the alps. And we weren't disappointed! A couple were roaming about just below the parking area, no doubt feeding of scraps that tourists might "accidentally" drop. But up behind the buildings as the terrain became more remote, we saw a couple sunning themselves on rocks. Difficult to capture on photos as I didn't have a long lens for my camera, but I'm pretty pleased with this one.

Its a Marmot!

The drive down was just as spectacular and we stopped off in another alm/restaurant, the Fuschertorl (well it would be rude not to), for another coffee. All the alms we experienced are rather unique, and this one was curious for its range of (in some cases rather badly) stuffed animals, including a rabbit or hare that had added bandages and was walking on it's hind legs with a crutch, some taxidermy chickens in a wooden cage plus the inevitable marmot!

I was rather sad to be leaving the highest mountains behind, but thankful that the weather had allowed us up there, and was suitably good that we were able to experience the fantastic views.

Just a note - You can't just drive in here - there's a cost (€38 for the car) unless you have a special pass for the area (a Sommercard), and there is a toll complex at the entrance to the valley proper.

All Austria photos available from Flickr (see link below)

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

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Zell am See and weird statues: Austria Part 3

After a couple of (fairly) energetic days - all of our party are over 60, and some 70, we opted for a quieter day. A quick 5 minute walk to the shops in Rauris for provisions, before a shortish drive out of the Rauris valley, and along the Salzach valley to the picturesque lakeside town of Zell am Zee which is also close to the small but well known ski resort of Kaprun. Here we parked up and had a gentle stroll around the lake to the town, where inevitably we stopped for coffee and cake. After shopping for some souvenirs it was back to the apartment for a quiet day.

Rauris - our apartment was on the far right of the photo

The main Street in Rauris

Rauris Town Hall, dating back a couple of centuries at least

Straw figures in Rauris - a common sight 
in villages and towns in the region

A building in Zell am See town centre

The lake at Zell am See. The town on the right

The next day we were back on the march. Driving a little further than Zell am See, we arrived at a small town (barely bigger than a village) called Hollersbach. Here we boarded the Panoramabahn cable care for the ride that takes you up 1,892m in about 12 minutes to a snip under 2,000m From here the views are truly panoramic, with 2,000m to 3,000m peaks in pretty much every direction from south towards Großglockner, the highest mountain in Austria at 3,978 (shrouded in clouds) to Kitzbuhel to the north.

The Panoramabhan cable car - Ronseal really

Views at 1,900m

Still some snow

As we were about 200m higher than we'd been so far, the snow was still in evidence, but it was also clear that it was starting the thaw, but there was enough around to be slightly excited about as we look around at the chocolate box views. A few of the more hardy (ok, fitter) of us walked further and higher from the top cable car station to the actual Panoramaalm right at the top. I find it incredulous that on top of these mountains there are fully functioning restaurants. The logistics and infrastructure to put these (many) alms in place and keep them running is fantastic. This one, popular with the "beautiful people" also sold 3 litre bottles of champagne and wine topping out at over €700 if you were so inclined. I stuck to beer.

Views from the cable car

We were heading to the building centre of pic
(for refreshments obviously)

After walking back down to the top station, we re-boarded the cable car for the trip back down the mountain, and then the drive back to Rauris. En route we passed through a small town called Mittersill, where this rather bizarre statue/fountain  was on a roundabout. I'm not sure exactly what it's meant to be representing, but it looks like a woman looking down at a man having a wee. Answers on a postcard please...

An "unusual" statue in Mittersill

All Austria photos available from Flickr (see link below)

Twitter: @Statto1927 

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/people/simon_hiscocks/ 

Instagram: simon_hiscocks