Still trudging upwards as the storm approaches Bruck an der Mur.
We resigned ourselves to not hiking today. We tried hard but could not find the trailhead although we did see a few mountains—not the same thing. We try to persevere because as we have said many times, the harder we try, the more success we enjoy, not to forget the odd pain or two that accompanies the effort. It was going to be one of those days. We had slept most of the previous day, a day planned for an opening hike. However, surfacing at 3 in the afternoon and walking around the apartment dazed does not augur well for a drive to the unknown to walk up-and-down a mountain. Obviously, we were tired. Little sleep on Monday night before the trip, none the following evening on a plane as we flew east will do that to one or, in our case, to two. Instead we went shopping at the Spar supermarket in the late afternoon. We always go to a Spar (if available) when in Europe as it is a nostalgic opportunity reminding us of our South Africa years. Talking of the Spar, we stood near the ATM and watched a local make a cash withdrawal. Interesting. Although we were tired, it did look odd to watch the fellow put his credit card back in his wallet and leave the cash in the machine for us—what a generous guy. Nevertheless, Jen made sure he got his money.
A telephoto of the city as a storm begins to move in.
Editor stops for brunch, the other partner hunts for meat (and potatoes) or is it yoghurt and fruit? (What a whet!)
An idyllic setting nestled high on the mountain taken from the top with a telephoto; perhaps not for everyone though.
Let’s get back to the hike. We left Graz and headed for the tourist office in Bruck an der Mur. We were looking to collect some maps and hiking guides. Our GPS narrator told us we had arrived when we reached a McDonald. It’s incredible that she knows when we need tea or coffee but struggles to direct us to the intended location. We believe she hates hiking trails and will do anything to mislead us. Anyway, we parked and went into an office and asked a young lady, (Sprekken Anglais?) if she knew where the tourist office was. Turned out it was next door but superbly hidden and without any indication of what it was. We found this most ‘unGerman’. Another pleasant young woman gave us what we sought but printed in German. We returned to McD, tea-for-two and to undertake research. Armed with new-found information, we proceeded to get lost, returned and got lost again. We found two elderly Austrian men who spoke less English than we speak German. However, we thought we heard “left, under, left and left.” We did not have anything better to do so we did just that although I nearly missed the third left. The editor was sharp (for a change). We eventually found ourselves on a mountain road, traveling through deep forests and getting nowhere near a trailhead. We had spotted a sign identifying the mountain peak which was most encouraging. At that stage, I suppose, had they pointed to Mount Everest we probably would have been equally encouraged.
We're moving toward the storm, but quite low by this stage, although it has commenced raining and the lightning is consistent but not too close.
"The House on the Hill". Bleak and about to bear the full brunt of the storm as we begin to trot toward our car but not before taking just one more picture.
“We need a walk, some exercise,” we both uttered simultaneously. So we parked the car on the side of the road when we found a suitable spot which took at least another mile of travel. We put on boots, hoped the car would be safe and out the way, and began to walk. After 30 minutes of steep ascent, we arrived at a trailhead. Aha! We knew it all the time—we just wanted to tease you. From there we followed the trail and enjoyed a wonderful hike to the peak. It was a stiff climb. When we add the additional distance to the actual hike statistics, we gained more than 3,000 feet over a relatively short period. For our return, we cooled down nicely in rain while listening to ever-increasing, melodious sounds of thunder. Usually, Jenni's 'favorite' occasions. All-in-all, a wonderful finish to the hiking day.
Some delightful color from 'down the road' in Croatia, … Plitvicka Lakes.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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