2013 vintage

Four years ago me and my father planted first batch of vines in our garden. Given Abov region and Kosice in particular is swept by the northern winds with no vine growing history whatsoever, this was clearly a fools idea. On other hand, global warming and proximity of Tokaj and Tibava wine regions gave us an outside chance of making some decent wine. This post is to summarise (mainly for my own benefit) the making of 2013 vintage - all 3 litres of it.

Harvest was done based on sensory tests of ripeness and sweetness. Grapes were harvested on Wednesday, October 2 yielding one and three quartets full buckets (considered as successful harvest given only 3-4 vines were allowed to bear fruit). Grapes were immediately de-stemmed and hand-crushed for maceration. Grapes were left on skins for c.20 hours overnight. Only sulphate solution (Borzen) was added to crushed grapes to kill natural yeast. All the equipment was washed with sulphate solution and rinsed.

Second day the grapes were pressed using 20l hand press. Only medium pressure was used with remaining pressed pulp still containing sufficient amount of juice and some grapes not crushed. Additional hand pressing was used but only in the limited amount. Total juice gain from pressing was c.4l. Juice was transferred to two bowls approximately two thirds full to allow for primary fermentation and bubble / foam forming.

Yeast was added immediately after pressing. I have used Fermicru AR2 dry yeast which is for flowery tasting wines and works from 12 degrees Celsius. Measurements were done only by hand with less then fifth of the packet used dues to juice yield. Yeast was kick started up in 50:50 must:water solution which was heated to c.20 degrees and poured into the bowls.

Primary fermentation was done initially in open top bowls with plain cloth protecting the must from flies and debris. Primary was performed in our cellar with stable 12 degree Celsius temperature. Note for next year - find warmer place so the primary takes less time. Each day during primary I have stirred the surface of the bowls to ensure sufficient amount of oxygen was present (i.e. foam that formed on too did not prevent oxygen flow) for yeast to multiply.

After five days the must was transferred into glass carboy and airlock was put in place to avoid unwanted oxidation. Immediate bubbling was observed - just as it should be. Only potential threat to wine is low temperature and insufficient / stuck fermentation. Wine is envisaged to be kept in this carboy for next two to three weeks as fermentation completes.

Sugar level was not measured. pH and acidity were not measured as well. No adjustment to must were made. Question is whether to continue with same tactic going forward or change in next vintage. Sugar levels should be measured for sure - to ensure appropriate comparison between vintages and to help with prediction of fermentation length estimates.

Next post in four weeks.

Dignity Afterlife

After year and a half I have finally decided to revive my blog about nothing and everything. As I do not dare to call it Reload 2.0 (too many and sequels to greatest movies and books never use numerals - LOTR anyone?) I am going for Dignity Afterlife. Two years older and a bit wiser I am embracing modern technology and writing this post using android app on my tablet on the aeroplane - also I am immensely bored downing bloody marries...

As this is intro post written on the short haul flight don't expect much:-)

To quickly summarise past two years: Moved to London. Fell in love with rugby. Fell in love with cricket. Fell in love with tea with milk. Visited Ascot. Favourite of the main race broke a leg in the final stretch. Went to Cardiff. Nice castle. Saw Wales beat Italy. Love grandmas in Welsh jerseys. Work like crazy. Went to Zambia. Hot and humid. Zambia is surprisingly safe. Africa is being completely mined out by China and India. Went to Oval. Tow days. Sachin T.! Almost booed Sachin. Amy came to Europe. Crazy travel but best ever. Saw mountain goats and bear cubs - all wild. Tatras forever. Four capitals in four days - Budapest, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. Went to Russia. Love Moscow and its girls. And its restaurants - although expensive. And its girls. Worked crazy hours. Went to Manchester. Curry mile forever. Torpedoed Kobra. Drunk rainbows. Too much. Spent New Years in London. Nice fireworks. Seen better - HK anyone? Went to China. Went to Russia. Went to St Petersburg. Love the city. Hermitage is on par with Louvre. Love the cathedrals. Like babushkas kissing the icons. Aurora leads the way! Need to see Lenin. Russian style forever. Still indifferent to football - after year in London?! Fell in love with London's restaurants - food capital of the world. Switched to English way of having lunch - in front of the computer - but still need soup. Killed the transaction - competition got sued - HAHA! Transaction completed. Went to Russia - again... Went to China. Got sick. Both of us - properly sick. Listing completed - finally. Went to Prague. Went to Sweden. Hotels unjustifiably expensive. Stockholm is nice. Don't get Scandi working hours. Don't get Scandi vacation system / allowance - seems most of the time everyone is on vacation / national holiday. Prejudices about nations are true. Transaction completed. Went to Glasgow. Lot of trash on the streets. Pathetic half marathon time. Don't do sports enough - at all. Tried basketball for couple of months. Screwed my ankle for good. Went to Kews. Best botanic garden in the world. Shook hands with queen's cousin. He is not Sinatra... Went to France - splendid weekend of drinking and music in Cognac. Olympics!! London deserved it. Wonderful. Atmosphere and volunteers and events - all praise no complains. Everyone enjoyed. Paralympics - same as big sister event. Went for tennis masters. Nole! Broke up with Amy. Got back together with Amy. Brother thinks i am pathetic. Went to Twickenham. Only Kiwi loss in a year and I have to witness?! Need to learn Sweet Chariot. Went skiing - after two years - felt so good:-) Resorts in Tatras developed a lot. But you get what you pay for. Went to Bath. Roma victor! Friends visiting. Too many friends visiting:-) Went to Budapest. Changed a lot. Properly depressed. Five years of gloom and doom does that I guess. Getting on the Chelsea's bandwagon - not there yet. Only because of Russian money. And Yankees way of doing things. Where is the spring? Went to Edinburgh. Bloody cold. Went to Murrayfield. Scotland v Wales. Too many Welsh jerseys. Got good tickets - stands close to the pitch. Went to Budapest. Where is the spring? Love London.

And this is just about it. There are plenty of omissions which I simply forgot or was lazy to write down. From now on the posts will be regular - fingers crossed - and about something more interesting.

Alpen Alpen uber alles! (vol. 5)

Day 8
After fairly good breakfast we set off in the direction of Eita, at least that’s what we thought. As the trail disappeared under our feet we realised that we were following some game path leading nowhere near our trail. Grinding teeth and climbing steeply up we finally come across huge bike trail which we learned was actually posing as a hiking trail to Eita as well. Looking back it seems fairly impossible to miss and we must have looked fairly odd to passing cyclists walking out of the deep forest catching breath like running the marathon.

Remainder of the stage R72 was fairly relaxing / boring walk along biking trail through Passo di Verva (2,301m) all the way to Eita (1,703m) which we covered in good time and pressed onwards. Second stage for the day turned out to be more interesting. First there was steep climb up towards alpine meadows above Eita and around Laghi di Tres (2,216m) and second, there was no clear path beyond Laghi.

We basically went from mark to mark as we spotted them as this part of Via Alpina is so little used that no trail was established yet. Last three hundred vertical meters turned to be real fun as we imitated mountain goats and jumped from rock to rock in order to get to the Passo di Vermolera (2,732m) and around snowfields (as my bro by this time on the trip basically walked his shoes through and was little scared to get his feet wet – totally understandably :) ).

Reaching the pass felt satisfying and long descent towards Maghlera (1,964m) was entertaining as again no clear path (down until Pian del Lago 2,316m) was visible and marks were distantly spread. Stone pyramids set up by previous hikers turned out to be great help to us hastening our descent (we tried to keep this tradition and enhanced some of the structures).

Beyond Pian del Lago path appeared from nowhere and comfortably indicated our way towards the biggest positive surprise on our journey – Rifugio Maghlera (1,964m). Maghlera is hut or rather cottage run by locals – specifically three ladies out of which only one speaks English – and also suits for local gatherings (which we had pleasure to join during our stay). Although full of shouting Italian children on their summer camp, we had pleasure to enjoy proper and hot shower, eight bed room for only two of us and most importantly we had pleasure to eat local food with locals (long live pizzocheri!!!). For a bargain price of EUR 45 we had dinner, sleepover and breakfast for two (and landlady did not even include price for cakes, cheese platter and coke we had been invited to taste with our hostesses). Up until now Maghlera is crème de la crème of this trip with its hospitability and atmosphere. Thank you!
Vertical meters (up only):4,145m
Distance: 26.700km
VA stages: R72, R73

Day 9
Long before Malghera we came to realisation that our initial plan of covering over 630km and seeing all the cities we wanted to visit is more of a fata morgana than actual plan. It was only meter of time when we would decide to start skipping stages and “catching up” with Via Alpina. That point came in Malghera when after peering through map we commandeered in Arnoga (at least we got something for that horrendous money :) ) we decided to skip three stages circling Alltelina valley and massifs around and traverse from Malghera to Poschiavo. By doing this we think we manage to avoid fairly long walks through some valleys which appeared likely from the description given in Via Alpina print outs we possessed. Furthermore, at least one of the three stages was from Tirano, start of Bernina railway to Poschiavo, which was basically climb from 441m to 1,014m. As experienced mountaineers we refused to waste our time and decided to skip stages R74, R75 and R76.

Hike to Poschiavo turned out to be pleasant hike along alpine pastures and Lago di Malghera – obviously very popular fishing spot for locals. Other side – i.e. Switzerland as we crossed borders again – included long winding and zigzagging paved road all the way to Poschiavo (by the time we reached middle of it we were drooling from boredom). In Poschiavo upon further examination of commandeered map, consideration of the lag we had compared to original plan little brother come up with idea to skip additional three stages, jump on the Bernina railway (btw UNESCO listed heritage site) and explore St. Moritz – The place where The rich meet. Of course after three nights when I whined myself to bed I agreed (also afraid of another huge climb from Poschiavo to Passo di Campagneda – 2,609m and beyond).

Bernina railway did not turned out totally to its billing (literally and metaphorically) as it was not only completely commercialized, but our untrained eye failed to fully understand “greatness” of it as the highest non-stack railway in Europe. Honestly? Bernina although completed in 1912 and as high as 2,300m is still good 2,700m lower than that Chinese civilization tool for Tibet. In this case, have to hand it to eastern tiger.

Quick walk through St. Moritz made us realized that this is not the city for us (yet) as even with special Bernina pass (which is free for the passengers) and long list of cooperating discounts-offering establishments, all prices including discounts were out of our price range :) All I was allowed to buy (as my brother held the cash bank in that time) was one postcard and stamp (could not afford anything else really :) ). Anyway, perplexed we hoped on our familiar and now not so expensive Post bus and went to our start for next stage – Maloja.

After searching for some moderately priced hotel we had to settle for – according to recommendation we received – the cheapest option in the town – Sport Hotel for CHF 105 (believe me or not it was even cheaper than lager rooms offered). I have to admit that the whole Engadin valley seemed a bit overpriced even for Swiss standards. Somehow, without discussing or even speaking a word about it, we ended up having small dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. It turned out to be another lucky decision as we met another two Slovak girls working there during school vacation.
Vertical meters (up only):778m
Distance: 15.000km
VA stages: none

Day 10
From Maloja we started off towards source of river Inn – Lagh dal Lunghin (2,484m) – and triple watershed of Lunghin pass (2,645m) (rivers flowing to Adriatic, Black and North Sea start on its slopes). Afterwards, R80 led us through Septimer pass (2,310m) and Forcellina pass (2,672m) towards village of Juf. Allegedly Juf is the highest European year round inhabited settlement (again let me point out towards Asia and countries / territories around Himalayas).

Anyway, back to our story. Descent from Forcellina turned out to be slow and rigorous as numerous zig zags tried resilience of my right foot which started to hurt two-three days ago. In Juf we faced another decision whether to follow Via Alpina further and walk entire length of Bergell valley to Innerferrera or cowardly jump on the bus. Once again our mountaineering ignorance prevented us from simple walk along the valley and we jumped on a bus. Instead of Innerferrera we purchased tickets to Thusis in order to follow yet another diversion from Via Alpina (which we basically abandoned for now). As we passed through Innerferrera we quickly checked that indeed the rumors in our guide were true and only hotel in the village was closed on Monday (in fact the day we planned to stay there) and our ignorance was blessed :)

From Thusis we intended to transfer further to Glasspass where we intended to stay overnight. From there on we planned to walk to Illanz and hop on train to Andermatt and further so we can resume hiking in better terrain. This was due to our mutual observation that Via Alpina in this part of its course turned into valley walks with crossings over moderate passes while we sought some more demanding trails (again our newly found mountaineering ignorance in full swing).

Post bus saved us again and we happily rode it to Obertschapinna. From there we hiked last three kilometers to Glasspass and our officially unofficial accommodation. We stayed overnight in the house of local family after lady running one-and-only and fully booked pension confirmed reservation for us.
Vertical meters (up only):2,325m
Distance: 17.900km
VA stages: R80

Run Forrest run!!

Just a quick note in between my Swiss posts (currently on hiatus of two months...): in the middle of otherwise dreary autumn with Yankees ousted from the play offs by some moribund franchisee from Texas, I have finished off my running year by participating in Ljubljana halfmarathon.

Although running slower than personnel best (official time: 1:40:29), considering the circumstances I did more or less alright. Day before I drove 800km from Prague to Maribor (stopping in Sered to visit friend), slept in an apartment with no heating at c. 14 degrees room temperature - thanks Teja :) - and drove back to Prague 45 minutes after finish to take part on a training which was cancelled anyway.

Anyway, as my goals remain unfulfilled, you can bet on some other halfmarathons posts to come (Novi Sad - I got my eyes on you!). In the meanwhile you can look forward to completion of the Swiss series and some China updates...

Alpen Alpen uber alles! (vol. 4)

Day 8
After fairly good breakfast we set off in the direction of Eita, at least that’s what we thought. As the trail disappeared under our feet we realised that we were following some game path leading nowhere near our trail. Grinding teeth and climbing steeply up we finally come across huge bike trail which we learned was actually posing as a hiking trail to Eita as well. Looking back it seems fairly impossible to miss and we must have looked fairly odd to passing cyclists walking out of the deep forest catching breath like running the marathon.

Remainder of the stage R72 was fairly relaxing / boring walk along biking trail through Passo di Verva (2,301m) all the way to Eita (1,703m) which we covered in good time and pressed onwards. Second stage for the day turned out to be more interesting. First there was steep climb up towards alpine meadows above Eita and around Laghi di Tres (2,216m) and second, there was no clear path beyond Laghi.

We basically went from mark to mark as we spotted them as this part of Via Alpina is so little used that no trail was established yet. Last three hundred vertical meters turned to be real fun as we imitated mountain goats and jumped from rock to rock in order to get to the Passo di Vermolera (2,732m) and around snowfields (as my bro by this time on the trip basically walked his shoes through and was little scared to get his feet wet – totally understandably :) ).

Reaching the pass felt satisfying and long descent towards Maghlera (1,964m) was entertaining as again no clear path (down until Pian del Lago 2,316m) was visible and marks were distantly spread. Stone pyramids set up by previous hikers turned out to be great help to us hastening our descent (we tried to keep this tradition and enhanced some of the structures).

Beyond Pian del Lago path appeared from nowhere and comfortably indicated our way towards the biggest positive surprise on our journey – Rifugio Maghlera (1,964m). Maghlera is hut or rather cottage run by locals – specifically three ladies out of which only one speaks English – and also suits for local gatherings (which we had pleasure to join during our stay). Although full of shouting Italian children on their summer camp, we had pleasure to enjoy proper and hot shower, eight bed room for only two of us and most importantly we had pleasure to eat local food with locals (long live pizzocheri!!!). For a bargain price of EUR 45 we had dinner, sleepover and breakfast for two (and landlady did not even include price for cakes, cheese platter and coke we had been invited to taste with our hostesses). Up until now Maghlera is crème de la crème of this trip with its hospitability and atmosphere. Thank you!
Vertical meters (up only):4,145m
Distance: 26.700km
VA stages: R72, R73

Day 9
Long before Malghera we came to realisation that our initial plan of covering over 630km and seeing all the cities we wanted to visit is more of a fata morgana than actual plan. It was only meter of time when we would decide to start skipping stages and “catching up” with Via Alpina. That point came in Malghera when after peering through map we commandeered in Arnoga (at least we got something for that horrendous money :) ) we decided to skip three stages circling Alltelina valley and massifs around and traverse from Malghera to Poschiavo. By doing this we think we manage to avoid fairly long walks through some valleys which appeared likely from the description given in Via Alpina print outs we possessed. Furthermore, at least one of the three stages was from Tirano, start of Bernina railway to Poschiavo, which was basically climb from 441m to 1,014m. As experienced mountaineers we refused to waste our time and decided to skip stages R74, R75 and R76.

Hike to Poschiavo turned out to be pleasant hike along alpine pastures and Lago di Malghera – obviously very popular fishing spot for locals. Other side – i.e. Switzerland as we crossed borders again – included long winding and zigzagging paved road all the way to Poschiavo (by the time we reached middle of it we were drooling from boredom). In Poschiavo upon further examination of commandeered map, consideration of the lag we had compared to original plan little brother come up with idea to skip additional three stages, jump on the Bernina railway (btw UNESCO listed heritage site) and explore St. Moritz – The place where The rich meet. Of course after three nights when I whined myself to bed I agreed (also afraid of another huge climb from Poschiavo to Passo di Campagneda – 2,609m and beyond).

Bernina railway did not turned out totally to its billing (literally and metaphorically) as it was not only completely commercialized, but our untrained eye failed to fully understand “greatness” of it as the highest non-stack railway in Europe. Honestly? Bernina although completed in 1912 and as high as 2,300m is still good 2,700m lower than that Chinese civilization tool for Tibet. In this case, have to hand it to eastern tiger.

Quick walk through St. Moritz made us realized that this is not the city for us (yet) as even with special Bernina pass (which is free for the passengers) and long list of cooperating discounts-offering establishments, all prices including discounts were out of our price range :) All I was allowed to buy (as my brother held the cash bank in that time) was one postcard and stamp (could not afford anything else really :) ). Anyway, perplexed we hoped on our familiar and now not so expensive Post bus and went to our start for next stage – Maloja.

After searching for some moderately priced hotel we had to settle for – according to recommendation we received – the cheapest option in the town – Sport Hotel for CHF 105 (believe me or not it was even cheaper than lager rooms offered). I have to admit that the whole Engadin valley seemed a bit overpriced even for Swiss standards. Somehow, without discussing or even speaking a word about it, we ended up having small dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. It turned out to be another lucky decision as we met another two Slovak girls working there during school vacation.
Vertical meters (up only):778m
Distance: 15.000km
VA stages: none

Day 10
From Maloja we started off towards source of river Inn – Lagh dal Lunghin (2,484m) – and triple watershed of Lunghin pass (2,645m) (rivers flowing to Adriatic, Black and North Sea start on its slopes). Afterwards, R80 led us through Septimer pass (2,310m) and Forcellina pass (2,672m) towards village of Juf. Allegedly Juf is the highest European year round inhabited settlement (again let me point out towards Asia and countries / territories around Himalayas).

Anyway, back to our story. Descent from Forcellina turned out to be slow and rigorous as numerous zig zags tried resilience of my right foot which started to hurt two-three days ago. In Juf we faced another decision whether to follow Via Alpina further and walk entire length of Bergell valley to Innerferrera or cowardly jump on the bus. Once again our mountaineering ignorance prevented us from simple walk along the valley and we jumped on a bus. Instead of Innerferrera we purchased tickets to Thusis in order to follow yet another diversion from Via Alpina (which we basically abandoned for now). As we passed through Innerferrera we quickly checked that indeed the rumors in our guide were true and only hotel in the village was closed on Monday (in fact the day we planned to stay there) and our ignorance was blessed :)

From Thusis we intended to transfer further to Glasspass where we intended to stay overnight. From there on we planned to walk to Illanz and hop on train to Andermatt and further so we can resume hiking in better terrain. This was due to our mutual observation that Via Alpina in this part of its course turned into valley walks with crossings over moderate passes while we sought some more demanding trails (again our newly found mountaineering ignorance in full swing).

Post bus saved us again and we happily rode it to Obertschapinna. From there we hiked last three kilometers to Glasspass and our officially unofficial accommodation. We stayed overnight in the house of local family after lady running one-and-only and fully booked pension confirmed reservation for us.
Vertical meters (up only):2,325m
Distance: 17.900km
VA stages: R80

Alpen Alpen uber alles! (vol. 3)

Day 5
From Madlener Haus (1,986m), along the Silvretta reservoir and Runder Kopf (2,376m) we crossed from Voralberg to Tyrol and headed towards Getschnerscharte pass (2,839m). The views offered early in the morning were gorgeous peaks and glaciers of Silvretta range on a backdrop of clear blue sky (which showed up every morning after rainstorms of the night).

Last kilometre up required some mountaineering skills as stones bearing trail marks were swept by water and slopes were covered by large snowfields. Closely followed by another hiker we scratched and clambered our way up through and around some impressive boulders and loose stones only to descent in a similar fashion on the other side :)

Down to Jamtalhutte (2,165m) for a proper ‘Bergsteiger’ lunch and two Spezis in a wonderful restaurant (and also quite cheap compared to what they asked for in Schweiz!). Enticing some doubtful looks we set off on a next stage of Via Alpina and continued towards Scuol.

After crossing Futschol pass (2,773m) we discussed descending into Schweiz pros and cons of world championship going to Spain. My brother was presenting his theory of Netherlands winning it all as would substantiate us – i.e. Slovakia - losing to eventual world champions (allegedly less hurtful). I simply claimed that better should win and for what we knew, Spain was fully deserving. Cheers compagneros!!! Believe me it was long discussion as descent to Ftan turned out to be first (and the longest) of the procession of long valley-descending trails included in Via Alpina in this region.

In Ftan (1,633m and c. 4.3km in front of Scuol) we agreed on skipping remainder of the day’s descent and jump on a last bus leaving town for the day. For the first time thus we had pleasure to ‘enjoy’ uber-expensive and entirely not worth it services of Post bus. This bus service run by Swiss post is more expensive than any client-ripping cab from Prague airport. My mind is still trying to figure out why is the public transport so expensive in Switzerland but besides lack of competition and certain historic reasons I cannot come up with satisfying idea (if you, dear reader, do, please post it in comments area).

We found our accommodation fairly easily as local branch of our favourite hostel chain is opposite to the bus/train station.

We should mention at this place that in Ftan started our run of marvellous little villages and towns on Italian / Switzerland border (e.g. Ftan, Stelvio etc.) with narrow streets (donkey cart wide) and fountains almost at every house. All accompanied with flower garlands makes these towns postcard worthy :)

Please also note that although we bring out our complains about long and boring valley descents along Via Alpina trail, after wasting substantial time on peering through maps for the region we could not come up with any better / passable alternative (although we did not have in our possession any proper tourist maps of 1:25,000 range).
Vertical meters (up only):4,055m
Distance: 33.700km
VA stages: R65, R66

Day 6
In order to keep up with our original plan we mutually decided to skip Scuol-S-charl stage of Via Alpina (R67) and hop on bus which covered the distance in mere 40min (another Post bus). It was nice to see the valley from the seat of the bus but walking through it seemed less intriguing.

From S-charl (1,810m) we headed off towards Cruschetta (2,296m) and Taufers (1,240m), village on Italian side of the border. In vain hope of refilling our supplies in cheaper and euro denominated Italian Taufers we hurried in 30 degrees heat. Arriving at noon we learned the hard way what does it mean to have a siesta. Virtually all shops were closed from 12.00pm to 3.00pm. As a last resort we crossed the border to Switzerland (mere kilometre away) and waited till 1.30pm till local shop opens. Really down on supplies we complained about the selection but ultimately filled our basket and emptied our pockets...

Leaving Taufers and local shops angry we continued towards Rifair Alm (2,146m) and further through Plaschweller Kamm (2,455m) into Stelvio / Stilfs (1,306m). In Stelvio with a bit of luck and help of locals we were navigated towards Pension zur Sonne (or something with sun) – only moderately priced option for accommodation in the village (as it seems). This little family joint run by old German speaking couple looked nowhere near Italian. Whole Stelvio had some German soul (or I am completely wrong) with locals mostly speaking German instead of Italian.

Here I would like to point out that vertical meters climbed stated below are from official Via Alpina website and guide. On the other hand it seems highly unlikely that office rat like me, after one week of hiking would be able to climb half of Everest in a single day...
Vertical meters (up only):4,749m
Distance: 33.000km
VA stages: R68, R69

Day 7
In the morning we started early after breakfast on a way towards Stelvio pass following instructions from Via Alpina website. Luckily, clearly stated instructions and landmarks were easy to recognise on the trail (e.g. St. Martin chapel, deer enclosure etc.).

Steadily we pushed through valleys and passes were battles of Great War were fought (Italian front in the Alps). After visiting artillery positions along the trail and watching eagle couple circling above our heads we reached Dreisprachenspitze peak area (2,843m)) and ruins of Austrian encampments located there. Have to admit I found some respects for soldiers staying there during winter, above 2,700m. Although views are awesome even today with zig-zagging roads from both sides, to actually fight over the rocks in two meters of snow must have been terrible.

Only short hop and we were at the stage end above Passo di Stelvio at Rifugio Garibaldi (2.841m) we had our quick lunch (polenta with two sausages for EUR 9 each) and listened to a roar of motorbikes coming up. We did not realize yet but we reached the turning point of our trip – at least according to my brother. From then on everything went downhill (blame it on that overpriced crap we had to eat there) :) Up until now we enjoyed awesome weather, beautiful hiking and magnificent views of Ortler Alps and Ortler peak (3,905m). From now on it would be a struggle with long boring descents through valleys and constant fear of weather turning bad sparkled with limited options for accommodation along Via Alpina.

Quickly we left and after Spezi and beer combo at Umbrail pass (2,480m) which calmed our rebelling digestion system after polenta we continued towards Bocchetta fi Forcola (2,768m) and Lago di Cancano (1,960m). In Forcola we coughed up with for cyclists who started slightly ahead of us from Umbrail pass and headed towards Bormio. After that we were no match for their wheels shooting downhill. Descending towards Lago di Cancano we were constantly made aware that we entered obese Alp rat (a.k.a. marmot) habitat by theirs warning whistles. Unlike their Swiss cousins they were shy creatures and usually we saw only their bushy tails running for cover.

Following 8km descent to Lago we had another 11km (according to Via Alpina, but certainly more according to my humble calculation) walk to the end of the Via Alpina stage. Basically we run for last two hours in order to reach Arnoga (1,850m) before night but anyway we arrived only around 9.30pm. After some vain attempts to bring to life reception of local two star hotel (Hotel Viola) we had to settle for three star EUR 50 per person variant (Hotel Li Arnoga). Please be warned that beyond Passo di Stelvio accommodation options along Via Alpina are very limited.
Vertical meters (up only):3,990m
Distance: 40.750km
VA stages: R70, R71

Alpen Alpen uber alles! (vol. 2)

Day 2
Not yet fully realising what it means to travel in Alpine countries (and what it is to sleep in a sheep stack) I was woken up at 3.00am by bells of sheep literally knocking on our / theirs doors. After some ‘discussion’ we prevailed and were let to rest additional two hours before watching sunrise over Alps and hitting the road.

Early morning we climbed back to place of our return, ascended Garsellikopf (2,105m) and Kuhgrat (2,123m) where we met first hikers going in opposite direction. Proud with our achievement we exchanged pleasantries and chocolates :) Little we knew that soon ascents of 2,100m peaks would become boring and not sufficient. Old adage of ‘with food grows the appetite’ was never truer :)

Quick descent to Sucka (1,402m) completed our first Via Alpina stage. After refilling our water bottles we continued to Pfalzerhutte (2,108m) – terminus of second stage scheduled for the day. Walking through marvellous alpine valleys (not yet boring for us), close encounter with horse herd high above usual habitat and completing murderous (in that time it almost killed me) climb of last kilometre made the gulash suppe and Radler taste incredibly delicious.

In order to use up as much sunlight as possible we continued in the direction of Schesaplana hutte (end of third stage on our list). First we had to crossed Gross Furgga (2,339m) pass which made me breath like someone with heavy asthma attack (my tongue licked its way through snowfields on the northern side of the pass :) ). Afterwards long descent to Schesaplana hutte(1,908m) awaited. It should be noted that marking provided on Via Alpina website (as of 11 July 2010) is incorrect and that kilometres stated are much lower (stage is long c. 14km instead of stated 18.6km).

On this very hut we met our first country woman – girl named Gabi who was working there during vacation. Briefly discussing our experience so far and plans for next couple of days, we briefly considered climbing Schesaplana peak (2,964m). Ultimately we abandoned the idea as mountains of same height awaited further on along the road. After brief some-kind-of-bath in cold water we zipped ourselves in sleeping bags.
Vertical meters (up only):3,196m
Distance: 32.158km
VA stages: R57 (partially), R58, R59

Day 3
Here comes another warning (specifically to our fellow budget travellers) for those travelling along Via Alpina. Breakfast at mountain huts are vastly overpriced (10EUR / CHF for two slices of bread, cheese, some marmalade and pot of tea). If you can bring your own supplies, which will suit your needs better than breakfast provided. If possible ask first whether breakfast are served buffet style (if yes go for it, if not eat your own crackers), otherwise it is highly advisable to book only sleeping place.

Anyway, after my first real mountain breakfast (although warned by my brother, I ordered one and paid dearly) we set off to Carschinahutte (2,221m). Trail led through valleys where we were kept company by marmots doing their morning hygiene. Fairly flat stage and Radler at its end was followed by steep descent to St. Antonien (1,420m) (in fact only my brother went there to refill our supplies in local shop as I, traditionally wasted after sharp descent, waited 200m outside of the village) we continued further on to Gargellen (Austrian village at the end of the third stage for the day).

We arrived to Gargellen fairly late after crossing St. Antonien Joch (pass at 2,379m on Madrisa round tour which follows ridges around St. Antonien) and very happy to find out that Gargellen is fairly equipped mountain centre with plenty of accommodation offered. Even better, in a true 21st century manner, tourist can find out all information through touchscreen provided on the wall of tourist office eliminating any annoying human contact :)

We spent the night in the cheapest option offered (EUR 35 per person). First time my brother had chance to experience my uf and ach sounds (he compared my movement around the room to 70 year old pensioner) which became more familiar during following days as we kept our mad tempo.
Vertical meters (up only):3,857m
Distance: 33.500km
VA stages: R60, R61, R62

Day 4
Following day after rich buffet breakfast we once again refilled our supplies in local Spar and continued along Via Alpina through mountain passes of Austria. First we crossed Vergaldajoch (2,515m) and then Mittelbergjoch (2,415m) both high enough to include snowfields along the way. Tubinger hutte (2,191m) was quick lunch stop (from now on I switched from Radler to Spezi as a sugar/energy provider) as we aimed to catch up with our plan for Via Alpina (at that time we were back three ambitious stages).

From Tubinger hutte through Hochmaderer Joch (2,505m) we continued in the direction of Madlener Haus (end of another stage). Unfortunately weather got into our way as storms from previous days (since Day 1 c. at 7.00pm and further on, storms raged on) increased streams through-flows to impassable levels (we did our best to take our shoes off twice, third time we were not lucky enough).

Unhappy but in one piece we abandoned hiking trail circa half a kilometre in front of Madlener Haus, descended to the nearest paved road and hitchhiked our way up to Silvretta reservoir and destination for the day. This detour and delay put the pitchfork to any attempt for additional stage.
Vertical meters (up only):2,463m
Distance: 26.200km
VA stages: R63, R64