Austria
June 17 - July 14, 2009
June 27 - gampdenkogel
The weather forecast wasn't the greatest again so we decided to do one of the closer mountain peaks: Gampdenkogel. The hike was pretty steep but Samantha did really well. She decided she was going to beat mom up to the top and played 'questions' for most of the way up with Rubby. This game was for Sam to come up with a number of 'questions': "Question number 1: There are a lot of flowers. Question number 2: There are a lot of rocks. ..." Ok, so they weren't really questions, but the rambling kept her moving up the mountain so who were we to argue?!
Of course the further we got up the mountain, the more the clouds pulled in and it started to drizzle. It was also very cold and by the time we got to the top, small ice pellets were mixed in with the rain. We kept looking for the cross but it wasn't showing up and before we knew it we had arrived at the top. Then we realized that the cross was actually lying on the ground! It turns out that in the past week it had been hit by lightning and then a wind blew it over completely. Two guys joined us at the peak and they started taking the hardware off the cross. We chatted with them and they said that the cross would be replaced and there would probably be a mass or ceremony for the new cross in the future.
After the kids finished their snack we decided to head back down right away since Christopher's hands were freezing cold, but before we started our descent the guys helped us rescue the log book and stamp from under the cross. We were the last visitor's to sign the log book from the old Gampdenkogel cross.
We went down the other side of the mountain hoping it would be a little less steep than our ascent but it still took us quite a while to get down without slipping and sliding over the wet rocks. We found a couple of little black salamanders on the way down. At the bottom we made our way to the Kreuzjochlsee, a man made lake that acts as a reservoir for water which is used in the winter for snow making. After a quick snack we continued along the path back to the lift, passing our favourite mountain spring (the "Harlisangerbruendl") along the way.
Of course once we got back down to Westendorf the sun was shining brightly and it was quite warm. argh!
Weatherforecast: cloudy with rain
A view of Fleiding but we weren't going to the top of this one so we took the path around instead.
Cows! Christopher learned to say this word on the trip and he was overjoyed that he got so many chances to practice this new word.
Samantha liked the "cow water".
This way, or that way?
Stopping to admire the alpine roses.
The sign said 'up', so Rubby went up.
The view to Rettenstein (aka volcano mountain to Samantha), Brechhorn and Floch.
Sheep? Where are there sheep up here?
There's the sheep!
Yikes! There's still snow!
The view back to Guggenkoegele and Hohe Salve in the background.
The view across the Fleiding with the path we had taken around it.
The guys who came to dismantle the old cross. The one on the right is Sammer Sepp?.
The brooding clouds hanging in the mountains and snow patches on Rettenstein.
Soaked and muddy, Sam finds a little spot to rest and admire the roses.
Cause this little guy was in the way!
Look at all the water! It's like a lake overflowed up here!
Yup, there's the lake!
In case you haven't had enough exercise hiking to this point,
they were nice enough to make a fitness park up here!
Snack time! How many chocolates can Sam fit in her mouth at one time? ;-)
The Kreuzjochsee with the Anna Chapel on the hill in the background.
Butterwort... a plant that eats insects which it catches in its leaves.
Filling up our water bottles with fresh mountain spring water.
An orchid.
Cotton grass (or should we say 'bunny tail meadow'?)
Look its the aunt colony! Hi Barbara! Hi Laurie! Hi Doris! Hi Marilee! Hi Flo!
Bench! Sam looks a little tired.
Alpine flowers.
"Schusternagel" (translation: Shoemaker's nails). A type of gentian.
Cows, cows, cows!
A rainy wet day, but everyone is all smiles... we're on vacation!
a "cow martini".
Samantha was pretending to be a super smart cow that could figure out how to get through all the 'cow gates'.
"Skiing not allowed." yikes! They seem to mean it pretty seriously!
Christopher thinks we should head back to the patch of snow and try out the sled.
Sammy in the gondola... not much of a view today!
Christopher is turning into a little Tirolean boy!
And Sam enjoys her gummi worms as a treat for all her great hiking today.