” Mutti, do you want to hike with me in the Hohen Tauern? It is absolutely beautiful here in the northern part of Carinthia”. For nearly a week, Anna-Sophie was already in this area and invited me to come and hike with her from cabin to cabin for four days.
We started our hike up the Dösner valley in the early afternoon. The weather was a bit overcast, but nice. On the way up to higher mountain valleys, we past a sawmill and other wooden cabins.
Old sawmill
Inside the sawmill
After walking for a while in silence and just looking, listening, and feeling, my haiku mind started to form words in order to capture the experience.
The sound of the rock
played by the falling water –
or is it my mind
Melted ice and snow
are flowing down the mountain –
music in the ear
We passed the last tall larch tree with an inscription and a crucifix. The timberline in this area is in about 6000 feet.
I loved how grass and moss seem to flow down the rocky slope like water
The path up to the Arthur von Schmid Haus, where we stayed overnight
The brightness and brilliance of flowers blooming in high altitude is always magical
When we reached the Arthur von Schmid Haus (an alpine cabin owned the the Austrian Alpenverein at an altitude of about 7000 feet), dark clouds already covered the sky. Everything in this cabin has to be transported by helicopter. We were astonished how much luxury we found. Our room was fantastic!
In the background of the Dösner Lake, you see a Block glacier consisting of ice and rocks, held together by Permafrost. The water of the lake is about 3 degree Celsius.
During the last couple of weeks, I did Wim Hof training, consisting of breathing, cold showers and an ice bath on the 10th day. Since I do not have an ice bath in Vienna, I was curious how I would feel in glacier water. It surprised me that I did not feel the cold and loved to swim in it.
