30-Jun-2024, A dream come true! Well, it’s not my first time in Tirol nor is it my first time climbing (obviously), but hiking and climbing is always a dream coming true, no matter how often I do it. My job brings me to Tirol, a large and beautiful mountainous area, in Austria. It’s summer and I have the weekend off… what else can I wish for?

The trail that I found is divided into 33 stages and I plan to do stage #1 and then some. It is recommended to hike to Gaudeamushütte for intermediate hikers and for the more experienced hikers, with a bit more stamina, they can go further for an extra 1,5 hour walk up to Gruttenhütte. I already know what I am doing! I am an intermediate hiker, if not more! So to the Gruttenhütte it is! Bare in mind I also need to walk all the way back the same way because I only have one day to do this; it will be double the fun.

Because I do need to walk back I skip the first five (flat kilometers), to save a bit of time and energy. The first stage is 13 km long (estimated for a 5 hour walk), with an elevation of 1060 meters. This sounds like the challenge I am looking for. I also find out there is a via ferrata route from Gaudeamushütte to the Gruttenhütte. This is even better! I can do hiking and climbing on the same day. The via ferrata route, Klamml starts at an altitude of 1490 meter and exits at 1580. The climb is only 100 meters, it’s a relatively short climb but with some challenging parts (D-category; for intermediate to experienced hikers). With the highlight being a 12 meter long rope bridge to travers from one side to the other. I know it will be a challenging day but I am also very excited. I have most of the gear with me but I am missing a helmet. It’s easy to find a place to rent this stuff, but also dangerous for my wallet. I like outdoor shops and I couldn’t resist buying a new pair of all round shoes (hike and climb). Although I still have good ones… I was looking for even better ones, I think I have found them :D. And while I was at it, I got a new shirt as well.

The alarm goes off at 5 am to start bright and early. It’s a ten minute drive to the parking area and I park as close to the forest as possible. The first thing I notice is a beautiful eagle soaring through the early sky. A beautiful sight with the distinctive eagles’ call. A nice and warm welcome on this eagle walk. It is hot and humid today but also a beautiful day to make some cool photos. After a short walk on the road, the trail leads into a dense forest. It starts with a steep climb and I follow the signs to the Schleier waterfall. I reach this waterfall after a two hour hike and I decide to have a short break here and enjoy my chocolate croissant and an ice coffee. The waterfall has a spectacular drop of 60 meter and is beautiful. It also seems to be climber heaven. On the way back I am seeing several small groups, climbing up these massive vertical rocks.

After a twenty minute break I hike for another two hours until I reach Gaudeamushütte. In this section the hike gets steeper and I am walking passed tall rocks and climbing walls until I reach a second waterfall. From here I descend into a beautiful green valley with dramatic rocks on one side and grazing cows on the other. I make photos whenever I see new or beautiful flowers as it reminds me of a person dear to me. By descending into the valley I almost reach the Gaudeamüshutte, instead of taking a break, I keep going. The trail goes back up into the rocks and after about one hour I reach the via ferrata route.

On this route there is the option to exit  half way. Initially I do plan to exit early, the hike is already long enough and I need to save some energy for the way back, besides the second half of the climb is also D-rated and I am not sure if I can do this. After a short break, I strap myself into the harness and up I go. It’s a great adventure and fun. I am holding on to the steel cable but the steps are very narrow and often I am climbing on the tip of my shoes (these new shoes are holding up great and they are very comfortable). I am extremely focused and I am enjoying the climb very much. Since I am only climbing by myself I do not have cool photos or videos, but I did my best to make a nice video compilation of the climb:

Before I know it I am at the half-way mark. The blood is pumping vigorously and the adrenaline rushing… no way I am exiting half-way! I am going for it, I am all in! With small steps I traverse over the very shaky rope-bridge. Not only the bridge is shaking, but so am I a bit and I’m and happy when this part is over. After the bridge there is a steep and vertical wall, which looks very intimidating but I managed it well. The climb takes me about 50 minutes and I loved every second of it. It is not busy on the route so nobody had to wait for each other. And with some other people around me I also feel a bit safer.

At 11.30 I reach the Gruttenhütte, a bit behind schedule but that is OK. I wanted to reach the hut a earlier because they are forecasting a lot of rain at two pm, and I want to be back at the car  before the rain starts. I ordered an extra liter of water but I was not hungry at all. The pasta I had brought for lunch came back down with me. I had been snacking (nuts and protein bar) the entire way up. The break is short and I start rushing down. No time to waste and I didn’t need to make much photos anymore anyway. It took me 5,5 hours to go up and now I have two hours left on the clock to go down. I think I can make it, I am usually a lot quicker going back down. I was wrong!

Only two days before this hike, I had attended a CrossFit class and we worked a lot on our legs; with heavy-weighted squats and pistol squats. My legs are still very sore during the hike but my motivation and inspiration keeps me going. My work during an installation is physical demanding, this morning I got up at 5am, sore legs from the CrossFit class, and already 5,5 hours in… my legs are weak from exhaustion and killing me, I am going much slower than what I am used to. But I keep the pace steady and without much though I place one foot in front of the other. Giving up is never an option. To get me through the final hours I had one final trick up my sleeve. Listening to old-school rap-music by Eminem pushes me through and gives me that last boost of energy that I desperately needed.

I arrived back at the car around 15.45. I was so relieved that it did not rain at all, but that it was actually sunny.

It has been such an amazing day. A very beautiful hike with well-maintained trails, rugged peaks, green valleys and wild-flowers. The climb on the via ferrata was the bonus of the day. I am always looking for the next outdoor challenge in the mountains.

The total hike time is about 8,5 hours (which includes the 50 minutes climb and several short breaks). And according to my step counter, I made a whopping 40.000 steps today; a new personal record!

And to close this post I would like to share a compilation video of the hike itself:

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