September 21, 2018. At St. Wolfgang, Austria. Biked 40 Kilometers.

The plan this morning was to ride on the St. Wolfgang Steam Cog Railway, the steepest in Austria. We walked a mile to get to the station and got on the train moments later for the 35 minute ride to the top of Schafberg Mountain. This train has been running since 1893.

When we got to the top Carrie snapped this photo of the altitude (1783 Meters) and the wind.

We could see forever in all directions. Most of the mountaintop had no guardrails, with sheer dropoffs. I was careful not to get too close to the edge!  We could see Lake Wolfgang far below us.

There was a guardrail at the highest point of the mountaintop. Of course we went up there too.

We had strict orders to be on the platform at 11 AM to catch the 11:05 train back down the mountain. Six of us were there at 11--only Peter and Marietta were missing! They showed up at 11:03 and got on the train just in time.

Peter took our group photo after the ride down the mountain.

We had some free time then, and Diana and I walked to the Church of St. Wolfgang. On the way there we stopped at the grocery store for sandwiches and juice for lunch and I bought some Austrian chocolate for my family.

We ate our lunch in the alcove below, and then we entered the church. Photography is not allowed inside--take my word for it--it was spectacular! There was an unbelievable amount of gold in there, not to mention all the paintings.

I took a photo of our hotel on the way back. We had plans to meet at 1:30 and get on the bikes, but that all changed when they found a seriously damaged tire on the E-Bike that was rented for Cheryl. Peter told us today's ride  had no real hills--just a few undulations. So Cheryl rode the spare bike they'd brought along "just in case". We were on the bikes by 2 PM, on our way around the lake.

 

We could see St. Wolfgang across the lake. We saw the cog railway tracks and the structures on top of Schafberg Mountain (the unforested one).  It was indeed a much gentler ride than any of the others this week.

Our Hotel is the one just to the right of the long red awning. We stopped several times for photo opportunities as we pedaled along on bike trails (both paved and unpaved) and side streets. It was a lovely ride.

We stopped at St. Gilgen for a break and an ice cream. It's a lovely little town on the shore of the lake. Peter took our group photo there.

We turned around then, and rode back to St. Wolfgang. We'd discussed the trails and decided that they were rail trails, even though we hadn't seen a sign stating it... we found our proof on the way back. The trail we were on was an active local narrow-gauge rail line from June 1892 until September 1957.

It was another hot day today--we have lucked out with the weather this week! When we got back to St. Wolfgang, Carrie, Tim, Diana and I decided to jump in the lake and cool off. Three of us followed through--this is a glacier-fed lake and it was a cold experience! Diana took the photo.