Well we could have stayed another day at Wurtemberger Haus. Apart from sore legs and blisters it was raining. But no, in the firm belief that things will get better, we set out on another extreme day which went totally off plan.
After a difficult ascent to our highest point so far we were enveloped in cloud and rain. Vertical drop-offs, narrow crumbling ledges and all the things I really love (not). Apparently the views would have been spectacular but fortunately I could not see any of that otherwise I might have never made it. The clouds hid the scary bits, the rain drove us on but when thunder and lightning arrived we scrambled under the nearest small rock and huddled there for about half an hour lest we got zapped. Black gekko-like creatures seemed to like it however and were mating all over. Furthest thing from my mind.
The route followed the ridge of the mountain at ~2600m altitude. Problem arose when we finally started to descend. The GPS lost its downloaded map during a battery change, the paper map was packed away out of the rain, and the hut sign at the next junction was missing. So we followed our noses.
After a knee-wrecking descent of nearly 1000m with a hut in sight that actually wasn’t, we realised our mistake. Lunched in the drizzle with the invaluable solid-fuel cooker and re-evaluated our options.
The decision was made. 3 hours of steep uphill, or descend completely to civilisation (also 3 hours). It was the latter because Guy’s knee had packed in so he was hobbling with a stick. At least I’m not the only one now. En-route came across a remote and totally inaccessible farmhouse which provided us with land jäger, bread coffee & beer.
The remaining descent to town of Zams through a incredibly deep gorge seemed to take forever.
Arrived around 8pm, found a very nice Gastehaus run by an elderly lady who was even prepared to take on our stinky washing. Boys got off lightly there! Late night pizza and a comfy bed. Everything aches – at least that is not just an age thing….
