Kitzbuhel to Gotschenkapelle via Hechenmoos return via Schlelerfall - Austria 11 Aug 2012.

Kitzbuhel to Gotschenkapelle via Hechenmoos return via Schlelerfall
Austria
Distance 15km
Saturday 11th August 2012

At breakfast in the Hotel Edelweiss again we still had not decided on where we were going to walk today.  Veronika came to our rescue with another route suggestion.  We made up our packed lunches, changed into our walking clothes and set off on another of Veronika's walks.

The walk started along route 2 which was straight from the hotel this was originally the Rumer-weg (Roman Way).  We soon came into a very rural area where large rabbits sat next to farm houses along with goats, and sheep and some had small ponds with ducks and geese.

Nearly ever stream had a waterfall

We followed very close by the river to Aurach, where a large tent had been set up.  It looked like it was where they were holding a musical competition for the area.  Veronika had told us to stay on this path for another couple of km before turning off, so we continued on.

In the distance we could see the Gotschenkapelle, a little chapel on a small hill.

We turned left and crossed the river and the road at Hechenmoos.  Following Veronika's directions we walked along the Kapellenweg and came up the back of the Gotschenkapelle standing at 936m.

Anne after crossing the road at Hechenmoos, with Gotschenkapelle in the middle distance.

Gotschenkapelle 936m

The view North from Gotschenkapelle

Anne at Gotschenkapelle

After our packed lunch at Gotschenkapelle we now took the track to Oberaurach, where we passed a number of expensively looking rich peoples houses.  One even had a large moose's head on the side instead of the traditional stags antlers.  We are not sure if it had anything to do with the name of the area, Moosen.

Anne at one of the churches in Oberaurach 847m

Another church in Oberaurach

Leaving Oberaurach we took a steep path out of the town and headed towards Sonnberg.  It was along here after crossing a couple of fields we found a seat and rested looking at the view.  While sitting we could hear a woodpecker in the tree just behind us.  Anne saw him first and it was just luck that I was able to get a photo of him as he was moving around the tree.

After passing through Sonnberg we came to a junction where we could return to Kitzbuhel or we could walk on and return by another route.  While looking at the map I saw Schleierfall, a waterfall we had walked to the previous year.  It did not take us too far off our route so we decided that we would take a walk along and see the waterfall again.  As we approached the woods where Schleirfall was we saw a sign that looked like the track was closed due to a landslide.  We stopped and had a think about it but thought we would have a look and see how far we could get before we would have to turn around and go back another way.

The falls were better than they had been last year, probably due to the extra water that was falling, but moving down the track we could see the extent of the damage as whole parts of the track had been washed away.  The further we moved down the more we could see the destruction caused by the forces of nature.  Although the track had been damaged we still managed to work our way through back to the bottom part of the path, and you could see from the footprints and cycle tracks we were not the only ones who had walked down.

Schleierfall

Once on the road we were passing a chicken coup near a stream when Anne spotted a grass snake.  It must have been about six inches long, minding its own business crossing the track.  From the photo it looks a lot bigger.

The track now leads down back into Kitzbuhel.  We passed close by the Sportpark where last year a local celebrity Hansi Hinterseer held an open air concert.

For us it was back up to the Hotel Edelweiss for our afternoon tea and cake.  We had walked about 15km with a little climb to the Gotschenkapelle, a little climb from Oberaurach and another climb to the Schlelerfall.  By far the best bit was the walk through the woods where the path had gone.

More to follow


Boz North

Details correct at time of walking.

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Follow link to next walk Aschau to Kitzbuhel
Follow link to previous walk Hahnenkamm to Pengelsteinsee