It's early evening, a little before 8pm... light is beginning to fade but the air is warm and clear and still... and I'm absolutely stoked to be back in Austria!
A last minute decision to return to Austria for our summer holiday had sparked real excitement! Ten years had passed since we last visited (back when we had just one child) and since then, we'd had another child and I'd taken up running... so an obvious money-saving scheme presented itself: Dad would run up the hills!
We'd found a superb apartment in Söll on the South side of town. It was ideally located with a bakery and MPREIS just around the corner and being a short walk up Stampfanger to the Bergbahen Söll gondola station, it was perfect... and I couldn't wait to get out and test the legs.
Stampfanger, a gentle tarmac incline, affords a convenient opportunity to stretch out the legs before the climbing begins. It leads gently up to the Bergbahen Söll gondola station where I hang a sharp left over a wooden slatted bridge and then immediately right to pick up the stony path that runs parallel and emerge not long after into the lift station overspill car park. Then, through the trees, the wonderful Wallfahrtskapelle Stampfanger (Pilgrimage Chapel) comes into view… I remember it well from previous visits and admire once again how it appears to emerge from a rock formation no larger than the footprint of the chapel itself. This beautiful landmark marks the beginning of what I call the really up bit.
Passing to the right of the chapel, tarmac gives way to grit-dirt trail and I hear the familiar crunching sound under foot: my footfall momentarily seems louder than the gushing of the nearby waterfall. The gradient ramps up abruptly to 20% and full of endorphins, I chug up it at a steady pace. Passing through the first gate, the switchbacks begin as the trail steadily weaves its way really up.
A little further along, I hear the familiar sound of a cow-bell and soon find the source: a magnificent cow is munching on the grass at the side of the trail... I pause to capture a short video of the scene (and a breath) before continuing.
Leaving my new acquaintance behind, I push on, enveloped by tall evergreens on either side of the trail until the curtain is drawn back: the trees to the left give way to a glorious view across the valley to Bromberg… I’m taken aback with the sheer beauty of it all, suddenly overcome with emotion, I actually burst into tears! No-one is around to see or hear but it wouldn't have made any difference if there was. It has been so long since I was last here but now I am back in these mountains and I feel whole, I feel at home, I feel completely alive. The curtain closes once more as I wind my way up another series of switchbacks.
Getting closer to Hexenwasser, a short tarmac section reaches a gradient of 34%... I see it, I approach it and I say to myself, "I’ll walk that…" but I don't, instead I keep chugging away at a steady, fast cadence all the way up. Thank goodness it’s short! It feels so steep, it is so steep… it levels out a bit and I’m on Salvenberg, I pass the house and farm buildings distributed evenly on both sides of the road.
Another gate and I enter one last section of trees with a twisty, turny, 50 or so metres of trail: I draw heavy breaths through a broadening smile as I consider how much fun I’ll have on the way back down through this steep section. I sense I am near as I emerge from the trees into the fading evening light, I see the gondola cables but the lift station is obscured from view by the Alpengasthof Hochsöll… I run up alongside it and finally see the familiar sight of the lift station and children's play park area. This is a magical place for me: it’s rich with memories of beautiful, distant-past, carefree sunny days spent on the hillside with the family.
I catch my breath and circle around the lift station taking in the view of Hohe Salve (1,828 metres) and snapping a few photos as I go. It's still light enough not to need my head torch but I sense I ought to be heading back down to Söll.
The run down is full of joy... compared to the run up, it feels almost effortless. There's not a soul around and I have the trail to myself. I'm down in what seems like a flash: run number one is done and I can't wait for the next!
Comments