The Austrian Alps!

Okay! Well, I think that this past leg of our trip has been by far the best experience for me yet while travelling. Apart from being a nature-lover, I just so enjoy being away from the business of the cities and enjoying the best part of Europe: God´s marvelous creation here. We ended up spending 5 nights in the Austrian Alps in a region called the Dachstein. We arrived in a small town called Schladming and stocked up on our groceries there before heading out.

The day of our first hike we got a late start (seems to be a common theme) and didnt get on the trail until about 16:00 or so. Knowing that we were going to be hiking a good part of the trail in the dark, we took our time hiking up 2000 feet to our first campspot. The night hiking was especially fun, but setting up camp next to another herd of cattle was less fun. We used our tent poles as makeshift cattle prods to get them to leave us alone... I still woke up the next morning with one huffing its snout right next to my face! By far the best part about that night other than eating our chili dinner was what we saw in the sky. Brian spotted it first, but on this clear cold night we witnessed first-hand the Northern Lights. I had no idea that they could be seen this far south, but I couldnt be more sure that that´s what we saw. They were dim, but distinctly fast green waves of particles moving through the air in repetitive patterns. It was absolutely gorgeous watching that under a clear sky with the occasional distant lightning lighting up the higher parts of the atmosphere.

The second day was super relaxing. We hiked about 1 km to a lake nearby and just napped and ate lunch. After destroying an ant nest that invaded our campsite, it started to rain, so we set up camp a bit from the lake. That night after making our first campfire, we sipped hot chocolate while watching the approaching thunderstorm. In about 1 hour the storm went from distant flashes to ones literally right over our heads. I have some incredible video footage of it all happening. 5 minutes after ducking into our tents, it rained harder than I´ve ever experienced while camping. Fun to be nice and dry inside the tent. Go REI!

Day 3: a long hike out to our next lake and up another 1500 feet or so. Almost got struck by lightning while going over a pass. No warning at all... lightning struck about 100 yards from us. We booked it to a cave and ate lunch in some shelter before heading down to the next beautiful lake. It rained the ENTIRE time we were there. So we journaled, read, and got really good at playing double solitaire. The rain seemed to follow us everywhere.

Day 4: More rain! We packed up the in rain and headed out to the Guttenberg-Haus, an alpine hut perched on a sweet hilltop overlooking the whole valley out towards Schladming. Hiking the ridgeline along the way was cold and wet with 50 mph winds and frequent rain. Fun to stay dry inside our raingear! Arriving at the Guttenberg Haus was probably the sweetest sight I have seen on this trip. Upon entering, we found out that rooms there were a mere 10 € per person per night for us youngsters and we sat inside the wood-paneled dining area sipping our hot drinks next to the wood-burning stove. What an experience! Great food, fun to attempt speaking German, and so cozy.

Day 5: For that price, why not stay another night!? A day hike to the Scheichenspitze, a nearby peak another 1500 feet up, occupied our day this day. Amazing views of the Hoher Dachstein (the highest peak in the area) and difficult hiking! We even got to hike along the ridgeline where some cables were attached to the side of the mountain. A ton of fun! This ridgeline trail goes all the way along to the Hoher Dachstein, but we were only able to do part of it without appropriate gear (dont worry mom).

Day 6: A great hike down the mountain. After setting up camp back in Schladming, we went swimming at a nearby pool which never felt so good. We even cooked a mexican meal that night with our campstoves. It was as mexican as it could get out here in Austria. :)

So now we are in Vienna, seeing the sights and enjoying meeting more travellers. We have only one more day here and then we are off to Venice, Italy for a few days. Following that we will head to Greece to check out the islands there. We spent the day yesterday here in Wien mostly touring one of the palaces here in the city. It was HUGE and had some beautiful gardens.

Well, sorry this is so long, but this was by far the most fun I´ve had so far on my journey, so I thought it might be fun to write it all out. I really had a great time meeting with the Lord while staying at the Guttenberghaus and enjoyed waking up early to sip my hot cocoa while reading Romans. The Lord is good and his lovingkindness is everlasting!

Hard to believe I have less than 3 weeks left here. I feel like in terms of seeing what I wanted to see and experiencing culture, this has been the perfect amount of time to spend here. But in the end, there´s no place like home, is there?

"For since the beginning of creation, God´s invisible attributes and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20

For His Renown...

Starting our hike into the alps!

Some really sweet mountain huts along the way!

One of our campsites in the alps - it rained the whole time we were here.

Arriving at the Guttenberghaus - a sweet sight!

The Guttenberg-Haus!

Eating a meal inside next to the woodburning stove. Ah!

A day hike with the Hoher Dachstein in the background.

Using cables to hike the ridgeline!

At the top of the Scheichenspitze - the highest altitude we reached!

Just before leaving the Guttenberg-Haus. So beautiful!

The bench just outside had an amazing view of the valley.

Ice cream in Vienna - a popular treat here.