Our Time on the Mountain

After arriving Friday afternoon at Tappenkarsee, we got a chance to swim in the lake and rest at the lodge.  Here is our Hütte up the hill from the lake.

We got to sit and watch the sun go down over the lake from the balcony of our lodge.

 

We also had a great dinner of authentic Austrian schnitzel prepared for us by the Innkeepers. 

It was a festive place and we all enjoyed playing games and cards during the evenings.

 

The next day we had a little fog for a while. We watched it creep across the valley, engulf the mountains and then dissipate.

 

On Saturday, most of us started off by climbing the mountain behind the lodge.  Once again we had to make way for cows as we headed towards the ridge.

Here you can see the valley that they will end up in (before being taken down to the flat lands even farther below this lake.)

 As we climbed higher, the lodge got smaller and smaller.

In the afternoon students set off on different trails, some seeking out the tallest peaks, some taking lower roads. I of course took the flattest, easiest road across the heath. The heath was actually quite colorful and beautiful and full of berries.

I encountered some students coming back from the really tall peaks.

Here are some of us on the deck of the lodge.

The owners made special Austrian dessert for us for our meals.

 

And of course there was beer.

These were my card partners on Saturday night.

 One of the students braided my hair for me. This may be the only close up you see of me on the blog.

 

Here's the gang all together as we got ready to hike back down the mountain and head for home.

 

So we headed back down the trail...

 ...went back by the beautiful scenery....

and followd the  water.

Once agan the fog rose breifly, but subsided.

It had been a wonderful excursion!  We hopped back in the bus and headed for home, ready to see what adventure we would get to have next.

Our Hike to Tappenkarsee - The Way Up

It is impossible to take a bad picture of the Austrian mountains, so I will try to refrain from filling the blog with endless pictures of scenery.  The bus met us at the dorms early.

The weather was fabulous and we got good views out the bus window of the Austrian landscape.

At one point we ran into a little fog, but it eventually lifted.

The bus let us off at a beautiful little lake, that would be the start of our trek up the mountain.

I don't have many pictures of the students on the way up, because they were so much more fit than this older woman, whom they pretty much left in the dust! ;-)

So you will have to make do with pictures of the  scenery.

Everywhere we looked were beautiful sights.

Woods, streams, waterfalls. We got to see it all.

 

We followed the stream up the mountain and had quite a rigorous climb.

It was the time of year when they were bringing the cows down the mountain, so they could spend the winter in a warmer place, so we would occasionally hear the cow bells and know that we needed to get out of the way.

The cows were certainly more sure-footed than I.

 

 Gradually the lake we started at receded into the distance and the view got higher.  Assistant director Pia kept me company at the back of the  group.

 

As we neared the top, the stream descended at a sharper angle forming a lovely waterfall.

 

In the back (center)  of the next picture you can see the lake we started off at. It seemed much larger when we were there!

 

Before we knew it, we had arrived at our goal, another lake - Tappenkarsee.

 

We hiked around the lake and up a little path to get to our Hütte (Hut - really more of a lodge) where we would spend the next few nights. 

Here we are just about to arrive at our destination.

The weather was beautiful, the air was fresh and we were  happy to have made it.