Zieltal valley

I've been very busy earlier in July, and after two lazy days I'm now adding a semi-rest day. From the top of the Texelbahn cable car, I'm hiking up to the Lodner Hütte, which will be my base for the next couple of days. I hope the routes are in good shape, so I can climb a couple of the 3000-ers in the heart of the Texel group. But today I won't climb anything. It's just a three hour hike, and even when counting the ups and downs along the way, it's well under a 1000 meters up. The first part of the walk is along an excellent trail, going up and down a lot, in the woodlands covering the southern slopes of the Texel Group. It's part of a popular long distance trail and therefore very well maintained. Before an hour has passed, I reach the Nassereithhütte. That's my cue to leave the popular trail for a somewhat steeper one, up the Zieltal valley. This trail is more uneven, but still in good shape. And there are no more downhill sections, from here it's only up. Just above the hut, I'm approaching the tree line, and the valley starts to open up before me. Only 700 meters left. 14 July 2013.