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Sep 3 - 7, 2001

These Boots Were Made For Walking

Alpine Long Distance Trail

Manfred P.

Keywords: Alps, Karnische Alpen, Peace Trail, Karnische Höhenweg, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

It is nearly a family tradition. Every year I try to do one hike or ascent in the Alps with my family, that is my brothers and my dad. The last years we did the highest mountains in the Austrian Alps, so instead of going "high" we wanted to go "far" this year. So instead of choosing a peak we selected as this year's destination a long distance trail called "Der Karnische Höhenweg". The area of the Austrian alps where it is located is called "Karnische Alpen" and that is where the first word comes from. The second word "Höhenweg" just means that it is a trail that follows the mountain ridge and stays up in a high altitude.

This long distance trail is south of the valley of the river Gail, and runs more or less in west-east direction. Along big portions it follows the Austrian-Italian border. The total length of this long distance trail is 96 miles (155km). It starts in the village of Arnbach-Bad Weitlanbrunn in the west and ends in Törl-Maglern in the east. This 96-mile trail is usually covered in 9 days, with walking distances between 4 and 9 hours every day. The trail runs through a scenic region with various geologically distinct mountain ranges. While our motto for this year was "far instead of high" we had no intention of walking the full trail of the "Karnische Höhenweg". That would be too far and also too time consuming. Instead of setting a distance limit, we decided on 5 days and basically planned on going as far as we would get in 5 days without any pressure.

Day 1

The first day was a bit stressful. The whole family was participating. That makes 3 brothers, my dad and me, 5 people in total. We squeezed all into one mid-sized car and with two hours of delay we headed south on the freeway. It took us about 5 hours of driving to get into the Gail Valley and to reach our planned starting point, a small village called Sillian. My dad is 81 years old and walks slowly. With the 2-hour delay the time was too tight to reach the mountain refuge before sunset. To make up for the lost time we looked for a mountain road that would get us closer to the refuge and we found one. We drove a good distance and also climbed in altitude. We couldn't leave the car here. It is a bad parking spot. But worse, we would also need to get the car again on our last day and as we would return on a different trail it was clearly the best to return the car to the village. Hence we split up into two groups. My dad and two brothers started walking and my third brother and myself drove back to the village.

From the village leaves a more scenic route to the mountain ridge that would meet the trail that our "vanguard" was on right at the refuge. Being given this option of a more scenic route my brother and I selected it. It climbed steeply and being an hour behind we had to make up time. So we walked real fast. I can't remember when I sweated so heavily last. Our backpacks were heavy as we carried food for 5 days. The weight, the steepness and the speed caused the sweat to run down my forehead in a stream. There was little time to appreciate the scenery. We walked nearly all the time in the shade of the forest, primarily pines. We crossed a few small streams with cold clear water and passed a couple of wooden cabins. The incline didn't stop until we actually reached the ridge on the border between Austria and Italy. Standing on the highest ridge for miles it was not surprising that the wind howled. My shirts were soaked in sweat and I had to stop to take them off. With the cold wind I would have frozen in the wet clothing. I completely undressed and put on a new T-shirt, new shirt and a sweater. In fresh clothing it was more pleasant to watch the last rays of the sun set over the Italian villages. Within minutes the sun was gone.

From here it was only a few more minutes to the refuge Sillianer Hütte (2,447m) (8,026 ft). We walked in and made sure they had a quarter for us five. We looked around to see if our "vanguard" is waiting already, but it looked like they weren't here yet. It would be dark in 20 minutes; so we decided to go to meet them. After 10 minutes the trail we had taken didn't quite match the map. We had taken the wrong trail. There was no choice we had to go back to the refuge and start again - this time on the right trail. Within minutes we met them and a few minutes after darkness we were sitting comfortably at the table in the warm refuge. We ordered beer and tea and unpacked the food we had brought. We had a large meal. Bread, sausages, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, etc. We ate a lot for two reasons: we deserved it and secondly this way we had less to carry tomorrow. There was a lot of room in the refuge. Just we and another couple occupied a room for 14 people. So we spread out to be comfortable and with 4 blankets it didn't even matter that it was freezing cold, that there was no heater and that the window was partially open.

Day 2

We were the last ones to get up. That also seems to be a tradition. We are nearly always the last ones to get up. But even as the last ones we get up early. They stop serving breakfast at 7:30 a.m. So at the very latest you want to sit at the breakfast table at 7:15. We ordered half a gallon of hot tea and some coffee. The breakfast was hearty with muesli, yogurt and fruits that we had carried up.

We left the refuge as the last team and right from the start the weather looked grim. Visibility was at 100 yards and fog and clouds swept by carried by a strong wind. At an altitude of 2,400 m (8,000 ft) we followed the ridge along the border. About an hour into the hike we came across a cemetery with 4 crosses. It is Austria's highest cemetery and a reminder of the horrible events during World War I. The date on the crosses was 1915 and all 4 died on the same day, in the first year of the Great War. As a reminder of the cruelty of war this long distance trail has also been officially named "The Trail of Peace" in the hope that we learn our lessons. Next to the cemetery is a small mountain lake, some 20 yards long. It looked dark, cold and on a day like this without sun, it looked uninviting too.

Later on we walked by many more signs of WWI. The ruins of cabins used by soldiers during the war, lots of barbed wire, and trenches. I couldn't believe that the barbed wire was still in such good shape. 86 years have passed by and the barbed wire was lying here on a mountaintop in rain and snow. I had expected that the barbed wire would have rusted and then crumbled into short pieces. But no, hundreds of yards of barbed wire were intact, rusty brown in color but fully intact. It gets you thinking.

It was about two hours into the walk when we took a rest and I realized that I had forgotten my hands-free cable of my mobile phone at the refuge. Not wanting to lose it, we split up again. I left my backpack behind on the trail and walked back while the rest of our team continued forward. Without backpack walking was a lot easier and faster. Up and down the ridge, passing by the cemetery and eventually I reached the refuge again. Someone had handed in the hands-free set, I put it into my pocket and headed back again without break. As soon as I left the refuge the sad weather turned worse. It started to rain and the visibility was further reduced. I was hiking maybe an hour and a half in the rain when I reached my backpack. By now the visibility was down to 30 yards.

I wasn't carrying a map with me, but I had memorized the trails. One ran along the ridge, always staying at a high elevation, and one went downhill to the north and lead to the second refuge, which was the agreed meeting point. What I did not remember were the numbers of the trails. The trail I was on was the well marked "Karnische Höhenweg". I thought this to be the trail that stays on the ridge. Hence, I was consistently looking for the fork in the trail where the second trail leads down to the refuge. Something didn't quite match. I was walking too long already. I should have reached the fork already, at least 30 minutes ago. Secondly the trail led slightly downhill which also didn't match with what I had memorized from the map. I got worried. If I had really missed the fork in the bad weather and low visibility then I was in an uncomfortable position. I was walking for a total of about 6 hours that day, and throughout the day I had met only 3 other hikers. It was nearly impossible to meet anyone else now to confirm my location. After so many hours of rain even my Goretex jacket didn't hold the water out anymore. Certainly my pants were sticking to my legs and fully soaked. My glasses were covered with raindrops and my face wet. Visibility was still getting worse. At this point I found a fork. It was a clear fork. The equally big trails went downhill on two different sides and there was no sign indicating the direction. Neither was there a painted sign on a rock as usual. I was standing in the rain and couldn't decide. My dad was using ski poles, so I thought I would look for ski pole impressions in the mud and soft soil. I found some and decided that this must have been the direction taken by my family. I followed and 30 minutes later appeared the refuge out of the fog like in a mystery movie.

Standing in front of the refuge I could also see that the refuge was right next to a large lake. That confirmed that I not only had reached some refuge, but that I had reached the correct refuge, the Obstansersee Hütte (2,304m) (7,557 ft). Now it also became clear why the memorized map didn't quite match the trail and I was so confused an hour ago. The well-marked long distance trail did not run along the ridge as I thought but was the trail leading down to the refuge. I simply made the wrong assumption about the numbering of the two trails.

I peeked inside the refuge and saw my family sit comfortably at the table with tea and drinks. It was mid-afternoon and we needed to come to an agreement of what we wanted to do. The weather could be as terrible the next day or even the next days. One vote was to walk down to the valley, walk back to the car and head home, but the majority wanted to spend the night here in the refuge and to decide tomorrow morning what we wanted to do. We had a lot of time now. It was still early, maybe 5 p.m. As soon as we decided to stay I got rid of all my clothing, as it was wet throughout. In new shorts and a dry T-shirt and sweater I was like newborn. We had the typical hearty dinner with chocolate and nuts as desert and watched through the window how the rainfall turned into snowfall.

Day 3

During the breakfast we stared at the snow covered mountains all around us. Everything above the refuge was under 2 or 3 inches of snow. But the sky was partially blue and best of all it was neither raining nor snowing. Since the weather was unstable we decided to spend another night in the same cabin. This way we could do short little hikes near the refuge and if the weather turns sour we could quickly take cover in the refuge.

Said, done. We booked for another night and then set out on a morning hike. Just above the lake is another cemetery. Maybe 10 crosses were behind the fence, all with dates from 1915. The trail led up to the ridge and the Austrian-Italian border. The wind was blowing strongly and was icily cold. Everything was perfect; we had good visibility, only few clouds high up, no rain, and no snowfall. The only drawback was that it was cold and windy. Having reached the border my Dad and I turned back and my three brothers continued to ascend the peak Pfannspitze.

While my brothers headed for the peak I descended towards the valley where on a side-trip an ice cave is reachable. At this time of the year there is hardly any ice in it. The cave is some 10 yards tall and a few hundred yards deep. Water is seeping from the ceiling and leaves the cave as a small waterfall, as the cave is situated in a rather vertical cliff.

In the afternoon we did another hike in the flat vicinity of the refuge to enjoy the scenery and the fresh air. It turned out to be a very nice day. In the late afternoon a group of 10 German women approached the refuge from the east. They apparently thought that the day is so nice that they took a bath in the lake. I couldn't believe my eyes at first. I was standing outside freezing and while shifting my weight from one foot to another as it was so cold, a handful of these women undressed and jumped into the lake with snow at the lakeshore. The water has about 41 F (5 degrees C). Not for money would I have jumped into the water. No thanks.

Day 4

Today was even better than yesterday. The visibility was equally good. One could see for dozens of miles and in comparison to yesterday it was sunny and a lot warmer. This was the weather we all had hoped for. The trail continued uphill to a different ridge, from there downhill to cross a small river next to an emergency refuge, and then uphill again to the next ridge. Here at 7,800 ft (2,400m) we found cow pastures with about 70 cows grazing. I am sure they give good Alpine milk.

At the peak overlooking the pass my brother discovered more former military WWI installations. Collapsed trenches and barbed wire amidst cow and goat shit. Just beyond the pass was another refuge, Filmoor-Standschützenhütte (2,406m) (7,892 ft). It served delicious meals, hot soup and hot sausages. We contemplated to pass the night here in this small cabin but my father preferred to continue on to the next cabin. It was late already, but we figured it would be all downhill so we would walk at a reasonable pace and make it to the following cabin just about when it got dark.

Not far from the refuge Filmoor-Standschützenhütte, is the highest peak of this section of the alps, Karnische Alpen. Being so close and given that my dad walks rather slowly, two of my brothers and I decided to quickly "do" this mountain and then later to catch up with my other brother and my dad. The ascent was through a steep field of loose boulders, then along a metal safety rope and finally the last two hundred yards through snow. The peak Großer Kinigat (8,820 ft) (2,689 m) is topped with a large cross with stars representing the unity of Europe arranged in a circle. It is called the Europe Cross, but now is also named the Peace Cross. The plaque on the Europe/Peace Cross reads "Never war again". And only hundreds of yards away, ammunition deposits and bunkers have been blasted into the mountain, and nearby lays a tiny wooden collapsed barrack, trenches and the ubiquitous barbed wire. The past is very present. The past is also very sad. This day I was thinking about war and death. Only 5 days later should the world experience the worst terror attack ever with more than 6,000 people dying in the collapsed World Trade Center in New York and the partially damaged Pentagon in Washington D.C. Have we learned anything in the last 86 years? The past is sad, and the present is not much better.

The trail was less downhill as expected and on a couple of instances we had to ascend again to minor passes. That led to the fact that we caught up with our other brother and our dad earlier than expected. At 6 p.m. we jointly stood at the last pass. The sun started to set; the valley in front of us was completely in the shade already. The views were excellent. At a 25-mile (40km) distance we could even see Austria's highest mountain Großglockner, which we had toured three years ago.

We could also see the refuge that we tried to reach. Not quite as far away as Großglockner, but still at some distance. It got darker a lot faster than we expected and before we knew it, it was dark. We had to walk now with two flashlights and only at 9:30 p.m. did we finally make it to the refuge Porzehütte (1,930m) (6,330 ft). We had to hurry with our dinner as at 10 p.m. they turn the light off at the refuge. It was the last dinner and we finished off as much of the food we had carried for days now.

Day 5

We formed again two groups. One was to head down to the valley to the village of Obertilliach to catch a bus and ride the 20 miles (30 km) back to Sillian. There they would pick up the car and come back and pick up the second group at a lake not too far down from the refuge. This would give the second group enough time to climb one more mountain peak, the peak closest to the refuge. The refuge actually carries the same name as the peak, and the peak is called Porze.

We climbed once again and now for the last time to the ridge at the Austrian-Italian border and to our surprise found that the trail to the peak was more difficult than usual and included some simple climbing. The safety ropes were immensely large. We crossed a vertical wall of about a mile length. When the metal safety ropes stopped I thought we are finally at the top, just to realize that we were still far away. Carefully and slowly we continued making sure not to make any mistakes. It was another gorgeous day and we were in no big hurry. At the peak was the traditional cross, and 6 feet below the cross the peak was hollowed out to make room for a bunker.

After some chocolate and candy we were on our way to continue our loop. In a chute we descended on metal safety ropes hundreds of yards in just 20 minutes. Thereafter it was an easy walk back to the refuge and then down to the lake, our meeting point. Since we were first we had time to relax, take off the backpack, take off the boots, air the socks and now it was my brother's turn to jump into the lake. This lake was equally freezing but at least the sun was shining. For me it was sufficient to wash my face and to stick my feet into the lake.

With good timing my dad and other brother showed up with the car only 15 minutes later and without further delay we started our 5-hour ride back. Once in the car the weather had turned sour again and for the next hours and days it didn't stop raining. This made us appreciate even more the luck we had with the weather on our yearly family excursion.

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