A walk in the mountains

This post will be a little different, this is a story of a weekend walk, told through all the photos that I took.

Saturday 13:45 My challenge for today:

 A mountain named Grunten, at 1738m high it is called the gateway to the Alps. Not visible on this photo is the red/white striped monstrosity just shy of the top, that is my goal. The signpost tells me it takes 2.5hrs, I have that amount of time to get up and down, so here goes!

And we're off! The path quickly turns wild, I suspect I may have made a false turn.

 Why hello again Barbed Wire! My suspicions were quickly confirmed, the path was relocated about 10m to the left. (Also I turned my camera halfway through this picture, and quite liked the effect, especially as the barbed wire stayed in focus)

I was initially unsure as to my exact position on the mountain. I was aiming for a path that led very steeply uphill (and then come down a less-steep route) This Winterweg climbed extremely steeply, it's exactly the kind of path I wouldn't want to take in winter! En route I met several crazy people, some of whom thought running down a near-vertical path was a good idea, and even crazier people who thought cycling down was the best plan of action :-O!

 About an hour into the epic climb, I find this awesome view. At this point I contemplating turning round, having found a view, but decide to continue to at least the hut (located about 150m (height) shy of the TV station)

A paraglider appeared! They are common around these parts, but I still think they're photo worthy, even when time is tight.

Exiting the trees, a welcome sight greets me. It's not too far away after all! I'd not even reached the hut yet. The original plan of reaching the red thing was starting to gain traction again.

I reached the hut, but it was so busy that I would have felt like a loner if I'd sat down alone, so I decided to go with my original plan and peg it to the top. Before I continued though, a photo of (what I presume is) the beer lift that goes from this hut to the TV station. Genius bit of engineering

 Nearly there now, look at the fabulous view! 1.5/2.5hrs down, I should be turning round now, but what wonderful scenery. At this point I was above the tree line of Grunten, and was I warm! They have some balmy autumn weather here, I'm sure it was warmer on this day than any of the days we were doing the coast to coast.

TADA!! The TV Station, looking very similar to how it looks from afar. I have succeeded in reaching the point at which I can make a round trip, and take the alternative path down. 

 A better photo of the TV Station, as the last one made it look like I was a below it. Here I found the end of the beer lift.

 Views across to Tirol, so Beautiful! The camera does not adequately capture it.

 Here's another photo that does even less credit to the amazing landscape.

 Onwards! Along a ridge, pretty much the best type of path, views on both sides. At one point I was prancing along the path (which is obviously an entirely normal thing to do when you think no-one's watching) when I looked up to see someone standing in the middle of the path who had clearly seen all of my half-dancing trot downhill. He was waiting for his friend who I can only assume was pinkling in the trees, as I could hear him but not see him. Luckily they were going up hill and I was heading down, so we need never meet again!

 A view of the hut from an alternative view point. 2/2.5hrs down and I found a sign say 1.5hrs to Burgberg (approximately my destination) 'eep!' thought I, better get cracking. So off I trotted, carefully but quickly downhill, not forgetting to take in the ever disappearing view.

 Time for another photo of the beauties. 15minutes into my downhill trot, I found a sign saying 50mins to Burgberg. 15 minutes for a 40 minute walk, not bad thought I. Unfortunately there were signposts for every 5 minutes from then on, and I was walking at approximately the predicted speed until....

...the carpark! Apparently I had parked a little way away from Burgberg. 2hrs35minutes later I had reached my goal and come back again in one piece, with some fantastic views to remember. Next time I'll allow myself a bit more time for a more leisurely walk, but it is fun to try and beat the clock.

I realise on my original blog posts I used to include a song at the end. So for those who have made it thus far here is your treat: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvvZ1TEQRB8 One of my all time favourite songs, and topical for those in England right now. Stay safe in the storm! (The connection is wind - a little contrived, but hey any excuse to listen to Disney songs eh?)