What goes up must come down

Day 12: Millstäter Hütte to Döbriach

Hours walked: 8:30 - 4:30

Kilometres walked: 22.2

Quote of the day: “This view is a 6/10.” - Zadie, surveying a 360-degree span of the Alps

Jesuses seen: 4

None of us wanted to get out from under our comforters this morning. But we did. And it wasn’t so bad, because our wonderful hostess made us a “small breakfast”. The hot drinks, the pots of jam, the anise-tinged bread and the tray of delicately arranged cheeses and flowers lifted our spirits and filled our stomachs. It turns out the kids’ moods are much springier in the morning when their bellies are full. 

After farewells to all the chickens and goats and our hostess and her teenage helper, we started our day of downhill walking with a nice steep hill. The air was crisp and the view sublime. Last night’s snow was just a light dusting that made everything more beautiful without getting in the way. Before we knew it, we’d made our way along the ridge line past numerous mountain chairs for two to the Love Gate: sort of the engraved metal doorway of a castle, without the castle. Legend has it that if you walk through this gateway with your loved one and a piece of garnet (these mountains are full of garnet) then your love will stay true forever. We had no garnet so there is no fairytale ending to our walk up this mountain; but we did stamp ourselves with the stamp provided and we ate a snack at the table beside the love gate that had enough room for at least two dozen people. 

And then our day of downhill began. We haven’t seen many other walkers but for some reason the few kilometres from the Love Gate to the Lammersdorfer Hutte was teeming with walkers. It seemed odd for a Tuesday morning. Even more odd was that once we passed Lammersdorfer we saw not a single walker. 

We passed many gorgeous cows in every shade of brown, maroon and black; we clambered past a large logging operation, getting muddy in the process. We passed through some thick fog, then had blue skies the rest of the day. Aurora and Tamar got a huge kick out of a pen enclosure with a picnic table inside it and grassy fields for the cows outside. Some of us stepped in cow poo. Tova planned her life in the event that her parents both died suddenly on the mountain. A horse barreled at full speed towards Sophia, Tova and Tamar, scaring the wits out of them. 

All this happened while we walked downhill. Although hard on the knees, this was much easier and the girls were mostly chipper all day long. Eventually Döbriach appeared, we got ice creams at the Spar, and then of course the last few km to reach our accommodation felt disproportionately long. Our apartment has a jigsaw puzzle, trampoline and hot shower, so everyone was happy and the day wound down most pleasantly. The last two days were considerably longer and more difficult, and we feel really good that we were able to manage them in relatively good cheer.