Day 11 (Sunday)I wake up hoping for bright blue skies and striking views of the mountains, but instead it is thick cloud. We hang around for a while having a slow breakfast, hoping it will get better, but if anything it gets worse. I'm not prepared to pay the expensive toll to be up in the clouds with no view. Sally suggests we will return to this part of Italy in the future so we can save this for then.
Before leaving we dump our waste water and wait to fill up with drinking water. However a family with what I guess is a rented class C have been messing around for 45 minutes trying to fill up. Earlier I saw them yank their coiled hose straight, thus imparting kinks in it, and now they have elicited the help of a local and there is much disgruntled gesticulating at the water tap, another case of the father trying to be dominant. My German isn't good enough to understand what they are saying but I've had enough of waiting. I pull our battered truck camper up next to them and get Sally to coil out the hose. I plug it into the water tap and turn it on - no water comes out. The water tap is on a divider and the other half goes to a water spout that continually pours fresh water into a trough, I guess so you can wash your hands. The other guy's disgruntled family are now collecting water in whatever receptacle they can find. The father shouts "NO PRESSURE!" to justify his failure to get water out. So I wash my hands and then clamp one hand over the water spout redirecting the pressure to the tap and my hose and our tank is full in 3 minutes.
We head down the mountain and turning north pass a spot where we can see the back side of the mountains we were trying to reach. I can see that side of the mountain and I can see that although it is clear, wind is blowing warm moist air from Austria against the mountain and it is forming cloud on its leeward side obscuring it from the direction we just came and the rifugio. We drop into a coffee shop for a mid morning coffee and snack (and to use their bathroom). Sally asks if I want to go back and try the mountain again. I don't really, so we carry on northwards towards Austria.
We stop for a short walk by a lake and a popular campground:
Sally's ankle is aching, so maybe it is a good thing we couldn't do any serious hiking today due to the weather.
We cross the border, where we have to pick up another vignette covering highway tolls. Austria though allow you to buy it for just 10 days if passing through, so that works out cheaper than Switzerland where you have to buy one for a whole year even if in the country for only one day.
We travel down a grassy valley, the type you associate with Austria and find a camp ground just off the main road:
The price is good, the location is excellent and the guy running it (it seems to be mainly his thing, his wife and children seem to play no part in running it) is a great host. He has built a small restaurant and bar on site and most of the campers adjourn to the restaurant to eat the food he cooks. The bar has many awards and pictures of the traditional Austrian brass band he is clearly a member of. I am guessing this bar becomes their club house. As well as running the camp ground he appears to run a small farm too. The campsite clearly does well since he has just bought a Jacuzzi mounted on a trailer and a similar towable sauna:
The campground has all sorts of quirky features:
It is nice to sit and relax in the better weather this side of the mountains:
We decide to go for a walk after all and cross the main road to find a cycle path running parallel to the river that leads to the next village.
We seem to have chosen the perfect time to visit this part of Europe as the wild flowers are out everywhere - I've always wanted to visit the mountains when they are like this.
We follow it and at the bridge in the village Sally suggests we take the road on our left that climbs up the side of the valley, but appears to head back in the direction of the campground.
We start heading up the track hoping that there will be another way down that will take us to the bridge opposite the campground.
Unfortunately as we get higher and higher it becomes clear that the road just doubles back on itself and heads into the mountains and there are no side tracks leading back down to the valley. I guess since road building in the mountains is so difficult you have as few as possible - so there is only one way to get to each place. So we have to double back. It is on descending we realise how steep the road has been - that is when it starts to hurt your knees.
After a nice meal in the restaurant we retire to bed early and consider our drive through Austria.
Stay tuned for more of Austria...
Steve.
