Travel Day, Austria

 Our time at Gries had come to an end .. and also with Bryon's back still troubling him we took to opportunity to explore while changing locations ...  the original idea was to have moved around to the Silvretta area and do some hut tours, however a trip around to the Sellrain valley and then onto the Otztal region would hopefully lead t some new ideas.

The first stop was down the valley south of Gries am Sellrain (not to confuse it) and to a village called Praxmar. a route we both had wanted to do left here - Lampsenspitze, and this was a good opportunity to check out the layout etc.

From the car park you could see the departure, and higher up was a second potential target - Oberstkogel, where Bryon used his zoom to pick out several parties on the summit approach.

from here we continued along through Kuhtai and down to the Oetztal valley, the descent was quite tight at times, and the brakes were smelling a little as we dropped down into the valley, from here we set off South following the signs to Obergurgl. the valley was a main run to the ski areas and would need much more detailed work to find good routes, and once we got to Solden, then it was clear we would not gain much, and after a brief stop for lunch we headed back to Kuhtai.

The idea was that there were a number of routes around the ski area that we could chose depending on Bryon's back situation. We could also make use of the mountain hut on the side of the main road - Dortmunder hutte.

The town was very scruffy, with the retreating snow and general ski town clobber. After arranging a place in the reformatory, we headed off for a wander up the road and a piste map to find out where to avoid.

The dortmunder hutte ....  you could almost believe it was not stuck in all the civilisation.
The view the other side of the hut was even better, and much calmer.

Our abode for the night ...  on the surface it looked like a normal mountain hut,
The food was good - not as good as at the Alte Poste, but then we had been spoilt there, and the accommodation was cheap. However given its situation our companions for the night were the major disruptive influence. I guess the ability to park next door, and this being a weekend, did not instil the usual niceties of a mountain hut, and the drifting to bed, (and use of electric toothbrushes!) together with constant restlessness, and squeeky bunks, made for a disturbed night.