A more relaxed Austrian meet

by Ruth Beach

This was a very well organised holiday in the Montafon area of western Austria. Diana Rayner had arranged for us to stay at the Gastehaus llishof in the village of Tschagguns.

There were several eating places close by and the Spar was only just down the road so all very convenient. Tschagguns proved to be an extremely good base with an efficient train going up and down the valley from Bludenz and then two very good lifts taking us high into the mountains, so we could start our walks high up.

I arrived a day earlier as the flights from Manchester to Innsbruck only go on Saturdays. I stayed at a hotel in Bludenz and had a fantastic walk up to the Frassenhutte from the top of the Madeisakopf lift. The weather was amazing, with spectacular views and the wildflowers making a perfect Austrian walk. When I can no longer walk in Austria, I will often look at my flower pictures, which have always been a great highlight to me.

The next day, when the rest of the party had arrived, we went up the lift to Galm at 1890m. Some members of the party went to the Lindauer Hutte, while the rest took an interesting route down to the middle station, passing some posters and water features designed to interest children. I spent the afternoon in the very large outdoor swimming pool just 20 minutes from Tschagguns.

The following day we all headed up the Hochjoch Bahn from Schruns. Part of the party only went to the middle station and had a pleasant walk down to Schruns. Some headed straight up to the Wormser Hutte taking in a small peak, while I took an easier route round through a ski tunnel then up to the hut. The higher I got the more wildflowers I saw; just past the hut the pasque flowers and gentians etc were amazing. It was a very easy route down as there was a chair lift running which took me back to the top of the main lift. When I was having a rest in the town, I had a phone call to say that the rest of the party were in a very good cafe selling excellent coffee, cakes and ice cream, so it did not take me long to get there.

I was delighted when the party decided to go on the train and bus round to the Brand Valley as I had been there when I was pregnant 35 years ago! Then it was up another lift to the Lunersee, where we were speechless with the magnificent view of the lake. We all got up to the Totalphutte (2385m), but the weather was not good enough for those that fancied attempting Schesaplana (2964m).

The next day Janet and I decided that we wanted to make it to the Lindauer Hutte, so it was back up the lift to Galm. It was a perfect day for the walk with beautiful flowers, particularly the orchids. The views from the hut of the Drei Turme were amazing. Unfortunately, we did not have time to really explore the botanical gardens at the hut but what we saw was very interesting, with all the named species.

On our last walking day the weather was not so good, so we all took a varied route up to the lake at Latschau, and after a coffee we took the bus back. I had hoped for another swim, but they had decided the weather was not good enough to open the pool, so I walked into Schruns to find some of the females of the party exploring the shops. Yes, this is not the usual holiday described in the newsletter but for those of us past climbing the higher peaks it was an excellent trip.

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