Canfranccanfranc - 45k

Prologue

For a long time, I was interested in visiting the northern part of Spain, and especially the Pyrenees. As I did some research I found this race. The introduction was exciting, and so I decided to register.

Last long run before the race

The run on Schöckl one day after I arrived in Austria. Two weeks after the run I was sick. Lost a lot of weight. Images are shocking.

Race day and before

Trip to Canfranc on September 7 2023. It is a small ski city at the border of Spain and France. We flew from Vienna to Barcelona, and with the high-speed train we travelled to Zaragoza. From there we rented a car and drove to Canfranc.

The race started on Saturday September 9, at 9:00 am.

The initial uphill to La Moleta (2572 m). It was a 7 km uphill section with almost 1400 m of elevation gain. It went smoothly. 

After reaching the peak and starting the technical downhill it hit me that I’m racing in a mountain race. Due to many things happening in my life I was not super prepared mentally for the race. 

The technical downhill took us to Ibón de Iserias. Ibón means small mountain lake in Aragonese dialect of Spanish. 

The second peak Larraca (2277 m). I was feeling very good until this point. I passed many people on this ascent. I was feeling confident.

The downhill from here was following the ski lift. Not technical at all. In the end of the downhill we reached to an asphalt section (around 2 km).

Next, we started the tedious ascent to the third peak, Tuca Blanca (2240). The uphill to this peak was very demanding to me. I was trying to keep the pace; however, I was already feeling that I am tired, and I am hitting the limit. And the technical terrain was not helping. 

From Tuca Blanca another technical downhill section started. I was very slow in this section, and many people passed me here.

The last deadly uphill to Collado Estiviellas (2080 m). From the last highest point 5 kilometers of extreme serpentine way. Easy to run but frustrating.

The whole trip was like a dream. Experiencing the mountains in my favorite country.

During the race I felt the tiredness from the GGUT race, and the sickness in the last two weeks.

This trip and the race were just an introduction to the beautiful world of Pyrenees. I am confident I will have much more trips to these mountains. 

Time: 7:47:35

Ranking: 40/312 (Males 37/277)

Großglockner Trail - 57k

Prologue

The Großglockner (3,798 m), is the highest peak of Austria. The mountain range containing the Großglockner, called the High Tauern (shared by Carinthia, Osttirol and Salzburg), is one of the Meccas of every mountain enthusiast in Austria. Therefore, a mountain running race in these mountains has also a special place in every mountain runner’s heart.

The Großglockner Ultratrail (GGUT), has 6 different distances (110 km, 84 km, 57 km, 37 km, 16 km) including one for the juniors. 

This race was in my mind for years. However, due to many reasons I could not make it to take a decision to commit for it. 

This year, with the structured planning that I started in January, I had to also plan the races for the rest of the year. As this race is arguably the most important mountain running event in Austria, it was impossible for me not to add it to my list. And this time, I did not have any excuses. I had enough time to plan my whole training and other non-training related things.

So, I marked the date in my calendar.

Preparing for the race included participating in a race in Slovenia in May, and doing long distance runs the weeks before the race. I was trying to also include runs in technical terrains, as it was part of the challenge of this race: alpine trails, with relatively long snow passages.

Last long run before the race

According to the unwritten rules of how to make a proper training plan for a race, one does the last hard and long effort three weeks before the race. This run is used to simulate the distance, and other important characteristics of the race (e.g., the elevation gain, technical difficulties etc.).

For this, I chose to go to the Hochschwab region. A beautiful mountain range in Styria, with the highest point, the Hochschwab peak (2277 m). The plan was to hike to a hut in the mountains, spend the night there and start the run early in the morning.

I booked a place at the Sonnschienhütte, a mountain hut located at the Sonnschienalm. This hut is accessible via a hike from the Grüner Lake, which is also easily accessible via public transportation from Graz. I hiked to the hut on Friday evening, and on Saturday at 6am I started my run.

The run included a visit to the Hochschwab peak, and from there continuing the same plateau and a descent to the valley, and again back to the hut. It was 35 km with roughly 2200 m of elevation gain. As I started early the weather was very pleasant. During this run I also tested new equipment that I bought for the race.

After the run and some hours of rest at the hut, I hiked back to the Grüner Lake, and came back to Graz. It was a quite long and tiring, but highly satisfying day.

Race day and before

The 55k route of the GGUT is logistically complicated. It starts in Kals am Großglockner, a mountain village located in Osttirol at the south side of the Großglocker mountains, and ends at the northern side, in Kaprun in Salzburg.

Kals am Großglockner is a village located at the elevation of 1324 m, and it is not straightforward to reach it via public transportation. On Thursday evening I arrived there.

I had enough time to make myself comfortable to the new environment and focus and calm down before the race. As the village is located relatively high from the sea level, it was a perfect place to sleep before a race which takes us as high as 2650 m. 

On the race day I woke up at 6am. The race was supposed to start at 7:30am. I had enough time to get my bib number and have breakfast. As always, I prepared everything the night before, so that no brain functioning was required on that morning.

The race started right in front of the place that I was staying. After some meters of asphalt, the trail started. The first big uphill reached up to approximately 2550 m, where the Glorer hut is located. From there we reached a plateau, after which a rather technical downhill started until the Glocknerhaus, another mountain hut. From there a long uphill started, which took us to the highest point of the race (I was able to read up to 2670 m on my watch). Until this point I was feeling very comfortable, almost joyful. I was joking, laughing, sometimes even singing. However, troubles (mostly made up due to my own irrational thoughts) started after we reached to the highest point and started the first steep downhill with one short and one long snow sections. In the long snow section, it was practically impossible to run. For the last part of the rather very steep downhill, the mountain rescue team of Fusch (a village nearby) made steps in the snow, so that we could come down without injuring ourselves.

As the snow section ended, I knew that the technical and fun sections have ended. From this part of the race on, one must keep the endurance, fight against the heat and other complications caused by it, and just keep going on. And that is what I tried to do.

I put music, and just tried to focus on immediate next steps instead of the finish line. After some kilometers along the valley, in the last 15 km to the finish line, a deadly 700-800 m uphill started. I heard about this infamous uphill section from both runners who participated in this race in the previous years. So, I thought I was prepared for it. But it hits differently when I experience it for the first time.

I had to go through cramps, tiredness, fast loss of water with sweating, heavy legs... I could not imagine myself being able to run again after the uphill section is over. The only good thing was that I could see that I was keeping the pace with the other runners near me.

As I reached the end of the uphill section, I tried running again. Miraculously, I could run. The trail was not technical at all, which was a blessing for my heavy and slow legs.

Yes, I was back again. I was running like it was the beginning of the race. I was on a roll. I was passing people, wishing them all the best.

This euphoria went on until the last technical downhill section before the finish line arrived. Only 3 km were left. Technical downhill requires different leg movements than monotonic running on a flat terrain, and this triggers the cramps. This time the cramps were even more painful, which made me to slow down, and in the meantime some people passed me.

This fight with the cramps continued until I reached the last asphalt section before the finish line. In the last meters I was able to run again.

Reaching the finish line was very emotional to me. Finally, being able to successfully finish the most important race of the season in a healthy way, a race that was like a test to my abilities of moving fast in the mountains.

I was happy. Extremely satisfied. I spent long time in the finish line, observing my surroundings and reflecting on what I just experienced.

The night in the hotel was very painful, I did not take any painkillers with me, which on such occasions can be very helpful. Therefore, I had to go through a lot of pain in my legs while trying to sleep.

The next day I spent some time in Zell am See, had lunch, and took the train back to Graz.

Time: 7:54:24

Ranking: 31/410 (Males 28/325)

Ultra Trail Vipava Valley (UTVV) - 60K (Gladiator course)

Prologue

After running "la corsa della Bora" race in the Karst plateau (from Trieste) in January this year, I started a a process of healing the pain that I had at the tendon near my right knee. Since October last year, I was feeling this pain. And I was ignoring it for a long time. So, after the race in Trieste, I decided to solve this injury. It was necessary, as I had semi-ambitious plans for this summer. So, for the first time, I started to keep a manual journal of my weekly training plan. 

Along with the journaling process, I planned the races that I wanted to run at. As the first race of the season, I found out that the 60k route of the Ultra Trail Vipava Valley (UTVV) would be the best option. With the healing and recovery process of my tendon, I guessed that I could do it. And also, Slovenia in May, would be a huge pity to miss.

Location

The race starts and finishes in Ajdovščina; a small town (with a population of roughly 19k), located in the Vipava valley, in southwest of Slovenia. Historically, it is an important passage, connecting the northern Italy to central Europe. The climate of the region is Mediterranean.

The highest point of the race is at a plateau, which runners climb to after they come down back to the valley again at km 22. The plateau is called Nanos. This plateau is also the place where the war between anti-fascist Slovene partisans and the Italian army during the second world war (in year 1942) took place.

View of Ajdovščina from top of the Nanos

Pre-race day (May 5, 2023)

I took the bus from Graz to Ljubljana, and from there again with the bus to Ajdovščina. In Ljubljana I had a short time to go visit the main square, and have a coffee.

As I arrived in Ajdovščina, I went directly to hotel, put my stuff in order. After that I headed to the race expo place, and took my bib number etc. The next station was the pizzeria, or in Slovene picerija. I wanted to eat my main meal for lunch, so that I can eat something lighter for dinner. This way I could also fall asleep easily, and sleep better.

In the afternoon and evening, I was just relaxing. Apart from a short walk to the supermarket and the park near my hotel, I stayed in my room. Did my works and watched some series. And eventually slept around 10pm.

Ajdovščina

The pizza before the race

Race location

Race day (May 6, 2023)

I woke up at 6:15am. Ate a small breakfast. My clothes and gear was already done and ready from last night.

The race started at 7am. The weather was still cool. However from yesterday's experience I knew that it was going to get hot. Initial kilometers were flat, first through the town, and later through the farms. As the first uphill started I took out my poles. I had everything under control. I was catching more and more people. We were running on mixed (asphalt/unpaved) roads. The uphills were still quite soft. I had the chance of speaking with a runner from Poland. He told me about his three trips to Iran. As we reached the first long downhill I lost him.

The sun was shining directly on us. It was getting hotter. However I was still feeling quite good.

At km 22 we arrived back to the valley, where there was the third food station. And right after that the 1000 m climb to the top of the Nanos started.

The climb section for me was very enjoyable. We were supposed to run around 9,5 km until the top, with around 1000 m of elevation gain. Before the race, in my imagination I was thinking that this section will be the hardest. However, as I was on this section, I realized that it took me shorter than what I was imagining. As I am climbing, I have to focus on many things. The mind is busy. If I'm lucky and get to the flow, then it feels like I can do it for infinity.

But, in the last meters of the climb I was already very tired. I could see the antenna at the peak but I was quite annoyed that I could not reach it as fast as possible.

At the top I refilled my water bladder. I knew that the next station was after 14 kilometers. The downhill section after Nanos felt great. It was less hot. But this section was shorter than expected; I had to turn right from the main unpaved road and started to climb again.

During this section of the race, I was feeling in equilibrium. I was trying to focus on the current moment, instead of how I am going to feel in 20 kilometers. I was listening to music (which I started to do after km 30). But I knew that at some point the heat is going to make it all harder.

It started to happen in the last kilometers to the last station before finish, where there was a long downhill section. It was very technical. There were big rocks on the single track. Making it impossible for me to run. I was almost screaming out of frustration as I was trying to move as fast as possible without losing my balance.

At the last station I drank as much liquid as possible. However I did not refill my water bladder. It turned out later that it could have been a huge mistake. Some kilometers later I realized how thirsty I am. And I still had 15 kilometers with 350 m elevation gain in front of me. As the last uphill section started, I had to slow down. 

Luckily, the organizers put a water station on the way. This station was not announced before the race. I was very happy. As I drank water I could move fast again.

The last 7 km the way was easy downhill. I could move fast (relatively). I was feeling revived. This happens most of the time to me. The unexpected energy at the end of the race. Pointing to the fact that most of the exhaustion feelings during the race are just mental barriers: our mind trying our body to stop.

Before finish, our route united with that the 30k runners. It became crowded again. After hours of solitude it was nice to see people. People that are smiling, greeting, cheering.

And finally the finish line. I was laughing. But also I needed to sit down, eat and drink.

I finished the race in 6h23m, 8th overall, and 7th within the male runners.

My gear

Start

After finishing. Enjoying my non-alcoholic beer 

At the finish

Epilogue

After the race my stomach was blocked. I knew I had to eat, but it was not possible. In the evening I went to the same "picerija" (pizzeria in Slovene) again. This time I wanted to eat the pizza with minced meat, which is quite typical in Slovenia. Minced meat on pizza was very typical also during my childhood.

Sadly they didn't have it, so I had to go for pizza carbonara. Another seemingly unusual type of pizza. However it was very delicious.

The volunteers were very helpful, supportive. In this sense this organization was one of the best that I have experienced. I would be glad to come here again.

Sunny and beautiful Ljubljana on Sunday

My humble ode to the beautiful Slovenia: Ljubljana - Grintovec - Ljubljana

Kamnik Alps from the Ljubljana castle.

During my 2 months stay at Ljubljana, while getting into and learning about the society, observing people's love and passion to their mountains, their methodic and traditional approach to the mountain sports (which I love and prefer), I developed an admiration to them. In addition to all the fantastic time that I spent in the city itself, I was also inspired by their mountain and sport culture.

As I was approaching the end of my stay there, I was looking to do a long run in Slovenia. I like to dedicate a run to something that I love or something that I am grateful for. I both love, and am grateful for my time in Slovenia, so I thought with myself, I need to do something.

At the north of Ljubljana, visible from the city, lies the Kamnik-Savinja alps. The highest point of this mountain range is Grintovec 2558 m. I checked the paths to the peak from Slovenia's main reference for their mountains, namely hribi.net (there is also an English version of the website, for those interested). The realized that the standard path to the peak is quite easy. The only problem was that it was too far away for me to start the run from Ljubljana. So there I had my favorite solution to this problem: riding with my bike to the start point of the run. I also chose the time of the activity: on my last weekend in Ljubljana: June 25, Saturday.

I talked about my plan with Simon, the colleague at the institute that I was working. He is a passionate mountain athlete. He likes to run, and honestly also one of the people that was inspiring for me. He loved the plan, and told me about the traditional race that used to take place from Kamniska Bistrica (original starting point of the hike to Grintovec), with 10 km and 2000 m of elevation gain. In the original plan I was going to do this alone, however Simon also got very interested in this. So I was also glad to have his company.

So the concrete plan was: Start at 5 am at the Preseren Square (considered as the city center) and ride the bike to Stahovica. There I was going to change to running, while Simon would continue with bike to Kamniska Bistrica. Somewhere on the mountain we would meet and continue together. Finally we would end the activity again at the Preseren Square. The goal was to finish the activity within 9 hours.

Two weeks to our Grintovec day, I gave my bike to service. And the next weekend I got it to Ljubljana. Also I was not happy anymore with my Salomon backpack, so this was the best opportunity to purchase a new pack. I ordered the Ultimate Direction Ultra Vest. I bought two 0.5 lt Source water bottles because I read in the reviews that people are not very happy with the bottles of Ultimate Direction. I also took my Inreach mini from Graz, just in case (which I didn't take with me to the mountain). I took my Dynafit Ultra 100 shoes. 

Two days before the activity we planned the route (especially the bike route). The total distance would be around 90 km (58 km bike, 32 km run). Regarding weather we had some doubts, as it was forecasted that it would rain with lightning later in the morning. So we had to check back again on the last day (on Friday). On Friday it was still the same: rain and thunderstorm around 11 am. However according to our time plan this would not be a problem. We were already back in the valley at those times. 

Regarding nutrition, as is the case for any long-day activity, I had some salty peanuts with myself. Haribo gums, isotonic gels. Additionally I bought carbohydrate pills. My plan was to try them later in the day to see their effectiveness.

On that day, I woke up at 4 am. All my gear were already ready from the last night. I got up, ate something, took everything at rode to the center. We met with Simon at 4:55 am, and started the ride. The plan was to reach in Stahovica until 6:30 am, which we achieved easily (because Simon was riding faster than I expected). At Stahovica parking place we said goodbye, and I started my run. The road until Kamniska Bistrica was asphalt, and after some point there was no pavement for pedestrians. This made me a bit nervous. As I continued some minutes, I saw the start of a train, which was apparently leading to Kamniska Bistrica. I thought that it would be in parallel to the asphalt road, and decided to take the risk and run from there.

It was a mistake. The path started to go uphill, then downhill. This was obviously not a direct way. I decided to come back to the asphalt road whenever possible. After I was on the asphalt road again, I already ran around 4, 5 km with 300 m elevation gain too much. I was really pissed off by my amateur mistake. However I tried to stay calm and continue.

I will not explain the hike path to Grintovec, as it is already described perfectly here.

The final hundreds of meters of elevation gain to the saddle was really steep, but enjoyable. I was already looking forward to run downhill here. The path was scree, which is perfect for running downhill fast. I realized that I have too little water. When I arrived to the saddle, I was already feeling thirsty (not a good sign). On the roof (last ascent to the peak) I met Simon, who was already coming back. We agreed to meet at the saddle, to stop and drink something.

It was at the saddle that I found out about a big problem: I wanted to take a picture and I realized that my phone is asking for the PUK number of my sim card. God knows what happened during my run. So I could not take any pictures from all those magnificent views that I saw. No summit selfie. It was a painful realization.

As I reached the summit, there were already couple of people. I stood there, watched my surrounding in awe. The view from the top is simply amazing... Then I drank my remaining water (knowing that I will buy some drink from the hut at the saddle), ate something and started my descent.

We met with Simon at the saddle, had a cola, spent some time chatting and then continued descending. First we were running downhill, however as we reached the section with a lot of big rocks and roots we decided to slow down. Our legs were tired, and making a mistake in this situation could cause a dangerous fall, which could easily be avoided.

At Kamniska Bistrica we did a short stop to see the start of the stream. It was a small pond, with maybe the best water that I have ever drank.

Finally, Simon rode with bike and waited for me at Stahovica. There we started riding with bike back to Ljubljana.

We were already very tired, but we wanted to be back in the city center until 14:00. And we made it.

I said goodbye to Simon, who went back home. I stayed a bit longer at the city center, had an ice cream, and slowly rode back to my room.

Preseren Square, 4:55 am

On the road.

The trail which I wrongly took on the way to Kamniska Bistrica (photo by Simon Rebersek).

Kamniska Bistrica

The ascent to the Kamnik Saddle (photo by Simon Rebersek)

The ascent to the saddle (photo by Simon Rebersek)

Looking back from the final ascent towards the Kamnik saddle (photo by Simon Rebersek)

The peak (photo by Simon Rebersek)

Back to the Preseren Square (photo by Simon Rebersek)

Exploring Gesäuse mountains (liveblog)

As one of the mountain groups located in the region that I live, Gesäuse has always been interested me. As it was very close to where I used to live until the summer of 2021, I visited many times the eastern subgroup of these mountains (Eisenerzer Reichenstein 2165 m, and Gößeck 2214). From east it is reachable from Leoben. From the west side they are neighbors with Admont, with its famous monastery. The highest peak of the Gesäuse is Hochtor 2369 m.

So this year I decided to explore the region. With a aim of doing a long trip visiting multiple peaks in an activity of several days. There are already some really interesting multiple-day routes in the literature.

In this blog post I am summarizing all the acitivities that I do during the summer of 2022.

June 19, 2022: Wald am Schoberpass - Lahnerleitenspitze - Speikkogel - Hinkareck - Zeiritzkampel - Kalwang

I took the train at 6:26 from Graz to arrive at 7:53 in Wald am Schoberpass. It was sunny at kind of hot. The first couple of kilometers were passing through asphalt or car roads. However later slowly the path led to a nice hiking trail. I was passing by or through some streams. So I became also sure that later when I descend from towards Kalwang from the next valley I won't have water problem.

The trail was steep, but very enjoyable to run. In the 7th km I arrived a pass called Jungfernsprung (or Jungfrauensprung). There is also a ridge around Graz with the same name. In km 10 I was at the saddle called Leobner Törl. Continuing to left, I would climb the peak called Leobner. But I did a sharp right and continued on a ridge which brought me to Lahnerleitenspitze 2027 m. The view was beautiful. I could also see the descent and the ascent to the next peak (Speikkogel 1992 m).

I was running on quite alone on these trails. I encountered some hikers. But there were not many. The trail was still quite runnable. It was not that hot. I was feeling very good. The next peak was Hinkareck 1932 m. From km 15 I started the climb to the last and highest point of today's run: Zeiritzkampel 2125 m.

In the last meters to the peak suddenly the ridge became quite narrow, with a very short secured section. At the peak I stopped to enjoy my solitude and the view. A hiker was approaching the peak from the direction that I was heading to. When she arrived we saluted each other. The ridge section right after the peak was very exciting. You can also see in the images how narrow the ridge was. However it was not hard to cross.

The later kms included some improvised downhill runs, tripping to a root and falling, suffering from severe heat, missing the train by literally 15 seconds, and in the end a very delicious Wiener Schnitzel.

Yes, I missed my planned train back to Graz by only seconds. I had to wait 2 more hours at Kalwang to catch the next train. Actually it was not a bad idea. I was exhausted by the heat, so at the completely empty train station I recovered a bit by lying on a bank, taking off my shoes and socks. And later I went to a restaurant to have lunch. So everything went fine.

Gear:

- My brand new Ultimate Direction Ultra 5 running vest. It is a good vest. It does not get wet by sweat like my Salomon vest. It is very lightweight, and the stuff fit perfectly and do not jump around while running. 

- Two 0.5 lt Source water bottles. They did the job.

- The other standard mountain running gear: Poles, water bladder, food, salted Haribo gums, running shoes.

Note: During the last very steep downhill sections I admired again my La Sportiva Bushido shoes. I am always amazed how good they perform.

One of the streams that I encountered during the first kilometers.

A look back on the trail, probably I was at Leobner Törl. Großer Ödstein and Hochtor are visible.

A look back on the climb to Rotwandköpfl. Further away most probably Admonter Reichenstein, Sparafeld and Admonter Kalbling are visible.

The Styrian Matterhorn, Lugauer.

The climb to Lahnerleitenspitze. I love this.

The trail ahead, and the next peak (Speikkogel) from Lahnerleitenspitze.

A look back to Lahnerleitenspitze from Speikkogel.

The highest point of the run, Zeiritzkampel. Looking back from where I came from.

The ridge ahead of me from Zeiritzkampel.

July 3, 2022: Mödlinger Hütte - Admonter Kalbling - Riffel - Mödlinger Hütte

The impulse for this activity came when I was in Ljubljana, walking in the city center full of people. I thought about those calm and exceptionally beautiful evenings when I was at a mountain hut. Enjoying the last minutes of sun, meditating about the hike/run that I did that day, or I will do the next day. I missed that feeling so much. So I decided to book a night at the Mödlinger hut, which one of the major huts at the Gesäuse.

Getting there requires an approximately 6.5 km (with around 800 m elevation gain) hike from Gaishorn am See. On Saturday (July 2, 2022) afternoon I got to the train (same connection as the first activity). As I arrived in Gaishorn around 6 pm, I started my hike which took exactly 1h24m until I reached the hut. The weather was not hot at all. This weekend was perfect for mountain activities because it rained the day before and the weather was substantially cooler. There were people sitting outside when I arrived in the hut. I checked-in, put my stuff in my room and got out to enjoy the exact thing that I was longing for: calm evening at the mountains, watching the mountains, thinking.

The hut was very clean, I was thinking, maybe even cleaner than my own apartment. Hikers sitting outside were talking very calmly, not to disturb the calmness.

I had a Kaspressknödelsuppe, two Frankfurter and a beer. I spent some more time (until approximately 9:30 pm), and then I went to my room. I did some reading before falling asleep.

I woke up at 6:30 am the next day. I put my stuff together, filled my water bottles, ate the sandwich that I bought the previous day from Graz, and headed out.

The first 2 km have around 300 m of elevation loss. After that the trail becomes steeper and steeper. The trail until the Klinke hut passes through some streams, which made me slow down. The actual enjoyable section started from the Klinke hut (1486 m) with around 2.7 km and 700 m elevation gain. The path to the first and the highest peak, Kalbling 2196 m, was quite technical, with some exciting traverses. The path leads to a saddle, where turning left is the climb to Riffel, and left leads to Kalbling and Sparafeld. After the saddle the trail is quite easy (only steep).

I reached the peak of Kalbling 1h40m after starting from the Mödlinger hut. At the top a hiker joked with me asking me if I am the guy who writes the estimated times on the road signs in the mountains. 

From Kalbling a fast downhill and short uphill run brought me to Riffel. From there I came back to the Mödlinger hut.

At the rocky sections, after the Klinke hut, it was quite windy.

On the way from numerous locations it was possible to get water. 

Running gear: same as the activity on June 19, 2022. Additionally I took stuff necessary for my stay at the hut (including a hut sleeping bag).

After the run I took a shower, put my stuff together and came to the terrace. As a lunch I had Grießkockerlsuppe, Hausgröstl, and a Apfelstrudel. After the lunch I started my hike back to Gaishorn, which took around 56 minutes. At the train station I waite around 25 minutes until the train arrived.

The hike.

Admonter Reichenstein from Mödlinger hut.

Großer Ödtsein from the terrace of the hut.

I drew my evening view. Kalbling, Sparafeld, Reichenstein.

My room.

Beautiful evening.

Night.

The view of the mountain that I was going to run to on the morning.

Kalbling from Klinke hut.

The path to the saddle.

The path to the saddle.

The path to the saddle.

On the last climb to Kalbling after the saddle.

The view of Kreuzkogel from the top of Kalbling.

Looking towards east from Kalbling.

The view of Riffel on the way coming back from Kalbling.

The view of some buildings around Admont. Admont itself is behing the rock.

Looking towards east on the way from Riffel.

Last meal at the hut: Hausgröstl.

Looking back one last time: Mödlinger hut.the