Tuesday 25th June: Weather: 15°C to 32°C: Blue skies again Hooray! warm and sunny then hot
Bach to Steeg: 22k: 7.15am to 2.45pm: 7hrs 30mins with 2 x 30min breaks
Accommodation: GasteHaus Echo, Lech
The Lech River narrows
One of those spectacular days in the alps where every moment was a highlight. Leaving Steeg early on a blue sky cool morning and the path rising steadily into the alps, we knew it was going to be a special day with spectacular alpine views, blue skies, wild flowers, snow drifts, more wild flowers and only the ski village of Warth between Steeg and Lech, a 22k day. It was also a very hot 32°C and we’re looking for shade for most of the day.
Awake at 5.30am ready for a long day. A cup of tea, shower, and early breakfast and we’re leaving Haus Franzi at 7.15am. It’s cool walking by the Lech River. After only 10 minutes I have to stop to put on my Aldi jacket. But after another 10 minutes, we’ve started to climb, and I have to stop to take the jacket off again. Up and up on the old disused road from Steeg to Warth with lots of washouts and tree falls, for just over two hours. The road turns into a forestry trail with still more zig zags. At 9.30am we’ve reached the “top”, an unnamed high point on the track, and stop for a cup of coffee with real cream and a chunk of apple strudel I’d bought the day before.
There’s many day hiker coming towards us, most have left from Warth and will walk to Steeg then catch the bus back to Warth. The age group at this high end of the Lech Valley is now between 40 and 55, compared to the lower Lech Valley where I guesstimated it was the 70 to 80’s generation. No matter, it’s such a beautiful part of the world for all ages.
Our picture perfect day
Our picture perfect day
Morning tea coffee & apple strudel
Morning tea view Bochbach valley
AND morning tea view Lech Valley
Blue skies and alps in all directions
What a view of the Lechtal Alps
Alps and wildflowers near Warth
A sea of wild flowers
Walking into Warth half way to Legh
32°C any shady spot for lunch
But lunch with a view
Wildflowers and snow on alps
a sea of wild flowers
Watching Nadal and Federer
Watching Nadal and Federer
It’s mostly downhill on a narrow forested track in the shade which is much appreciated as the temperature is warming up to ward 30°C. And still more day hikers are coming up towards us. Soon we can see the ski village of Warth off in the distance and by 11pm it looks as though we’ll be there for an early lunch. But the track takes a right turn deep around a valley with the most beautiful wild flowers and it’s almost an hour later when we eventually reach Warth. There’s no shade and by now it’s over 32°C so we continue on hoping to find a seat in the shade in the pine trees on the way to Lech.
Still more hikers coming our way from Lech to Warth, and still no shade. We take a short cut through a cow paddock and we’re soon on a track through the forest. But the only seat we finding the shade is “occupied” by a young couple checking their map. We could have pulled ranks based on age and bustled them off, but on an on and finally after 3 hrs since morning tea, we sit on a couple of rocks in the shade of a wall, with a magnificent view across the valley. We’ve already done 18k, just 4k to go. Lunch is soft bread and cheese with a bottle of snow water I’d scooped up from a snow drift on the path 30 minutes earlier.
The track is supposed to be a level balcony walk but it’s up and down and since we’ve now left the pine trees, it’s open and hot. But the views up and down the valley are spectacular with so much snow still atop the alps. Soon, we can see the ski village of Lech and take a detour down a track which we know will lead us to Gastehaus Echo, about 1k this side of Lech. The path passes down through acres of wild flowers. Such a beautiful entrance to Lech Village. In 10 minutes we can see Haus Echo and walk up a hot bitumen road only to find no one is at reception and we thing the sign in German means ring to let them know we are here. So I ring, and someone answers to ask “what do I want” in a gruffGerman voice. So I explain we have a reservation, and she says she’ll be there in an hour!!
The mother in law turns up with a key and lets us in. Our room has a wonderful view of the Lechtal Alps but as e expected, no fridge. Ian immediately decides to walk the 1.5k down to the local SPAR to buy some cold beers while I wash and sort photos. He returns soon after having caught the Gastebus back and we sit on the balcony with a cold beer and cheese watching other hikers return home. Soon after we drag out our lettuce, tomatoes, ham and mayonnaise for dinner on the balcony with another cold beer and reflect on an amazing day in the Alps.
Early to bed at 8pm as we’re intending to walk 15k up to the source of the Lech River at Formarinsee and catch a bus back. I’d rung the Lech tourist office while we were waiting for someone to turn up and ha\e confirmed what we already thought about walking from Lech to St Anton - impossible and dangerous. And the alternative walk to Formarinsee is only half open and we’d have to walk on the road, but that will be ok because it’s currently closed to traffic.