2017-THE LONG WEEKEND RIDE IN THE ALPS-DAY 03

“TIROL”

During my rides I often try to implement something special. On day number three of “The Long Weekend Ride in the Alps” my black beauty and I aimed for the highest point of this trip – another cable car peak station in Tirol, which is known from one of the latest James Bond movies. Besides an old construction track there is no official road leading up to this station, but that shouldn’t be a problem with a proper dual-sport-adventure-motorcycle. Here’s the story about the whole day and climbing with a motorcycle to one of the highest vehicle-reachable points in the Austrian Alps.

Overview of these days ride: The day before our ride ended a few meters below the peak of a mountain called “Hinterer Wurmkogel”. Up there is the last nights shelter/the starting point of this day located. After the decent Чернотa and I passed the villages Obergurgl and Hintergurgl and went on for Austrias famous skiing area/village “Sölden”. There we climbed to the top of the mountain “Gaislachkogel” (Altitude: +3000m or +9840ft).
The ride continued through the “Ötztal”-valley in the direction of the “Kaunertal”-valley. Due to a closed road we had to turn around. We followed the Kühtai-valley to Innsbruck, passed Innsbruck and followed the valley of the name giving river “Inn” eastwards. At the entrance to the Zillertal-valley we made a sharp turn to the south and followed this valley until the village “Zell am Ziller” was reached. From there we passed over the “Gerlospass”-road from the Austrian state Tyrol to Salzburg. We followed the valley of the river “Salzach” until we reached the city “Mittersill” where some welding had to be done on Чернотas protection frame.

After a lot of rain and also some hail during the night I woke up around 0500. The sky was now nearly cloudless and was drenched in purple color at its horizon. After making a picture I went for about an hour back into the sleeping bag.

At around six o’clock I aroused. Due to the cold temperatures in that height I stayed with my wool socks and enjoyed the view to the surrounding peaks and the nearly cloudless sky. After that ​Чернотa was …

quickly settled and we started our descent. On the green high alpine meadows …

sheep have been grazing. Down in the …

in the valley we passed the village “Obergurgl” and a few other …

small settlements before we reached the famous skiing area of “Sölden“. There our next …

mountain-climb started. First along easy gravel roads …

​and later it went steeper. But …

as always Чернотa did a great job and …

brought us finally to the top of the “Gaislachkogel“, where also the cable car peak station is located.

At the height of 3003 m or 9852 ft a rest in the thin air was highly appreciated from …

both of us. The scenery was a real eyeopener (it looks like the camera had some problems with the different light conditions) and also the view …

down to Sölden and over the Alps was astounding. After the rest we rode the same way back that we came from. As often before …

the way back down offered better views than the way up did: This panorama and this…

picture show both the view down to the “Öztal Glacier Road“, which is the second highest paved road in Europe. At its end is the skiing-glacier called “Tiefenbachferner” located.

Roads in such high altitudes needs loads of protection buildings which you can see here on this picture quite well.

The last meters down have been easy and followed some snow guns which had been left over from the winter.

Back on tarmac …

Чернотa and I threw a last …

glance back to the Gaislachkogel (the mountain on the right). Then we followed the impressive …

Valley “Ötztal” which offerd a few nice …

locations to watch. At its northern end we turned westwards into the valley …

called “Pitztal”, which is a short, …

parallel leading valley of the bigger “Inntal”-valley.

Short before reaching the “Kaunertal” where the next high point was aimed I recognized that Чернотas fuel tank protection frame was really lose. Here you can see that it has different space on both sides. A closer look showed that it had on both mounts big cracks. Probably the cracks happend on the second day of this trip due to a heavy down fall to the right side while climbing up the valley near the Felbertauern pass road. That is something to address later in the evening.

At the entrance to the “Kaunertal” the road was blocked by police. They told me that there is no traffic for about an hour into the valley due to a heavy-load transport. Due to this hurdle I decided against the ride into the Kaunertal. My intention was to climb there also up to about 3000m. Instead, …

I rode with Чернотa back, …

now eastwards, until we reached the entrance to …

the “Kühtai”-valley. Its a really flat …

high alpine valley which …

(here: typical Tyrolean hay stacks)

is ending/beginning near the capitol city of Tirol called “Innsbruck”.

The back country road on which we passed Innsbruck in the south hasn’t offered many opportunities for making pictures until we …

reached the valley “Zillertal“. We passed this valley and followed …

the “Gerlos Pass Road” from Tyrol to the Austrian neighbor state Salzburg.

On the top of the Gerlos Pass Road is a big dam located. Via the “Old-Gerlos-Pass-Road” (there is no expensive toll station like on the new one) we came …

across the “Krimmler Waterfalls“, Austrias highest waterfalls.

Coming down along the old Gerlos Pass Road we finally reached the valley of the river Salzach. We followed it downwards to the city “Mittersill” …

where I ate a fabulous soft ice near the hospital. After that snack I went along …

the Pass Thurn Road until I reached …

the house of my family – this day’s target – a bit earlier than estimated. I instantly had a closer look …

​ to both mentioned …

cracks on Чернотas protection frame. I removed the frame …

and grinded down the edges of the cracks. After that I …

I unpacked my ten-year-old welding skills O_o, grinded down the seam, put some …

paint on it and finally attached the fresh repaired frame back on Чернотas chest. After that I enjoyed the evening with my family and some fabulous familiar food.

Total distance this day about 350km or 220mi.