Ötschergräben |
Ötschergräben[a] is an area about 60 km south of St Pölten criss-crossed with deep canyons. I had thought about renting a car and going hiking in the moutains, so when I convinced Tony that it would be a good idea, we rented a car and went to the nearest good place we could find.
| |
| View south from Annaberg showing the Ötscher (mountain). |
| The west end of the Eralaufstausee, and the start of our hike. |
| Cliffs near the starting point. These in particular are on the other side of a dam that bottles up the Eralaufstausee and keeps it from pouring out northward. (The picture was taken from the west end of the dam - on the map[c] this would be where the Ötscherstrasse crosses the northward pointing stream.) |
| Memorial found a bit into the Ötschergräben. It commemorates the 450th anniversary of Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses[d] and with that, the start of the Protestant Reformation. |
| Fodder hut. |
| Following a small brook upstreams. Shortly after the picture was taken we turned ninety degrees right and went up the side. Harder than expected with slippery trainers. |
| View north from a bit up on the Gemeindealpe (the massive immediately south of the Ötschergräben). |
| View of the Ötscher from the Gemeindealpe. |
| Strange quad-furcated tree. |
Links
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=mariazell,+austria&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,82.441406&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=47.839892,15.267048&spn=0.044648,0.10849&t=h&om=1 | |
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=mariazell,+austria&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,82.441406&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=47.871453,15.375967&spn=0.044621,0.10849&t=h&om=1 | |
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=mariazell,+austria&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=53.345014,82.441406&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=47.834362,15.28018&spn=0.022326,0.054245&om=1 | |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformation |