Grossglockner

Our next Alpine goal was the Grossglockner, Austria's big mountain, in the Hoch Tauern and the Tauern National Park there. We drove to Heiligenblut and stayed there in the same campground we stayed at with Rachel and Rebecca in 1989. Heiligenblut has not changed a lot. It was still raining, as in 1989, torrents, with very dim prospects of actually seeing the mountain the next day. We never really saw it in 1989. I do not know what micro-climatic feature makes this mountain and its weather so nasty.

Up on the Hohenalpenstrasse, the high alpine road, part of

which shoots over to the Grossglockner; looking back 
toward Heiligenblut

The Kaiser Franz Josef high place--visitor center,

restaurants, cafes, a 5-story parking garage

Us at the RV parking lot; the weather steadily improved for

a couple hours

The Grossglockner's major glacier, one of the largest in

the Alps

And, finally, a good look at the summit

I took one of the trails, the Gambrubeweg, I think, which

went through six tunnels before emerging on the side of

the adjacent mountain, the Fuchserl, I think; this is a water

chime...drops of water from above create a random sort of

melody

Complete view of the glacer and the summit, and also the

wand; although only 12,000 feet or so, it's a serious

mountain

After an hour's walk, I was rewarded with this display on

the birth of the Austrian National Park system, due to a 
man named Albert Wirth, who visited Yellowstone (the first

national park) in 1899 and came back to Austria with a

dream; he is pictured with John Muir; damn, I was proud...

Love the signage

Ditto

Click to enlarge and see people on the glacier below...

probably not very smart people

Anyhow, we finally got to see the Grossglockner. Did I mention that the temperatures were in the high 30s and it was snowing the whole time we were up there. What happened to summer?!

We drove on, through nearly the worst white-out I have seen, and then through more torrential rain, into the Salzkammergut, and stopped at an aire near Bad Aussee. G'day, mate!

Strada della Dolomiti, parto secundo

From our aire, the next morning, after a walk, we drove on through Cortina and then back north, leisurely, in the direction of Austria.

A walk near the clouds

Distant crags

And not so distant

Features almost like the American southwest

And more like the Alps

A popular hiking valley in the national park

It turned into a cloudy day, but no less exhiliarating

More clouds moving in

Italian Park Rangers, enforcement-types (note side-arms)

This whole part of Italy was earlier part of the Austrian

empire--till 1919--Mussolini did his best to Italianize the

place, but it is still bilingual...the rangers above spoke

German

Strada della Dolomiti

Italy owns parts of the Alps' greatest mountains, Monte Bianco, Monte Rosa, Monte Cervino, all in the northwest. In the northeast are the Dolomites: generally lower, not glaciated, formed more by wind and rain than other things. They are extremely picturesque, however, something no mountain aesthete could pass up. From the Brenner Pass we drove on to Bolzano, a nice-enough looking small city, but with no obvious parking for RVs, so we headed straight-on, up ever-climbing roads, generally east, to the Strada della Dolomiti, which we followed a good number of miles. It was serious mountain driving, however.

Peaks and crags everywhere, much limestone

In a small town

Tower on a larger mini-massif

And other features too

Back down in a valley, before heading up to Cortina

I am not sure whether it is boasting or serious road

information, but they number the hair-pin turns on these

roads

The road to the Pass Giua had 28 such hair-pins; the roads

are good, however, nice and wide; no tour busses up here

We found an aire, of sorts, just beyond this peak, and

stopped for the night

Other views in the vicinity

Parked at our "aire"

Table with a view: tomatoes and mozzarella and veal

piccata

The view

Brenner Pass

After Zugspitze, we took the Brenner Pass back down into (very nearby) Italy, to see the Dolomite Alps

Our campsite, a Tyrolean lay-by, en route to Brenner Pass

Mountains on the Brenner Pass

The Pass is littered with old fortresses, to guard the pass,

and to charge tolls...nowadays, a mere 8 euros

Another

Descent of Zugspitze

Alas, as on Pilatus, part of the deal was walking the long trail down, this time nearly 6,000 feet, into Germany, then across a pass, and another, into Austria, and Ehrwald, and back to the campground where we had parked

Rugged little flowers in the glacial moraine

The trail signage was minimal...for the longest time I did

not know whether I was walking down into Germany or

across over into Austria

Looking back up to the summit area

Sheep eating snow

Finally, the Munich Alpine Club's Knorrhutte, where I

had lunch

And saw a sign

And a couple of sumo climbers

And some German bathroom humor

A last look toward the summit

The German/Austrian border, at 7,000 feet

Trail down the Austrian side, more

iron-mongery

More of the Austrian side

And a last cable-car to the bus, and to the campground,

weary...