Mountain fun

On Saturday, Brad, Rachel, Owen, Ludo, Mark and I went to Schneeberg.  It's the highest mountain in the area surrounding Vienna, about 2000 metres high.  We arrived at Puchberg am Schneeberg at the bottom of the mountain around 11 AM.  We were planning to take the cog rail (called the "Salamander") up almost to the top, and then have lunch before hiking the top trails.  However, many other people had the same idea, quite possibly because it was 32 degrees at the bottom but a nice 22 at the top.  Result: the 11 AM train was full. So we staked out a few park benches in the village and had a picnic lunch while we waited.

Shortly before noon, we got in line to wait for our 12:00 train.  While we were waiting, someone spotted a rather disgusting man on a bench behind us.  He was excavating his ears for earwax using his car key - the entire key was jammed up his ear!  Of course, Mark promptly imitated him, reulting in this side-by-side picture collage:

OK, train arrived and up the mountain we went!  About mid-way, the train made a 5-minute stop.  The only reason I can think of for doing that is that that location had a canteen of sorts, and people got off the train to purchase a local specialty, a kind of loaf of bread filled with jam.

Once we got to the top of the rail, we had planned to do as much of the 3.5-hour trail that loops to the very top.  However, we only had about 2.5 hours, so the plan was to walk up for 60 minutes then turn around.  We started off with clouds drifting in front of us and around us, and then the sky seemed to clear.  We hiked quite slowly, mostly because of me and my uncooperative asthma.  My lungs eventually adapted, but it took a good hour, and even then I was huffing and puffing up the short inclines.  SO glad we decided not to walk up from the bottom!

Anyways, one hour later, we made a quick stop for a group photo and a short rest. We had a little chat with some cows on the way too. No lonely goatherds, though (lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo!)

And then we turned around, and saw the nasty black clouds that had been gathering behind us. Uh oh!

We increased our pace, hoping to get back to the station before all hell broke loose. But no luck: it started to rain a few drops... or so it seemed until we noticed the drops were bouncing off the ground.  Wait a minute: that's hail! Ow!

Small- to marble-sized hail pelted us for about 5 minutes, and then switched to tonrrential downpour, blasting us sideways.  And of course, no shelter on top of a mountain! Within another 5 minutes, we were soaked to the bone, or at least our front side was.  Funny thing: the rain was so horizontal that the back of our legs and our butts remained mostly dry.  At this point we stopped hurrying, because we were already as wet as we could possibly get.  And then, it rather suddenly stopped. 

We dripped our way slowly back, yodeling (of course!) and joking along the way. As we walked, we passed a couple of guys going up the trail.  We'd passed and greeted other hikers, but avoided looking at these two, because the genius on the left thought it'd be a good ides to hike in boots and white briefs.  What the h...?  When we got back to the station, the skies had cleared again, providing me with the perfect opportunity for before-and-after shots of a chapel: spooky clouds before the shower, cheerful (almost kitschy) afterwards.

We stopped in at the restaurant at the top station for another snack and a drink before going back down. Ludo noticed a plate by the door advertising another local dish, a Krapfen.  He ordered one, thinking a little puffed pastry would hit the spot. But then the waiter brought out this mountain of pastry, whipped cream and coulis, enough to feed a family of four!  Some of us felt obligateto help the poor guy out, and we forced down a few mouthfuls of the delectable stuff. :-)

One last thing: those hiking stick some of my friends were using? They are used here for 2 purposes:

1- Nordic walking.  This is an actual sport here, they even have competitions.  It was developed for cross-country skiers to train during the summer months. Normal people here (and I'm using "the word "normal" loosely here) will use them in the streets in town, I've even seen a few people inside malls with the sticks.  They look incredibly stupid, and besides, that's not what they were designed for.

2- Hiking.  Now this makes sense.  I tried them, and will definitely have to look into getting some if I do more hiking.  They are great stabilisers both up- and downhill. They also provide a tiny bit of extra push, giving your knees a bit of a break.

Happy trails to you!