Day 6 Obertraun, Austria 10/19/11

We took an early train to Salzburg and then on to Obertraun.  This involved a couple of transfers.  We almost missed getting off at Attnang-Puchheim because we didn’t see the sign.  Some of the newer trains have computerized signs in each car that announce the next stop.  In the older trains, you have to listen for the announcement.  Sometimes, these can be really hard to hear if the speakers are bad, so you have to be alert in looking for the city signs as you pull into each depot.  On that same trip, we almost got off the train a stop early because we couldn’t hear/ understand the conductor’s announcement and we didn’t see the sign.  We were standing at the door of the train ready to jump off and made a split second decision to stay on.  Luckily this was the right choice. 

Sheila in Obertraun, Austria - As the Hike Begins

When we finally arrived in Obertraun, a very tiny, very lovely little town, we went to the tourist information office to find out how to get to the Dauchstein Ice Caves and the 5 Fingers lookout point above the caves.  The very nice woman at the information office gave us a map and asked us something like, “Do you walk or drive?”  Since we didn’t have a car, we said “walk” and she showed us where to follow the path to the cable car up to the cave.  Unfortunately, what we realized about 20 minutes into the hike (straight up the mountain) is that she probably meant did we want to catch a ride as we later learned there was a bus available.  Arghhh!  The hike was lovely and breathtaking (literally!)  When the signs posted the estimate of “x minutes from this point”, we finally learned to multiply the estimate by 1.5 to get a more realistic timeframe for us, especially when the hike was steep.  

A View from Five Fingers at Mount Krippenstein

It took two different cable cars to get up to the top of Mount Krippenstein, elevation 6916 feet, where there is the viewing point called the "5 Fingers."   This involved about a 30 minute walk, for us anyway, along a path with no guardrails and often, no shoulder, just a sheer drop. Connie’s fear of heights almost won out several times.  (It wasn’t entirely sheer, but nothing Sheila could say would get Connie close enough to the edge to look.) At about the 80% point, Connie’s nerve was failing.  A right angle turn in the trail ahead had greatly exacerbated her rising panic.  Realizing she would be completely irritated with herself if she turned back now, she literally put her hands up to the sides of her face, shielding her peripheral vision, to create a blinder effect.  She shuffled about 2 feet behind Sheila, looking only at Sheila’s feet as they made the last stretch.  

The 5 Fingers Lookout - http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com/en/summer/above-ground/5fingers/

Atop Five Fingers - Obertraun, Austria

There was snow on the ground and there we were looking out in every direction on the Alps in all their glory.  Heart racing, they arrived at a point where the Austrians build 5 projected steel lookout points extending out over the edge of the mountain.  One had a picture frame suspended so you could have your photo taken with the Alps behind you, nicely framed.  One had a diving board extending out that you couldn’t get to so its purpose seemed a perverse temptation.   One had a telescope.  One had a hole in it to put your camera and take a photo straight down.   Finally there was one with plexiglass on the bottom to see through; however, it was too dirty to work.  Sheila braved each of them while Connie tried not to hyperventilate.  

Two young girls did take our picture and we took theirs.  They too had a brave soul and a wienie.    As we returned to the cable car, Connie once again shielded her vision in order to only see Sheila’s feet.  The return trip was easier for Connie because there was no longer any choice involved.  Refusing to go back down the mountain was not an option.  Sheila was very patient and let Connie know when they had reached a part of the trail that actually had a significant shoulder so she could look up and enjoy the view again.  However, any peek at the upcoming trail’s absence of a shoulder, sent butterflies racing.  The walk to Five Fingers isn’t particularly arduous, and although there are some sections with long inclines there are also benches where you can stop and catch your breath.  The views are stunning, even if you don’t walk all the way to the Five Fingers.

We then took the cable car down to the Dachstein Ice Cave.

The Dachstein Ice Cave  http://www.dachstein-salzkammergut.com.

The Giant Ice Cave - Dachstein Ice Cave - Obertraun, Austria

The website was confusing because there are actually two caves:  the Giant Ice Cave and the Mammoth Cave.  The Mammoth Cave does not have any ice and is much like the caves we have in central Texas, so we skipped it.  We wanted to see an ice cave.  There was no snow at this level but the hike was steep.  Once again, the sign indicating it was an easy fifteen minute walk to the cave entrance was hysterically laughable in retrospect.   Once we were clearly close, the sign for the Giant Ice Cave confused us.  It was like a modern sculpture with multiple angles with an arrow that could have been read to be pointing both directions in the fork in the trail.  We, unfortunately, guessed wrong, and after climbing and climbing up the mountain trail, we unwittingly ended up at the locked exit door.  When the time for our tour had almost passed, we raced back down a ways to find the entrance locked as well.   The last tour apparently had left just a couple of minutes early, locking the cave entrance behind them.  We were lucky that an employee happened to be passing by and he allowed us in and then we followed him as he practically jogged to catch us up to the rest of the tour. 

Sheila in the Alps - Obertraun, Austria

The caves were cold and the ice formations were impressive, but the tour was in German and we had only little cards in English to follow along.  Sheila did not enjoy the ice caves at all.  Of course, the hike to the mountain, and then the steep trek up the mountain to the cave exit, and then back down to the cave entrance, followed by a race through the cave to catch up with the tour, and then the several hundred stairs during the tour probably didn’t help her perspective.  The cave was cold, wet, and involved a ton of stair climbing.  Once inside, there was no option other than to push on, up the never ending staircases.  By this point Connie tried not to make eye contact with her for fear that looks actually might kill.  (Sheila and Connie disagree whether the ice cave was worth the effort.  Our best advice is to be aware that it is not an easy thing to do.  Leave yourself enough time to make the walk to the cave, and to catch your breath before going on the tour).  After the tour was finished, we rested before slowly making our way back down the mountain to the ticket station. We were exhausted.  They were closing but the nice woman at the ticket office explained that the last bus to Hallstatt would be arriving in 10 minutes and could take us almost directly to our hotel.  This was a welcome relief.  As we sat gratefully waiting for the magical bus, a bee decided it wanted to join us.  It kept following us no matter where we walked and even came onto the bus with us when we boarded. 

As we rode the 15 to 20 minutes to Hallstatt, the weather began to change.  A storm was rolling in and we could see the snow clouds pouring over the mountains.  The bus let out by a ferry stop on the lake and the view of the mountains and the little town was lovely.  We stopped at a grocery store to grab a little something for a snack just in case we were too tired to go out for dinner.  We found our hotel easily because we had seen it from the bus as we rode into town.  We checked into the hotel (Gasthof Pension Grüner Anger) and had cheese and bread (OK, it was actually cheese and Pringles) on the balcony, all bundled up in our coats, watching the storm roll over the Alps.  Heaven!

The Hotel Grüner Anger   http://anger.hallstatt.net/?lang=en

Obertraun, Austria

The hotel was small and quaint.  The owner was apparently a rock collector and rocks were used to add to the décor in every nook and cranny which delighted Sheila.  Connie, on the other hand, was more impressed by the stuffed gopher - looking creature and the spinet piano in the hall outside our room.