Dachsteined July 6 - 9, 2001 about our European road trip start, hotel Wenk, and fading Hippo.

	Novohradské hory from behind the curtain

	Passau

An extensive road trip was a necessary ingredient of our vacation. We are used to travel -- unplanned, whichever way we pick and wherever the roads go. Having packed our (finally!) dry laundry, we said goodbye to Sid's mom and went in the direction of Passau, Germany. Just like heroes of our favorite movie (Jízda - The Trip), we shunned highways, for that's where crooks and cops go, and so we used byways, for that's where we go.

Sid wanted to show me a famous historical bridge over Jihlava, which was part of the first railroad in Austrian-Hungarian Empire, but there's simply not much left of it there. Also, being an electrical engineer, my husband picked a scenic route - near Dukovany Nuclear Power Plant. We stopped for lunch in Jaroměřice. Don't ask me why, but my Hippo always finds a way to scent a good restaurant. This one was hiding behind the front of a pastry shop, but they served such yummy stuff like chicken liver baked in potato pancake dough or wild boar steaks.

	Looking out of our hotel window

	Hallstatt Lake

Crossing the border at Slavonice, the custom man had a quizzed look (it was my passing #6), but he let us go. A happy ride followed, along the border, only on the Austrian side. We thought we would make it to Passau by evening, but suddenly we both found ourselves tired of driving. Besides, I fondly remembered Novohradské hory (a nearby area on the Czech side of the hills) and lakes that are there... so we stopped in a town named Sandl and asked a hotel owner for hiking recommendations. Walking through nice quiet woods, we made it all the way to the actual border fence. The landscape looked, naturally, quite the same. We even found a lake, with peaty water, which is dark brown, yet clear, and leaves a slimy film on your skin. I know, it sounds disgusting, but it is very pleasant to touch and makes you feel good. You have to be smart not to wipe it off into a towel (or it will look like those clothes in commercials BEFORE applying a miraculous detergent) - the slime will get absorbed by your skin and disappears without trace. I must say, however, that the pond was almost shockingly refreshing - I managed to stay immersed only after summoning all my willpower . Our dinner was served in a garden, where we also had had a beer in the afternoon, very nice...

	Sid is trying to see if our dinner is getting ready down at our hotel in the valley

	This black mountain snail was merrily crossing a hiking trail. He did not at all try to hide in his shell, perhaps he wanted to be a star of our journal.

Radio announced storms, and it was awfully hot and muggy outdoors. We were hoping that we would meet those storms on our way to Passau, and get some relief. But we were out of luck. Passau, an ancient German city on Danube, sat heavily in the unmoving, hazy air - we heard that other pilgrims had had similar experience another time, I wonder if it is a typical Passau weather. I looked forward to see a famous confluence of three rivers, but in the end we had no energy for any wandering around, and although the down town is very pretty, we quickly left for MOUNTAINS.

Two years ago, Sid spent a few days at and around Hallstättersee (Hallstatt Lake), where I began, six years ago, my unforgettable two-day backpacking ascent to Dachstein -- it simply seemed fun to return to the "crime scene". The air at Attersee was still hot, and tourists were plentiful. Our destination, however, a small town named Obertraun at "our" lake was surprisingly deserted. On top of that, Sid recalled an out-of-sight hotel Wenk - a jewel. Wenk is a family business, the owner and waitress in one person was up from early morning till late evening, always in good mood. She had a room for us in no time, brushing off payments until we decide to leave.

	A trail from Krippenstein to Gjaidalm

	My husband on a crossroads

On our first day in the mountains, we went up on "Cripplestein", (the real name is Krippenstein). The funicular company gives you a discount (if you get there before 10 a.m. and if you stay at a local hotel); the ride consists of three segments: first ends in mid-slope, near the entrance to karstic caves, which Sid had seen before and did not find impressive (he claims that Moravian Karst is definitely better). The second segment ends on the actual top of Krippenstein, with a huge hotel and a restaurant - the destination of many "alpine sportsmen". The third cable section takes you downhill again to Gjaidalm plateau. Krippenstein is really a back side portion of the Dachstein range, and Gjaidalm is tucked between these two giants, like in a huge bowl.

Having reached Krippenstein, we picked one hiking trail ending on Gjaidalm and to a great surprise of all five other people that came with us on the cableway, we went out WALKING!!! I admit I had had a queasy feeling about our plan to conquer Alps in summertime. I imagined wading through thick crowds and paying alpine surcharges even for using a bathroom, and was scared. No way - surcharges don't seem to be the way Austrians do business, and crowds thinned with altitude exponentially. During our three-hour sightseeing round, we met altogether TWO tourists!!! Letting the cable take us back from Gjaidalm to Krippenstein, we ate lunch at an empty hotel restaurant. Our server explained: it was so deserted because the weather was bad (i.e. there were clouds in the sky, an ideal climate for hiking, by our reckoning: no heat, no rain). Then we dragged ourselves up to the real top of Krippenstein (a five minute walk uphill behind the hotel), where we finally saw some more people. Those were, of course, too civilized to wander around in the wilderness, and went to the top straight from the funicular, snapped a few pictures, and rushed back to the cable...

	A view from Krippenstein over Gjaidalm towards Dachstein (a sharp summit on the horizon)

	A view from Dachstein cableway - Mt. Plassen (1953 m = 6,420 ft)

It actually started to rain around four p.m., but we were back at our hotel by then. It got clearer while we ate our dinner, so we took a walk by the lake in the evening. And of course we left our cameras back in our room and there was a wonderful rainbow, over the whole valley and perfectly reflected in the lake to create a full ellipse. By the time we returned to the hotel, before I managed to run upstairs, and find the cameras, it was almost all gone. It seems that there are some impressions one is not meant to capture with technology.

Dachstein Glacier was our destination of the second day -- even there, you can get by cable, but from the other side of the whole mountain range, which means driving quite far, and long, thanks to some Danish motorhomes, who regardless of speed limits would never drive more than 50 mph.

In foggy memories of my former expedition, Dachstein consisted of a huge glacier, which we scaled up from down in the valley, while funicular tourists walked easily on a frozen "highway" in their highly polished shoes and bow ties. There were whole herds of them, then. I was somewhat uneasy imagining us heading somewhere in the midst of such crowd, but we wanted to go there and I know the view from top is breathtaking, even for a toughened mountaineer.

	Sid on Dachstein (well, about 600 feet below the top - all the rest was a climbing terrain we were not aiming for)

	Did I not tell you that the view from Dachstein is worth it?

Down at the cableway station, we were not sure at all if there was any sense going up. Cables disappeared in clouds, and so did we, eventually. There were almost no tourists with us in the car, but we had a company of a small unit of Austrian army.

It turned out to be a great idea -- we got up just in a moment when clouds separated, and let us gaze to the valley for the first time. But our shock came from something else - right across from the entrance to the funicular was a medium size billboard saying "I tady jsme s vámi. Česká pojišťovna." ("Even here, we're with you") An ad in Czech language in the middle of Austria!!!

Tourists rushed to the exit and grinned at us, for we were putting on sweaters, windbreakers, and hats. Outside, it was we who smiled, when they skated and stumbled in their low shoes on icy stairs. A young lady in a mini-skirt, showing naked legs, was gasping for air. I don't know what they were expecting - it was quite cold down at 2,500 ft, and we were lifted up 7,000 ft more.

	A romantic evening at the lake

	A typical Austrian landscape...

We still had our destination ahead of us -- using the lure of refreshments, I was determined to drag Sid out to a hike over the glacier, to a lodge under the top. I admit that I, too, was affected by the change in altitude, but it did not feel unpleasant -- like being a little drunk - lightheaded, out of focus. Yet Sid was quite miserable. Our walk to the cabin took a lot longer than the advertised 45 minutes, and my mental and physical energies depleted rapidly while encouraging a fading Hippo.

We ordered tea with lemon at the lodge - I remembered it from my previous visit, the famed ascent, when I used to consider it the best drink of my life. Hot. Sweet. Served in pints. Now, having had tea and a little rest, we were to cross the same distance back. While I had only little trouble, Sid was barely able to put one foot in front of the other, but I eventually managed to get him back to the cableway, sometimes begging, sometimes threatening.

I had to drive on our way back to the hotel, where I really started to worry -- the Hippo refused to eat dinner!!! To make long story shorter -- he got kidney infection on Dachstein (which we found only two days later) -- I guess I was rather lucky that he even finished walk on his own. The night was tense, packing Sid into wet towels and wondering if his fever got bad enough to call an ambulance, and how does one do that in Austria. The fever receded only when I decided that the few German words I know ("husband", "fever", and "help") would have to suffice to call a doctor.

Copyright © 2001-2005 by Carol & Sid Paral. All rights reserved.