"Don't stop until the top"

Since I had a very sick and lazy day yesterday I was very motivated to be active and adventurous today!

I woke up early and the first thing I had to do was ask Gerhard if I could stay for two more nights! I feel so at home and I really am enjoying the peace from the big cities. I am loving the beauty of the mountains and feel like there is still so much I want to do here. He told me he would make it work for me :)  

About 7 of us had planned last night to do the big 7 hour hike up the ski mountain to the summit. Well 3 of the girls had a bit of a rough night last night so it ended up just being four of us that went on the hike, Owen and Bell (a couple from Australia) and Tom (a guy from Australia/new Zealand). 

We had a map of the mountain from Gerhard but it was a map of the ski runs, not a hikers map. It didn't do us much good at the end of the day and We made a few wrong turns but nothing drastic at first. 

I was in charge of the map, I don't know why, and if any of you know, I am horrible with directions. They kept saying that I was the oldest and wisest and the American (whatever that means). 

Although Bella and Owen kept making fun of Americans because they saw two on segways that were very overweight and they were wishing an eagle was flying over them with an American flag shouting 'merica! They said I was the most fit American they have met so far.  That's not saying much but what it is saying is the stereotype of America that so many people have is so sick. 

We were having great conversations and were very confident with the way up from the directions Gerhard gave us. Well then we came to a hault and we knew we were very lost. 

This wrong turn ended up taking us an extra hour (and a lot of unneeded energy) to figure it out and get on the right path,

unfortunately. I quickly have the map duty to owen snd bell because I didn't want to be responsible for this. 

We were very persistent and we were not going to give up! 

I found the best hiking stick in the group. It even had a little resting place for my thumb! Tom loved it so much he kept making me give him turns with it! It actually works miracles!

The hike was actually very challenging and you definitely had to think "on your light foot". 

In about 3 and a half hours we made it to the top of the mountain to a restaurant that two sisters own. We were so thankful to get there because we were all out of water and our blood sugar was very low. We needed food!!!

They make such delicious Austrian food and are known for their bacon and eggs, Gerhard informed me. I had to try it so after this long hike up, I ate a very fatty meal. It was grossly good, as Marike would say.

Well we thought we had made it and we were about 1600 m above sea level. 

We were so proud and excited that we were going to make it down the mountain before dusk (and in time for dinner at 7). 

A man came huffing and puffing down the mountain and told us he had just come from the summit. We were all shocked because we thought we were at the summit. He explained it was about an hour longer with a bit of rock climbing and holding onto rope along cliffs. 

We all regained ourselves and made the executive decision to make it to the summit since we were already this far.  We asked the sisters in the restaurant if they could call down to the treehouse and tell Gerhard that we will be home around 8:30 and that we still wanted dinner!  They were more than happy to do that for us. 

The hike was actually much more fun and adventurous along rocks and through small trails  and very very worth it!

End station!!! We made it. I felt on top of the world and very accomplished because we actually hiked up this mountain to 1,747 m above sea level! It is an extremely rewarding feeling.  

But we still had to make it down before dusk. We gave ourselves 15 min to take photos, enjoy the view, and eat a candy bar. We all bought bountys at the little restaurant and it was the best decision I have made all day. I wish I had a picture but I have descovered my new favorite candy bar (resees may still be in the lead). It is called bounty and is a chocolate bar with a lot of coconut on the inside and better than an almond joy. It was lovely! I may have to stock up before I come home because I have never seen them before!

The walk down is always more challenging for me! It is harder on my knees and feet but remembered that it is all mental!

We dipped our feet in the lake and I got my hair wet to cool my body down! At this point it was about 5:30 and we knew we had to pick up the pace. 

After a lot of determination and not stopping (1. Because we needed to hurry. And 2. Because it hurt our knees more to stop and take breaks) we pushed through. We made it home at 7:30! Much quicker than we expected!

We walked into the treehouse (Tom and Bella very sunburned) and all looking dead and the 20 people staying there were sitting around and all started clapping for us. We felt so accomplished :) what an amazing feeling!

We had a delicious Austrian dish which was tender beef with this light horseradish sauce on top and veggies. It was so amazing and such a great treat to come home to (even with strawberry icecream to top it off)

I sat around and watched everyone play Austraian/New Zealand/British trivia. I didn't know a single question so I hit the hay and never have fallen asleep so fast in my life. 

I feel like I have done some pretty challenging hikes before but this is definitely in the top 2 hardest!  Eric and I hiked the Grand Canyon and that was just hard in a much different way! Hiking this mountain, the elevation definitely plays a factor and makes it harder to breathe. It is a really great feeling to accomplish such a difficult 9 hour hike!