Posted by: veloträumer
Re: Old & New Carantania (journey story) - 12/19/15 11:04 PM
CHAPTER I
The glacial border of the north:
Water all over heaven and stone in the Hohe Tauern
Sa 13.6. Fusch – Ferleiten – Fuschertörl (2405 m) – Edelweißspitze (2571 m) – Fuschertörl – Hochtor (2505 m) – Golmitzerkaser – Franz-Josefs-Höhe (2362 m) – Golmitzerkaser – Apriach – Döllach
Ü: C Zirknitzer 8,20 €
AE (?): Pizza Capricciosa, Rotwein, Cafe 12,40 € (*)
74 km | 10,1 km/h | 7:17 h | 2610 Hm
With the start of the tour the weather changed dramatically. First there was coming hard wind and storm from south in front of me, later rain. It was getting cold, the days before had been very hot. This weather didn’t change until nearly two weeks. Of course I had sunny intervals, too. Some climbs turned out more difficult because of the weather. The Glockner road was covered by a rally with motor trike bikes and sport cars like Ferraris. This was another hard stuff for me. The most exciting place is maybe the glacier Pasterze, which is to climb by a separate road from main Glockner road. I was in good luck with a wonderful rainbow. Something special is the route via Apriach (not Heiligenblut). There you find some old mills, and somewhere formerly gold has been found. Another (short) variation is the old pavement road to Edelweißspitze (from Fuschertörl), which is the highest point of the Glockner road. Even this road, very small, is free for the cars – so a lot of traffic, too.
So 14.6. Döllach – Winklern – Außerfragant – (ca. 4 h Regenpause) – via Radweg (Ragga-Schlucht-Eingang, closed) – Obervellach – Mallnitz
Ü: H Eggerhof 40 € mFr
AE (dito): Knoblauchcrèmesuppe, Rostbraten, Bratkart., Salat, Vanillepudding m. Heidelbeersauce, Rotwein 20,10 € (**)
60 km | 13,1 km/h | 4:36 h | 915 Hm
Another awful day. I had to wait for some hours in a bistro. The canyons Groppenstein and Ragga were closed because of dangerous weather. I finally just climbed the road to Mallnitz, where other cyclists use the tunnel of the train for crossing the Alps. The room in the hotel was very small and uncomfortable, because I didn’t want to pay five Euros more. There is a small camping in the village, too, but weather was not inviting for that. A lot of private guesthouses are not available in summer – maybe someway better, you’ll phone before arriving. (I’m always with out any phone on tour.)
Mo 15.6. Mallnitz – Seebachtal/Stappitzer See – Mallnitz – Obervellach – Groppensteinklamm (walk, ca. 1,5 h) – Ragga-Schlucht (walk, ca. 1 h) – Obervellach – Penk – Höhe am Danielsberg (?m) – Preisdorf/Reißeck – Kolbnitz – via R8 (Glocknerradweg) – Lurnfeld
Ü: C An der Möll 0 € (k. P.)
AE (Kreinerhof): Kürbiscrèmesuppe, Hirschgulasch, Knödel, Bohnen, Rotwein 20,80 € (***)
B: Groppensteinklamm 6 €
B: Ragga-Schlucht 6 €
54 km | 13,6 km/h | 3:58 h | 570 Hm
On a sunny day this morning route would be some highlight. You can ride an easy way to Stappitz Lake. Further more, it’s forbidden to ride with bicycle, but cars are allowed, if they have permission. This is a special case in Austria, much more special in Carinthia. There has been a judgement with a cyclist, who made a ranger responsible for a stone on the way, over it he felled and got injured. This is a quite crazy society, nobody anymore responsible for himself. On the other side, it isn’t acceptable, that such a judgement will stop activities in the mountains. There still some forest roads in Carinthia, which even forbidden to walk (because you can break your legs like a cyclist). Anyway, you should maybe decide against these regulations, if you feel free. Of course, you can’t be sure, to get problems. I hope to get a chance to analyze this with Autrian tourist board on the next tourist fair in Stuttgart.
I visited the canyons Groppensteinschlucht and Ragga-Klamm. Both are worth to visit. The Ragga-Klamm is closer with the stones to you, great noise of water. The Groppensteinschlucht is more idyllic, with big waterfalls, great scenery, better done for painters. Further on you can ride on Glockner cycling way, which is same way Ciclovia Alpe Adria Radweg. I did some variations. In Lurnfeld/Möllbrücke you’ll find different cycling ways crossing.
Di 16.6. Lurnfeld – Pusarnitz – Lendorf – Lieserhofen – Trebesing – Gmünd (visit Pankratium, ca. 1 h) – Brandstatt – via Malta-Hochalmstraße – Gmünder Hütte (1186 m)
Ü: H Gmünder Hütte 33 € mFr
AE (dito): Schweinebraten, Knödel, Sauerkraut, Apfelstrudel, Most, Bier ? € (*)
B: Pankratium Gmünd 8,90 €
42 km | 11,1 km/h | 3:46 h | 910 Hm
It’s again heavy rain this day – in the morning and in the late afternoon, well whole night further on. I visited pankratium in Gmünd, a museum for astonishing things, better to say for waves and acoustic vibrations. You have to participate a lot during the guidance. If you like other things, there are lot of art galleries in Gmünd, as well a Porsche museum. I started for Malta valley, but had to stop in the middle because of the rain. The Malta valley, of course, is famous for its waterfalls, on these days even for water from heaven.
Mi 17.6. Gmünder Hütte – via Malta-Hochalmstraße – Kölnbreinsperre (1933m, visit, ca. 1,5 h) – Pflüglhof – Gößfälle (walk, ca. 1 h) – Brandstatt – Mentebauer Hütte (1124 m) – Brandstatt – Malta
Ü: C Maltatal 16,80 €
AE (dito): Schweinemedaillons, Spätzle, Gemüse, Rotwein, Cafe ? € (***)
ME (GH Kölnbreinstüberl): Kesselgulasch, Knödel, Apfelsaft 10 € (**)
B: Kölnbreintalsperre 6,50 €
50 km | 11,7 km/h | 4:19 h | 1135 Hm
The day was not rainy, but windy (storm). I climbed up to the huge dam, which I visited from inside. There you get a lot of detailed information about engineering such a building. On top it was not possible to ride further on, because of the storm and the water crossing the ways. Some other waterfalls are close to the road – three of them called “Gößfälle”. There you can go for a road, later offroad, to Gießener Hütte. Because the cottage was closed, I just ride part of it, for getting back to Malta with a comfortable camping.
Music: Saxophone and flute player Wolfgang Puschnig from Klagenfurt is mixing Austrian, Slovenian and other roots music from the Alps with jazz or other modern music – creating new, modernized Alpine culture: Teaser aus: Wolfgang Puschnig „For The Love Of It“, col legno (7:01 min.)
Photo gallery chapter I (145 photos):
to be continued
The glacial border of the north:
Water all over heaven and stone in the Hohe Tauern
Sa 13.6. Fusch – Ferleiten – Fuschertörl (2405 m) – Edelweißspitze (2571 m) – Fuschertörl – Hochtor (2505 m) – Golmitzerkaser – Franz-Josefs-Höhe (2362 m) – Golmitzerkaser – Apriach – Döllach
Ü: C Zirknitzer 8,20 €
AE (?): Pizza Capricciosa, Rotwein, Cafe 12,40 € (*)
74 km | 10,1 km/h | 7:17 h | 2610 Hm
With the start of the tour the weather changed dramatically. First there was coming hard wind and storm from south in front of me, later rain. It was getting cold, the days before had been very hot. This weather didn’t change until nearly two weeks. Of course I had sunny intervals, too. Some climbs turned out more difficult because of the weather. The Glockner road was covered by a rally with motor trike bikes and sport cars like Ferraris. This was another hard stuff for me. The most exciting place is maybe the glacier Pasterze, which is to climb by a separate road from main Glockner road. I was in good luck with a wonderful rainbow. Something special is the route via Apriach (not Heiligenblut). There you find some old mills, and somewhere formerly gold has been found. Another (short) variation is the old pavement road to Edelweißspitze (from Fuschertörl), which is the highest point of the Glockner road. Even this road, very small, is free for the cars – so a lot of traffic, too.
So 14.6. Döllach – Winklern – Außerfragant – (ca. 4 h Regenpause) – via Radweg (Ragga-Schlucht-Eingang, closed) – Obervellach – Mallnitz
Ü: H Eggerhof 40 € mFr
AE (dito): Knoblauchcrèmesuppe, Rostbraten, Bratkart., Salat, Vanillepudding m. Heidelbeersauce, Rotwein 20,10 € (**)
60 km | 13,1 km/h | 4:36 h | 915 Hm
Another awful day. I had to wait for some hours in a bistro. The canyons Groppenstein and Ragga were closed because of dangerous weather. I finally just climbed the road to Mallnitz, where other cyclists use the tunnel of the train for crossing the Alps. The room in the hotel was very small and uncomfortable, because I didn’t want to pay five Euros more. There is a small camping in the village, too, but weather was not inviting for that. A lot of private guesthouses are not available in summer – maybe someway better, you’ll phone before arriving. (I’m always with out any phone on tour.)
Mo 15.6. Mallnitz – Seebachtal/Stappitzer See – Mallnitz – Obervellach – Groppensteinklamm (walk, ca. 1,5 h) – Ragga-Schlucht (walk, ca. 1 h) – Obervellach – Penk – Höhe am Danielsberg (?m) – Preisdorf/Reißeck – Kolbnitz – via R8 (Glocknerradweg) – Lurnfeld
Ü: C An der Möll 0 € (k. P.)
AE (Kreinerhof): Kürbiscrèmesuppe, Hirschgulasch, Knödel, Bohnen, Rotwein 20,80 € (***)
B: Groppensteinklamm 6 €
B: Ragga-Schlucht 6 €
54 km | 13,6 km/h | 3:58 h | 570 Hm
On a sunny day this morning route would be some highlight. You can ride an easy way to Stappitz Lake. Further more, it’s forbidden to ride with bicycle, but cars are allowed, if they have permission. This is a special case in Austria, much more special in Carinthia. There has been a judgement with a cyclist, who made a ranger responsible for a stone on the way, over it he felled and got injured. This is a quite crazy society, nobody anymore responsible for himself. On the other side, it isn’t acceptable, that such a judgement will stop activities in the mountains. There still some forest roads in Carinthia, which even forbidden to walk (because you can break your legs like a cyclist). Anyway, you should maybe decide against these regulations, if you feel free. Of course, you can’t be sure, to get problems. I hope to get a chance to analyze this with Autrian tourist board on the next tourist fair in Stuttgart.
I visited the canyons Groppensteinschlucht and Ragga-Klamm. Both are worth to visit. The Ragga-Klamm is closer with the stones to you, great noise of water. The Groppensteinschlucht is more idyllic, with big waterfalls, great scenery, better done for painters. Further on you can ride on Glockner cycling way, which is same way Ciclovia Alpe Adria Radweg. I did some variations. In Lurnfeld/Möllbrücke you’ll find different cycling ways crossing.
Di 16.6. Lurnfeld – Pusarnitz – Lendorf – Lieserhofen – Trebesing – Gmünd (visit Pankratium, ca. 1 h) – Brandstatt – via Malta-Hochalmstraße – Gmünder Hütte (1186 m)
Ü: H Gmünder Hütte 33 € mFr
AE (dito): Schweinebraten, Knödel, Sauerkraut, Apfelstrudel, Most, Bier ? € (*)
B: Pankratium Gmünd 8,90 €
42 km | 11,1 km/h | 3:46 h | 910 Hm
It’s again heavy rain this day – in the morning and in the late afternoon, well whole night further on. I visited pankratium in Gmünd, a museum for astonishing things, better to say for waves and acoustic vibrations. You have to participate a lot during the guidance. If you like other things, there are lot of art galleries in Gmünd, as well a Porsche museum. I started for Malta valley, but had to stop in the middle because of the rain. The Malta valley, of course, is famous for its waterfalls, on these days even for water from heaven.
Mi 17.6. Gmünder Hütte – via Malta-Hochalmstraße – Kölnbreinsperre (1933m, visit, ca. 1,5 h) – Pflüglhof – Gößfälle (walk, ca. 1 h) – Brandstatt – Mentebauer Hütte (1124 m) – Brandstatt – Malta
Ü: C Maltatal 16,80 €
AE (dito): Schweinemedaillons, Spätzle, Gemüse, Rotwein, Cafe ? € (***)
ME (GH Kölnbreinstüberl): Kesselgulasch, Knödel, Apfelsaft 10 € (**)
B: Kölnbreintalsperre 6,50 €
50 km | 11,7 km/h | 4:19 h | 1135 Hm
The day was not rainy, but windy (storm). I climbed up to the huge dam, which I visited from inside. There you get a lot of detailed information about engineering such a building. On top it was not possible to ride further on, because of the storm and the water crossing the ways. Some other waterfalls are close to the road – three of them called “Gößfälle”. There you can go for a road, later offroad, to Gießener Hütte. Because the cottage was closed, I just ride part of it, for getting back to Malta with a comfortable camping.
Music: Saxophone and flute player Wolfgang Puschnig from Klagenfurt is mixing Austrian, Slovenian and other roots music from the Alps with jazz or other modern music – creating new, modernized Alpine culture: Teaser aus: Wolfgang Puschnig „For The Love Of It“, col legno (7:01 min.)
Photo gallery chapter I (145 photos):
to be continued