Give Me a Reason to Come Home

I haven't enjoyed hiking like this in many years.  So many mountains in the eastern Alps and so little time.  Austria is truly an amazing place.  

With our time here winding down we're on the 2-3 hike per week schedule, including excursions near Innsbruck or right from our apartment when time is tight.  

Last Friday I did a hike up the Niederer Burgstall, a 2400 m peak in the Stubai Alps just a 35 minute bus ride from Innsbruck.  The terrain here reaches to near 3200 meters and the views are spectacular.   

A view from my descent of the the lower Stubaital and a famous local peak known as Serles just  left of center.  

Over the weekend we did a short hike from our apartment to a the Raschbrunnen mountain hut.  

Return to Innsbruck is easy.  One option is to catch the train at the Kranebitten bahnhof. 

The other is to walk a couple hundred meters down the hill and catch the K bus, which we did.  It dropped us off 3 blocks from our apartment.  This is a great way to do point-to-point hikes.

Today (Thursday) was another holiday here.  Spring in Austria is one holiday after another.  These people know how to live.  We did a hike in the Karwendel Alps east of Innsbruck to the summit of the Stanser Joch at a bit over 2000 meters.  I love this kind of ridge hiking. 

A crown jewel of the area is the Achensee, a beutiful turquoise lake that sits in a saddle between the Inn Valley to the south (and out of view to the right of the photo) and Germany to the north.  

The Achensee features industrial-scale tourism, from the many guest houses to the small cruise ships that provide short excursions on the lake.  Still, it's a pretty place.  

It's going to be hard to leave.