Nordketten

Day 13 (out of order, I know)

After waiting and waiting for the skies to clear up in Innsbruck, Morgan and I finally used our Innsbruck card for one free Gondola round trip, despite the top of the cable being immersed in clouds. At the top (which was actually a funicular ride and two cable cars), we walked around a beautiful landscape while catching brief glimpses of the town thousands of meters below.



It was bitterly cold, but we walked up to the nearby summit, and then I scrambled up another while Morgan indulged my vanity...



At this point I had a decision to make: Go for the hike I had long desired, or throw in the towel due to bad weather. Those of you reading this probably know me well enough to guess what I decided. The last gondola would descend in two hours, so I decided to hike for 45 minutes and then come back, just to be safe.

Now my personal stayle of solo hiking is to pack late and go fast. I like to jog part of the time, and hike quickly the rest. Unfortunately, the sheer cliffs on either side of me (one up, one down), made this a rather unsafe thing to do. The clouds I was caught in didn't help my equilibrium one bit, and I often lost my balance when I got scooting along to quickly.



After 45 minutes, a pulled a U and headed back. There was one signpost I had passed that indicated a trail to the next Gondola down, but I wasn't able to find the trail. I passed a man headed in the oposite direction, and 5 minutes later saw him heading the same direction as me, on a trail two hundred meters lower. Thinking he was on the trail I had looked for in vain, I resolved to go back and look again. Mistake #1.



As I examined the lone signpost (more to the left in the above picture), I realized it was not firm in the ground, and could turn. Great. I found a sketchy trail that seemed to lead over the edge of the cliff (also on the left above), and decided to follow it. Mistake #2. It was steep, slippery, and overall sketchy. On top of that, 15 minutes later it began to absolutely pour. By now ill timed flash rain storms are becoming a theme of our trip.

I opted to continue down, hoping to catch the last gondola. As I got lower a was walking on grassy slopes, even more slippery. The locals did not seem the least concerned with my plight...



I made it the gondola safe and sound (thank goodness). Wet and disshevelled, I climbed onto the gondola and relayed my story to a Candian couple we had met earlier. A group of Indian tourists also took advantage of the opportunity to make me the subject of their home movies. Booyah.

I am ready to go where it's warm.

Burpee count: 11