23rd August 2011

Today we caught the bus along the valley and then the chair lift up to the Alpin Centre, the lower station of the Kitzsteinhorn cable way. The Alpin Centre is at an altitude of about 2400m and the start of our hike down to Krefelder Hutte, along a ridge trail called the Alexander Enzingerweg down about 900m to the Maiskogel Chair lift for the ride down to Kaprun. The trail was relatively easy with no major ascents  but was quite steep on the descent to Maiskogel.

    The peak at the back of the Alpin Centre is the Kitzsteinhorn which is at an altitude of about 3300m. The glacier is obscured in this photo. Year round skiing etc..

                                          Our first glimpse of the ridge that the trail follows.

                              Time for a break and what could be better than in this incredible landscape.

                                                        Looking back on the ridge trail.

Looking down into the valley, you can just make out the dam wall of the Wasserfallboden Dam. It is the lower of  2 dams. The other is the Mooserboden Dam and is the venue for tomorrow's hike.

At last, after over 4 hours of hiking, we have reached the Maiskogel chair lift to find these little guys walking on the road. What a tremendous hike with outstanding views the whole way.

22nd August 2011

We have a free gust card from our accommodation and we get lots of things free. The bus is free, all the cable cars are free, the trip up the valley to the reservoirs is free and also a free boat cruise on Zell am See. So that is what we opted to do today, the boat cruise and a look around Zell.

The peak in the background features in most postcards in this area. It is the Kitzsteinhorn and stands at 3203m.. Tomorrow our hike starts at the bottom of the glacier below the Kitzsteinhorn. The peak to the left of the Kitzsteinhorn, and  appearing to be a lot lower, is the Grossglockner, standing at 3797m and the highest mountain in Austria

Looking up to the Schmittenhohe chair lift station where we started our music hike yesterday.

There are some very classy joints here in Zell. The family Porsche ( the famous car manufacturing family) holiday in Zell.

21st August 2011

Today it was off on a short hike up to one of the mountain areas above the town of  Zell am See, about 10kms away from our apartment at Kaprun. We took the Schmittenhohe chair lift up, walked along a ridge and took another lift down again, all to the accompaniment of 2 Austrian musicians. The views were great but the weather is still in the mid-thirties here, so hiking unless really high up is not too pleasant. But we enjoyed the musical experience and the views.

The valley in the middle of the mountains in the background, is where Kaprun and our apartment are situated.

Our 2 musicians. She plays the horn and has a bag full of bells that she plays. He plays the horn and the piano accordian.

Looking down over Zell am See. It is hard to believe that it is mid thirties at the moment  but in a few months, the see could very well be frozen over and full of ice skaters.

                                    One of the non-threatening wildlife that we came across on our walk

                                                                             And another.

                                                           On our way down on the cable way