Day 6 – Bonn Matreier Hütte

A pleasant half-day of hiking from the Eisee Hütte to the Bonn Matreier Hütte.

It’s like Groundhog Day each morning: wake before 6am, get up and pack my backpack, go down for breakfast around 7am (same each day: brot mit butter, schinken, und käse; joghurt mit muesli und cornflakes; brot mit butter und himbeermarmelade; und schwartz tee), bathroom, sunscreen, shoes on in schuhraum, screw around with something I’ve forgotten, and finally get underway on the trail.

We sat with the same German couple who spoke very little Englisch, so we were unable to communicate again this morning

We departed the Eissee hut at 8:30, and descended for a while along the opposite side of the Timmeltal from our approach two days ago. We crossed over a creek on a bridge made of long slabs of rock – unusual design but effective. Stopped to watch the seilbahn (cable car) pass by.

The trail climbed at times, and descended at others, but overall climbed to an elevation higher than the hut (since we could clearly see the top of the roof). We passed through large snow fences that protect the villages below from avalanches.

Shortly after we had our first view of the Groß Glockner, the tallest peak in Austria. We walked through a talus field on a trail that looked like a Roman highway, built with large flat stones.

Passed by what looked like ruins from medieval times. Low stone walls somewhat crudely constructed but with what appeared to be a wooden floor.

After rounding another ridge, the trail descended and contoured around the valley and then ascended a nearly impossibly steep set of switchbacks – thankfully this section was relatively short.

The trail descended again before a long climb up another ridge, where we got our first view of the Bonn Matreier hütte.

From the top of this ridge the trail descended very steeply, with cables in some places.

We traversed across the head of the valley and began the final climb up to the hut.

Once at the hut we changed into hut shoes and dropped off our hiking boots/shoes and poles in the schuhraum and checked in. We were assigned a room with 5 beds and picked the first two closest to the door. The beds are separate, and my only neighbor is Allan.

We went out to the terrace for lunch – I had ham and eggs with toasted potatoes; Allan had a stuffed pasta dish. We split an apfel strudel with vanilla cream for dessert. After lunch I showered (bought an extra 5 minutes) and then laundered socks and underwear. After Allan did the same, we hung our laundry on the outdoor clothesline. We strolled over to see the little chapel in a cave, the Gedächtniskapelle (memorial chapel) behind the hut.

We returned to the terrace and enjoyed a beer before dinner. I got chilled so I went into the dining room to warm up with a schwartz tea.

We were assigned a table with a Dutch mom and son from the Rotterdam area. Dinner was nudelsuppe (noodle soup), beef goulash with kartoffle (potatoes), and a delicious hand-held desert of some kind with pastry, cream, and berries.

After dinner we collected our laundry and went to the room to pack. While paying our bill we asked about an early breakfast but were told none would be available. They said we should be fine without early departure as any thunderstorms forecast for tomorrow would not come until later in the afternoon. So, we’ll sleep in until 6:30am.