Auf dem flachen Lande empfängt man gutes und böses Wetter, wenn es schon fertig geworden, im Gebirge ist man gegenwärtig, wenn es entsteht.(On the plains, one accepts good or bad weather as an already established fact, but in the mountains one is present at its creation.)
- Goethe, Italian Journey, written on the Brenner Pass on 8 September 1786
The Olympia Boutique Hotel in Seefeld was so comfortable we didn't want to leave! But after making the most of the breakfast buffet and settling our bill - the highest yet, proportionate to the comfort of the hotel - we set off along the shore of the Wildsee, the lake that gives Seefeld its name.
A gentle climb through a deep green forest of pine trees and ferns brought us into mountain pastures with a view over the valley of the river Inn far down below. Low clouds swirled through the valley, and a few drops of rain convinced us to stop and put on our raingear. But soon the sun came out again, and we were all sweating in our waterproof clothing!
We walked through the small farming villages of Reith and Leiten, where we saw a cow using a cow-scratching machine 😄
We continued into the forest, where at first the path was broad and easy. It then ran beside the road for a stretch, after which came the challenging part: a narrow path made up primarily of rocks and tree roots, winding its way down a steep slope with a sharp drop-off on one side. We realised this was the part of the trail where most of the day's 680 metre loss of elevation was concentrated, in only a few kilometres. In this section we were all too busy concentrating on where to put our feet to take photographs, until we came to a broader section of trail with a view over the castle below.
From here we had a relatively easy descent down a gravel slope to Zirl, where we stopped at a bakery and café for a well-earned break. This was one of those trails where walking downhill can be harder than walking uphill! Luckily the rain had held off until we reached the bottom: while we were in the café it started really raining, and it would have been dangerous to attempt the descent through the forest in such conditions!
We wrapped ourselves in colourful plastic and set off again: the remaining 15 kilometres of the trail into Innsbruck was all on paved or gravel roads and cycling paths, so the rain didn't really matter. Once we had found the right path, made difficult by a sign turned around the wrong way, we walked beside the railway tracks for what seemed an eternity, taking a break on the only sheltered bench along the way, in a small railway station called Kematin.
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| Taking a break in Kematin railway station |
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| Walking beside the Inn river |
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| Only those with waterproof trousers dare sit down! |
Several kilometres of railway tracks and open fields later, we came to Völs, and a major shopping centre where the supermarket had an in-house bakery and café. We crossed an off-ramp that was by no means intended for pedestrians and finally found ourselves in a sheltered place with toilets and hot drinks! 😄
We peeled off our rain ponchos and sat down to some sandwiches - a combination of our own and those sold by the bakery. Some time later we prepared to set off again, refuelled and dry; the rain had slowed down to a slight sprinkle. We followed the bends in the river Inn all the way into the city, leaving the river only to take a shortcut through a multicultural residential district. Upon returning to the river we found ourselves in the green belt of the city of Innsbruck, where people were just getting off work and going for their evening stroll/jog/dog walk. The riverside trail took us all the way to the bridge over the river that gives Innsbruck its name, and our apartment facing the bridge and the city centre. It took us some time to figure out how to get the keycard out of the touchscreen self check-in station, but eventually I realised you just had to jab the "print keycard" button really hard, and only then would the keycard printer spit out a card onto the floor 😅. Our studio apartment located on colourful Mariahilfstraße, or rather, just off it at Innstraße no. 1, is one big room, with two double beds, a bathroom, a shower room, a kitchen corner and a small table. By the time we got in, it was almost closing time for the nearby supermarket, so I exchanged my backpack for a couple of shopping bags and went straight out to get groceries for dinner: asparagus soup, bread, fruit and yogurt, as well as breakfast cereal and milk for the morning! Tomorrow we have a day of rest and sightseeing in Innsbruck.
Seefeld - Innsbruck 27 km
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