4 1/2 miles ascent 650′ descent 350′
Today felt like a fun bonus day, a day hike into the mountains south of Innsbruck. We left our packs at the hotel and headed off to walk along the Zirbenweg on the slopes of Patscherkofel, overlooking Innsbruck and the Inntal Valley. Part of the adventure was to understand the timetables and the routes of various forms of public transportation, which began with a bus, then a cable car, another cable car, a bus, train and, finally, another bus. Sandwiched between the two cable car rides was a beautiful 4 1/2 mile hike.
What a perfect day to hike a mountain top with gorgeous panoramas!
Walking without our packs was delightful and felt almost effortless!
Looking east across the Inntal Valley we could see the Wilder Kaiser range that we had walked days ago.
Red topped mushrooms are rare, and these were the first we had seen on this trip.
There were often unique water fountains along the trek and this day’s trail was no exception.
Nearing the end of our mountain-top ridge walk, we could see a possible lunch rest stop: Tulfeinalm – we grabbed a snack there, although we had planned to take our lunch meal later, once off the mountain.
Tulfeinalm was extremely busy with happy, exhausted hikers and mountain bikers. Under the highest recommendation I was encouraged to try a new refreshing drink, cold buttermilk with berries, which lived up to its rave reviews!
Having finished the morning walk, we began the return to Innsbruck by hopping on the Glungezerbahn cable car to descend to the valley, passing the holiday resort of Tulfes with its lovely church steeple and magnificent mountain back drop. Once off the cable car we caught a bus to the medieval town of Hall (the name is derived from the Celtic word for salt).
Arriving in Hall, we had an enjoyable lunch at the hotel and restaurant, Goldener Engl, and walked around Hall’s Altstadt.
To complete the day hike, we caught the train back to Innsbruck and a bus to the hotel. It was quite an enjoyable day and definitely varied.