What all has water washed away?
Only the water knows —
Even in crises felt every day
the water simply flows:
While tyrants may rise
then crumble and fall
the water is wise
and washes tears away from us all
So this was quite the late afternoon/evening, so glad I repeated this tour... Took a slightly different route than last year, going up some super craggy canyon for a while (pushing/carrying the bike), but well worth it, especially once up and dipping in the 3rd lake (legs only) en route, snow patches still all around, but air temp in the mid-20s... Another reason this is one of my faves: the last 11km are just rolling downhill (~470 hm).
Some impressions attached (the last pic is of the Lech Falls near Füssen, tiny detour on the way back...)
Almost a year to the day, gonna repeat this tour again tomorrow evening... The bike's cleaned & prepped, the weather forecast looks splendid (22℃), the snowline should have sufficiently receded... Wish me luck (and strength 😅)!
Going far back into the past, this picture has been taken at the far end of Gschnitztal, a valley which is hiding between Stubaital and the Italian border #hiking#alps#austria#tyrol
Poor Timing: Mountain regions are particularly sensitive to the impacts of the climate crisis. Warming leads to a shift in seasonal patterns in summer and winter and endangers the balance of the sensitive Alpine ecosystems. An international team of researchers led by Innsbruck ecologist Michael Bahn recently published a comprehensive study explaining these effects: https://www.uibk.ac.at/en/newsroom/2024/climate-crisis-threatens-alpine-ecosystems/
Mit anderen Menschen in den Bergen hoch über den Tälern solche Momente zu teilen ist einfach einmalig. Der Sonnenuntergang ließ mich die Stille genießen ☺️ 😍
As promised, some short (1:23min) phone video impressions from Sunday's varied hike in the beautiful Ester Mountains[1] (mainly filmed during descent only, since the steep way up was mostly without any grand views)
Nach einigen Stunden des Aufstiegs, Kraxelns und Kletterns kam ich an diesem wunderschönen Ort an. Es fühlte sich an wie auf dem Dach der Erde, auch wenn es lange nicht der höchste Berg der Erde ist. Doch die restliche Wärme der Sonne, die Menschen um mich herum und dieser grandiose Ausblick machten das zu einem einmaligen Erlebnis 😍
Yesterday we explored and hiked a few kilometers in one of the many semi-dry, karsty river beds in the Ammergau Alps. Already so much life & colors again... Partially felt like walking through a microclimate tundra zone. Chamois cress, Oxlip and Winter Heath in full bloom...
Also finally confirmed that after 14 years my old Sigma 18-200mm lens has some serious mechanical defect and doesn't produce any clear focus anymore (😭), so only had the macro lens and phone...