We loaded up the van--we are leaving the castle today. On our way out of Mitersill we stopped to get photos of the sculpture we have seen every day here. We nicknamed it PP Man.
After a short drive we unloaded the bikes and cycled through town before getting on a farm trail. There were horses on one side and fields on the other, with views of the Alps on both sides.
The fog had started to lift by then and we could see the mountain we'd been on yesterday. In the photo above, the small structure near the middle of the photo on the side of the mountain is the deck we stood on for yesterday's photos. That was where we exited the tunnel through the top of the mountain.
We rode along the River Salzach on narrow farm lanes and bike trails, passing through many little villages along the way.
We finished our ride in Taxenbach, all too soon. There we had a wonderful lunch and then had a five minute ride in the van to the Kitzloch Gorge. They had a natural spring trough there--we've seen them throughout this ride. The spring water flows continuously. We'd just filled our water bottles so did not take advantage of it.
Of course we started climbing steps as soon as we left the parking lot! There was a waterfall near the beginning of the hike.
Below you can see the stairs leading up to the top of the gorge. Many many stairs...
The photo below is the view from the bridge in the photo above.
We got to the end of the ravine--a path continued after that but there was a no trespassing sign in three different languages so we decided not to go on. We saw this memorial at the end of the ravine. We thought it was commemorating the deaths of 8 people. But when Peter read it and translated it into English for us (and Hungarian for Marietta) it was much worse... the 8 names on the memorial were the only survivors of a class trip in 1974. There were 30 children; they lined up on the bridge for a group photo and the bridge collapsed sending all 30 children plummeting to the bottom of the gorge. The survivors were grievously injured. The gorge park was closed for two years after that, and the wooden bridges were rebuilt with metal girders supporting them.
On our way back down the gorge we saw some mountain climbers. First photo below is the rock cliff face they were climbing. Next photo is the same place, zoomed in on the climbers. While we were still watching they reached a rest plateau and yodeled in triumph!
We got back in the van for the hour and a half trip to our hotel near lake Hallstatt. The castle below was on our way here--this is Carrie's photo taken from the van while traveling at 100 KPH.
We arrived at the mansion converted into a hotel at around 4:30 PM. There were no rooms in the main house with 2 beds, so Diana and I have a small 2-bedroom apartment in another building.
This is our building--we are the only guests here tonight although there are several other apartments. It is very quiet.
This is the back of the main house. There is a wonderful pool, if a little chilly. I had a refreshing swim... Fall is in the air tonight, a welcome change from the hot weather we've experienced most of our time in Austria.
There were some donkeys at the back of the property. They were anxious for the apples from the tree just outside their fence... some of our group accommodated them. I kept my distance.
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