In my last post, I waxed poetic about how Obertraun Austria is a mecca for hiking, which is why our intent was to hike every day that we were there. Unfortunately I was reminded once again that my 37 year old body is more like a 77 year old body…it can’t just keep going without rest. The RA kicked in by day 5 and my legs were shot. I had taken a muscle relaxer the previous night so I was also dopey when we woke up to a dreary rainy day. So we opted for a shorter route close by, the Koppenwinkl loop trail which took about 3 hours.
The Koppenwinkl trail followed the Traun river & began & ended in Obertraun. The advantage of rainy weather is that we got beautiful soft images and had the trail to ourselves.
Once we crossed the river, our walk became more wooded & we began to see moss covered rocks & a closer view of the mountain.
Once we passed through a meadow, we appeared to be heading away from the water but then we reached a swiftly moving stream, a barnyard & the Koppenwinklalm (lake). I wasn’t much impressed by the lake (looked murky to me, like a place Grendel’s mom might live) but I’ve been told it’s magical in the winter.
Along the trail we noticed memorials, which honor someone who died in that spot. Some were quite old & my favorites depicted how the person actually died.
It may not have been the longer trail which we had planned, but the Koppenwinkl loop certainly did not disappoint. I spent the rest of that day in a drug induced stupor while Eric enjoyed sitting in his Poang chair sipping espresso, eating cookies & reading. Not a bad day after all.
