Thursday 22st Sept 2011 - Sud Tirol walking day 4
Today we caught the bus up to Prettau again although we got off a stop or two earlier than the previous day. We knew we were doing the longest walk of the week and had all brought packed lunches from the hotel although it turns out I'd forgotten to bring one for the walking guide. I say forgotten but in actual fact I knew nothing about it - this would be an ongoing joke all day. Fortunately we all had enough spare to support Kristini and her fantastic appetite.
We were all aching today after adding muscles onto muscles over the previous few days but there was no sympathy as we were thrust immediately into some steep track walking before settling into a long gentle incline.
We started at 1460m and within two hours we were already at a record-breaking (for us) 2000m - after 2 hours 40 minutes we'd walked 4 miles and had reached a breath-taking 2100m.
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| Looking back down to Prettau or 'Predoi' |
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| A quick break at a closed restaurant. Meet the gang (l-r): Nancy, me, Kristina, Aveline, John & Cindy, Jenny and Ron |
We didn't stop at this point and pushed down and around a long sweeping bend, exposed to the elements, before starting up the next section where Kristina had planned a surprise break. I'd jokingly challenged her to a race to the top (she's older but much much fitter than me) which she accepted so I took a risk and ran the first 30m. She complained I'd cheated but I managed to just hold on to my lead despite struggling to breathe and finding walking through the snow phenomenally hard work. "The tortoise and the hare" was praying on my mind the entire time.
At our peak of 2150m (7,053 feet!) Kristina stopped us all and pulled out a hip-flask of Schnapps from which we all had to knock back a glug. I was very reluctant as I don't mix with spirits, plus the alcohol saps energy from my muscles immediately, but I wasn't allowed any excuses so did the deed to cheers and photos.
Thirty minutes later we stopped for a proper lunch break at some huts. Kristina took off her boots and cooled her feet in a natural spring (with a tap). I dipped my boots in, to cool down, to groans from all who don't realise they're completely waterproof.
We shared sandwiches and snack bars and soaked up the burning sun. I reapplied my suncream and refilled my waterbag - I'd already drunk 1.5 litres.
Then we began the long, long descent back to the valley floor.
On a typical day walking downhill is the thing which makes me struggle the most - by this time you're often running out of energy and your knees begin to ache with fighting gravity but today, for some reason, I was completely full of beans and happily skipping down the shortcut paths which we used to cut long distances from the winding roads.
As we descended the sun seemed to get hotter and hotter but I was fighting fit and had plenty of suncream, water and my cap. In fact when the walk ended at the bus stop I realised there was only fractionally over a mile back to the hotel along the road - I thought it cheating somewhat, with being so close, so I asked around if others wanted to join me but ended up walking back along the road on my own - surprisingly actually beating them all back as the bus turned up 5 minutes later than planned.
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| An angled plot of our walk - we started on the right hand side. |
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| This plot is taken from directly above and North is at 12 o'clock. My extra mile is in darker yellow. |
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| An altitude plot of our 700m ascent, peaking at a whopping 2150m/over 7000ft. |
Back at the hotel we all stopped at the bar for lemonade and teas and to reflect back on our 11.5 miles before retiring to our rooms for showers and a rest. I felt wonderful and really thought I could have walked for another few miles.
How wrong I was...
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