September 5, 1999 to September 6, 1999
Day hikes from Zell am Zimmer
Day 1: Kreuzjoch
The first of two hiking days - happily both were sunny, the beginning of a week of good weather. We got some limited information from a travel bureau (the information center was closed on Sunday) and began by walking over to the cable car on the far side of town for a hike on the Kreizjoch, a massive knob on the east side of the valley.
Our hike got off to a very slow start. We took the wrong road out of town, adding a mile along a busy highway; and then caught the wrong cable car, ending up several hundred yards steeply downhill from the middle station of the correct line. A fifteen minute scramble up the steep hillside brought us to the correct station and eventually to the top.
The hike itself was very pretty, steeply climbing for about an hour before settling into gentler terrain near the top. We enjoyed a picnic break at the summit, surrounded by great views into the Ziller valley and the glacier covered ranges to the south.
On the way down we either misunderstood a local hiker or received bad advice, and ended up on a steep cross-country scramble down the mountain, missing the trail completely. We spent the better part of an hour thrashing through scrub until finally regaining the path.
We then backtracked on the trail for about ten minutes to a service hut, where we enjoyed drinks and delicious strudel - I had a beer, and Rachael had some unknown alcoholic drink she ordered by mistake. There was a large crowd celebrating there, with live music - guitar, accordion and clarinet. Walking back to the cable car down the ride down to the valley, Rachael needed a steadying hand to ward off the influence of her grog. after returning to town we stopped for the first of two nights at a good pizzeria.
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Day 2: Hintertux
After breakfast we took the train to Mayrhofen and from there transferred to a bus to Hintertux, at the end of a road high up a tributary of the Ziller. From there we caught a cable car to the 2,300 meter level and the start of a splendid hike, perhaps the best of the tour. Walking through high alpine meadows, we experienced great views to the snow and icebound Ziller Alps and down into neighboring valleys.
After hiking for about four hours that included some quite precarious scrambling on narrow traverses across steep slopes, we stopped for refreshments at another alpine hut before hiking down along a stream back to Hintertux. The hike has much of interest, including dozens of marmots, waterfalls, lovely flowers, and the everpresent fabulous vistas. It is quite amazing that we’ve had such fine hiking weather these past few days.
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