In a despaired attempt to put and end to my misery, I suggested that we take a drive through the closest mountain pass -- a suggestion that my mother-in-law could not resist given her advanced addiction to benzene. And so, I loaded a small day pack with lunch, light rain gear, maps, guide books, compass, and we set out towards the Hochkönig range.
In all fairness Monika had tried in vane to take me out to the Hochkönig during previous trips. But with so many amazing mountains in the backyard yet to be explored, I was never before enthusiastic about driving out to the Hochkönig. As we drove closer to the the town of Hintertal (on our way east from Saalfelden) the views became unbelievable. I finally placed blame were it was sure to reside -- ``why you never brought me here before?'' I asked Monika in my typical know-it-all tone. Monika replied -- ``What are you talking about? This is the place you never wanted to come because the mountains were too small.'' As usual, I felt like a fool.
We parked the car off the Hintersattel (1293 m -- about 1.5 km east of the Birgkarhaus, 1375) and picked up the trail that leads towards the Stegmoosalm (1438 m). This trail, which is marked in the map but has no number, leads straight into the chasm that houses the Taghaube (2159 m -- on the left), the Hochkönig (strait ahead), and the Großer Bratschenkopf (2856 m - on the right).
The walk to the Stegmoosalm was very easy, only talking about half an hour
over a farmers gravel road. Along the way, I entertained myself scaring
Monika and Mama with cries for snakes (it turns out that this region is
famous among the locals for being home to a nasty poisonous snake, which
they claim can jump up to a meter high to bite its pray), and in turn,
they replied to my jokes with showers of road gravel. Actually, I did find
a small black snake along the way, but there was no convincing Monika and
Mama that this was not the infamous jumping snake.
The Stegmoosalm is a small, but beautiful shepherd's hut that sits on a tiny plateau at the mouth of the chasm. I could not describe the view from it, so I have included a picture collage at the bottom of this page. The present owners, an Austrian farmer and his Swiss wife, are extremely friendly and for a few shillings they will provide you with a soda to quench you thirst. They have tables on which you can improvise a picnic and a corral where they keep a few of the local Noriker horses.
After talking for a while with the owners, we said our Auf Wiedersehen's and hiked back to the car. The area is beautiful, and its climbing, as described in the local guide, is among the best in the region. I will be sure to come back to visit the Stegmoosalm and enjoy some of the limestone that the Hochkönig range has to offer.
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Pedro
I. Espina© 1997