Day 75: Salzburg to Pfarrwerfen, Austria: Riding the thin white line down the mountain, by the iron rail, in the rain.

August 2, 2012

We came back to our tent last night to find that a pile of other tents had been installed almost on top of us. At first we were a little crabby, but we realized that the whole campsite was full, and that the owner had crammed in the tents rather than turn the cyclists away. That’s ok by us.

We came back to find some very close neighbours

Dodie did the entire pack up, to give me a chance to organize the Salzburg photos a bit. Both chores were a lot of work, and took us from 6:30 to 8:30, but we did leave at a reasonable hour.

We didn’t get too far because of a stop at Spar for some groceries. I stayed out with the bikes. A man approached me, selling magazines, which of course I could not buy. After, I kept an eye on him as he approached shoppers coming to the Spar. No one was interested in his wares. Some smiled and waved him off, others totally ignored him.

I got to thinking what a hard job it was for him, standing out there. And while some people would look at him and see a pest, I was thinking to someone he might be “dad”. The man was clearly from eastern Europe, so maybe it would be correct to say he was a gypsy. As we left he approached us again with the magazines. Must have forgot that we were a no go. I tried to exchange a few words with him, but there was no communication. I wished him “good luck” anyway.

This man selling magazines was a sad figure

We headed down our now familiar bike path by the stream.

All those fishermen from the Loire canals need to come here!

Back on the Salzach we also again cruised to our new favourite city, snapping some “nostalgic” shots as we passed.

Heading into new territory, we arrived in Halein, the site of the slat mine that fuelled Salzburg’s development. We found that we could take a bus tour of the mine, but in total it would cost about 2-3 hours, so we reluctantly pedalled on.

We had begun to see “real” mountains almost immediately out of Salzburg, but by Golling they were getting “really real”. Now we get the typical Grampies propensity to not know what in heaven’s name they are cycling in to. The next “town” on the map was called Pass Lueg. So what – town names are all a bit strange to us here. Dodie pointed out a 2 km tunnel to maybe cope with around here. …Still did not fizz. So when we came to a big hill we just stoically pushed the bikes up. Trudge, trudge, for an hour.

Meanwhile the “real” mountains were gathering around us. It felt just like we were back in Canada, about 20 km south of Jasper, Alberta. The Salzach turned from our friendly broad route companion to a brash teenage river in a narrow gorge. Then thunder began to roll around the mountains, and there was lightening overhead. We came to Pass Lueg, and found that “Pass” means pass! That is, we were high in a mountain pass.

The tunnel did not appear, because we had climbed over it. However the road had not cycle way and basically no shoulder. So in the rain, with no shoulder and heavy traffic we started down. Grampies are actually used to this – but not in Europe!

On the other side of the pass we were in a world of high mountains, houses of typical Austrian style, one castle, and green steep slopes. Because of hills and a bit of a late start, our progress had not been fast enough. We were targeting Radstadt, from which we could reasonably hit Irdning the next day. Irdning is the village where our brother-in-law Erhard’s brother Christian lives. We are planning to drop in on Christian, Birgit, and the kids.

But we forecasted getting to Radstadt in the almost dark, so we bailed out and went to the camping place at Pfarrwerfen. Although crowed with the usual camping cars, it is a beautiful place – by the river and beneath towering mountains. So we are here – in the Austrian mountains! We know it’s true because the camping platz owner has exactly the same accent as Erhard!

Hallein was cute but by now we are used to such main streets

This machine moved over for Dodie, but sulkily threw rocks at us

Mountain scenery. FLASH We have learned that Werfen was a location for Sound of Music.

Austrian style. Unlike Bavarian houses with two stories and flowers, there are no shutters and the second story features a lot of wood.

More photos to follow - when internet allows!

We called it quits at Camping Vierthaler

Today's ride: 61 km (38 miles)
Total: 3,523 km (2,188 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	0
Comment on this entry	Comment	0