Rainy day hike (St Anton)

From Vienna, we took the train up the Inn valley to where one of its tributaries ends at the Arlberg Pass. There are a series of villages there that are relatively quiet in the summer (a few thousand inhabitants) but bustle with skiers as soon as the snow starts falling. We were too early in the season for snow, so the precipitation that fell on us left us a little soggy! Regardless, we headed up a beautiful valley to Konstanzer Hütte

Ducking out of the rain in a covered bridge

As we walked through town and down Rosannaweg, we came into a narrow "bach," or river gorge. A trail winds up the side of the blue-green stream for the first few kilometers. We climbed steadily up until we came out onto a paved path tracing up the valley.

Hiker and his umbrella

 We came across a new "hängebrücke" at the Verwallsee, a lake created by a dam on the stream. Most of St Anton is hydro powered thanks to projects at the beginning of the last century. Wasserbau (hydraulic/civil engineering) is what I studied in Graz, so I love seeing the various dam installations... especially in Austria.

 Konstanzer Hütte is one of a network of hiker's way stations in the Alps. Think of it a little as a mountain hostel. Often, they have rustic wooden furnature and stone foundations. While some stay the night, nearly every visitor enjoys a hot meal and refreshing drink. We ordered Knödel (Austrian dumpling), M in a soup and myself on a delicious plate of Sauerkraut. I don't know if it was the hiking or the rainy weather, but the sauerkraut in Austria/Germany is always more delicious! Maybe because it is always served hot. In any case, it revived me!

Revived by a tall Bier and delicious food, we hit the trail again under a cloudy (but not rainy!) sky.