After a good night sleep and a good breakfast at Posthotel Mayrhofen, we started our drive to Narurparkhaus Ginzling. We parked our car there free of charge (opposite side of road) and took the bus (4102) to Schlegeis Stausee. The ride on itself provides us with nice views of the rugged landscape, and we felt excited to get started. The bus tickets cost about ~€7, and the best thing about it was that the bus moved across the traffic jam which was in front of the tollgate and one-way tunnel.
Once we arrived at the dam we started hiking towards the Furtschaglhaus. The scenery is breathtaking, we saw the typical cows (including bells) and the whole scenery was very idyllic. Don’t forget, if the sun is out, apply some sun-cream as you’ll burn easily! 😉
It started off with an easy part. Before we moved onto the harder part (going up) we decided to have a lunch first. We sat down near the stream and cooked some water for our freeze dried food-packets. Salmon pasta was on the menu! To save some drinkable water I also took some water from the stream to make a cup of espresso. The water from the streams is generally drinkable and this time I cooked it first. Once we were done it felt like a block of concrete was residing in our stomachs.
Then the ascend commenced. The way up was quite steep and we paused sometimes in between to catch our breath. We all carried packs weighing between 13 to 15.5 KG (which later we learned is not normal and not recommend). That + the steep way up proved to be a challenge. Probably one of many to come. Once we arrived at the Furtschlaghaus we chilled out, had some beers, and some nice food. For 6 beers, 3 kaiserschmarn main corses and breakfast (we picked small option) we paid ~€74.
To my surprise today we only climbed about 510 meters… Which was nothing! But for a not-super-well-trained Dutch guy (everything is flat!), it proved to be a challenge. In total we walked 7.96 KM (including the climb). It took us about 3 hours including pausing for lunch and photos. Getting to the hut felt great and we looked forward to the next day.
Bedtime! Around 21:30 we were in our sleeping bags. My heart rate was very (sky) high until about 23:30… And during the night I woke up several times as my arms were asleep/numb. Not the best and most sleep I had and I also woke up fully at 6:30. During the night the temperature dropped very fast. My head was near the window so I was happy to have a mummy type sleeping bag.
Practical stuff
- A 3 minute shower will cost you €4.
- Try and arrive early in the afternoon so you have enough time to chill, and shower without there being a queue + enough space to hang up your stuff in the dry-room
- Also reserve a table for diner in the room with the big windows. They have a great view.
- We tapped water and it was OK
- Don’t eat a too heavy lunch
- Enjoy the views ;), walking up a steep hill made me look to the floor a lot, therefore take time to look around from time to time. It’s not a race after all.