Redtenbacher April 2023 4th Day - Gowilalm

At 10:30 am, I set off for the Gowilalm hut. It took 50 minutes to reach the starting point, which was not described in detail, so I estimated it. However, the paths seemed correct. The actual hike should have taken about 4 hours, but there was an unexpected surprise.

When I chose the hike, I didn't pay attention to the elevation profile, so after 1 hour, the road suddenly became snowy (let's be honest, even with an elevation profile, I wouldn't have thought of that for a hike that should last about 4 hours). Things escalated from there and at the peak (Gowilalm hut), I sank into about 30 cm of snow. But that's getting ahead of myself.

The signage was sparse, so I simply followed the forest road until I stumbled upon a signpost again. All paths led to the hut, but the recommended route diverged from the forestry road (just the way I like it). After about 20 meters, I stopped and realized that I was standing in an open field with no idea where a trail could be. So I went back and continued on the road. The rest of the trail was well signposted, and about 20 minutes before reaching the hut, relatively fresh footprints from another direction joined in.

Unlike last week in Sweden, even the trees were covered in snow.

As expected, the hut was closed, but the view was nice.

However, I had the same problem again at the top. The circular hiking trail was not signposted, and the signposts for places like Spital am Pyhrn pointed into the white nothingness. I decided to simply follow the footprints. After about 200 meters, I doubted my decision. A relatively narrow, impassable path, with a towering cliff on the left and a drop on the right. I had no idea whether the footprints belonged to locals who knew what they were doing or someone with a "let's just go in the right direction" mentality. But at that point, I didn't feel like turning back and definitely didn't want to go back the same way. So I continued. When I came across the first wooden bridge in the middle of nowhere, I felt reassured that they obviously knew their way.

After that passage, the "trampled path" led in switchbacks across a steep meadow (at least I think so, it was just snow as far as the eye could see). From that point on, I wished I had snowshoes. Every few steps, I sank up to my knee, and I unintentionally examined the ground more closely twice, but after the second bridge in the middle of nowhere, hidden in the snow, I was completely convinced of the ability of my unknown guides. At the end of the meadow, I found my own footprints again (the 20 meters after which I gave up trying to march through unknown territory. And that was good enough. I wouldn't have had a chance to find the way back without the footprints).

Since the signposts here were cryptic again, and I still wanted to avoid going back the same part of the trail, I decided to follow my friends into the forest again.

That was also a good decision. In the end, I ended up on the unknown part of the circular hiking trail and enjoyed a more varied landscape (there was a lot of water involved, and I'm surprised that my feet stayed dry until the end).

From there, I walked for another 15 minutes until the snow was completely gone and I had the green meadows in front of me again, where I had started my naive walk.

After a total of 5 and a half hours, I was back and observed the cats during their suspicious afternoon gathering.

PS: Yesterday I had some light contact with the cats, but they still don't seem to be interested in getting closer.