First tour!

Well, this week we went on our first tour (away from Tauernhof), and it was quite the adventure!  On Monday morning, we were driven a few kilometers west to a little town whose name escapes me.  From there, we grabbed our big packs (loaded down with food and supplies), and set our course for another small town called Filzmoose.  There, we ate lunch, before continuing the climb up to our destination, a mountain hut called "Hofpurglhuette," run by the Austrian Alpine Society.  It was quite the climb sitting at 1703 meters (roughly a mile) in elevation.  However, the food was excellent, and the beds were fairly comfy as well.

Hofpurglhuette at sunset

The next day was spent rock climbing in the "rock garden" just a few meters outside the hut.  This was the highlight of the tour for me, as it was my first time climbing "real" rocks!  I completed 6 climbs, along with what is known as a "Klettersteig," where you have to use a steel cable that is bolted onto the rock and climb around it using carabiners to clip into the cable at various points.  The rain started to come down for awhile, but quickly let off, allowing us to climb to most of the day.

Our climbing area is in the lower right rocks with all the green on top

The next morning, we woke up, packed, and set off for our next destination.  Our first stop was the top of another mountain (of which I forgot the name), where we ate lunch.  From there, we could see a good chunk of the Dachstein range, which was very cool! It is said that one of the mountains has supernatural powers of healing, so people come from miles around to gaze upon it.  After hiking for another couple hours, we came to a little open space beside a stream.  At this point, Martin informed us that we would be hiking up into a cave to spend the night.  To that end, we were provided with various "caving" gear, including helmets with lights, food/stoves, tarps, and some extremely stylish canvas jumpsuits!

Approaching Mordor!

We dawned our new gear and trecked up through the mist toward the looming mountains beyond.  It felt very similar to Lord of the Rings, as we approached the rock face and saw the cave entrance.  At the entrance, we left our regular packs, along with anything we didn't need, as the path downward was both dirty and trecherous.  We climbed down ladders, through narrow holes, and across suspention bridges, all with just the tiny light of our headlamps to guide us.  It was both extremely cold and humid (99%), so if you breathed to hard, your breath almost totally obscured your vision for a moment.  After an hour or so of travel, we came to a large cavern with a small waterfall, where we all congregated.  This place was very cool!  Heli asked us to turn out our lights, and gave a devotion on those living in darkness that was very moving.  Afterwards, we lighted up the stoves, and ate some hot soup.  Although the soup tasted amazing, it did little to warm me up, and I was more than ready to crawl into my sleeping bag when it was time to sleep (whatever time that was)!  It wasn't the most comfortable night to be sure, as the space we slept in was very small, and I was crammed up against a rock.  When the leaders woke us, I was still cold, and very ready to be out of the cave.  We quickly packed up and made out way back up to the mouth of the cave.

I was overjoyed to see light once again (even if it was a grey drizzely morning)!  After a very long day of hiking, we eventually made it back to Tauernhof.  It's amazing how going on tour for 3 nights can make even a relatively new place feel like home.  That night and the next day (today) were pretty laid back, as everyone recovered from the trip.  We did hop over to the town last night to enjoy some free music.  Apparently Shladming is hosting an international music festival called "Mid Europe" this week.  We mosied around, sampling everything from a Japanese youth orchestra to a Taiwanese marching band.  My favorite though, was a group of four Austrian soldiers playing some smooth jazz.  The drummer and bass player were extremely in sync, and the trumpet/saxaphone combo on the front end was as good as I've ever heard.  We listened to them for quite awhile, before heading back and turning in.

All in all, it was a great week!  Can't wait to see what next week will hold.