|||
Up at 07:20. My right toenail has come away entirely. It’s not painful, thankfully. I’m going to skip having a shower and just sock wash, breakfast and break camp. I’ve a long day ahead of me today if I’m to make it to the campsite at the pass - otherwise it’s wild camping. This’ll be my fourth day walking since having a rest day.
08:07: Making breakfast.
Shopping list:
08:50: I’m ready to leave but the office isn’t staffed.
08:59: €7.50 for the night. It’s already unbearably hot. I’ve decided to skip going to Hofer, my bag is heavy enough. All the extra weight is food.
09:37: A sign in Tamsweg centre says Turracher Höhe is 34km away. That’s doable.
09:46: €3.40 for a yoghurt, café and lemon icecream. Onwards.
10:26:22
10:28: Walking south through the valley with the river and the narrow-guage railway to my left and the road higher up the hill to my right. There’s no wind and the day is scorching.
10:46:52
10:59: Finally saw a ‘train’ pass by on the narrow guage railway. I’ve been walking along it since yesterday afternoon and it’s the first one I’ve seen. Murthalbahn, I believe, a little two-carriage diesel.
11:10:31 
11:11:16 
11:15:49 
11:15:53
11:15: Another train went past in the opposite direction. It’s a single track!
11:36: It’s started clouding over a bit, providing respite from the heat.
11:44:16: A ski-jump above a transport and earth-moving equipment depot.
11:46: Entering Ramingstein along the main road.
11:58: A yoghurt and apfel drink: €1.74
12:03:24 
12:07:21
12:07: Leaving Ramingstein. Predlitz is 5.6km away.
12:09: As before, on the valley floor, walking downstream.
12:11: The village of Au appears to consist of a house, a shed and a barn.
12:34:03: “Prayer and labour: God helps always.” 
12:35:51 
12:37:04 
12:50:21 
12:50:38 
12:52:43: The verandah where I sat in the shade eating my lunch.
12:52: Stopping for lunch at an irresistable spot - a verandah perched 20m above the river and town of Kendlbruck. Lunch is a vacuum pack of 400g of red cabbage And two salty stickbreads with peanut butter and honey. One left.
13:25: Moving again.
13:52: Predlitz town limit. I turn south here to follow the Turrach river up its valley.
14:00:56
14:02: Leaving Predlitz.
14:05: On the road to Turrach. Milestone 81.4, 963m altitude.
14:20: Plodding steadily uphill on a motor road. Gonna have a drink of water, put on some lip balm and my headphones.
15:12: 76.5 milestone (5km/h)
15:29: 1098m alt.
16:11: Stopping for a rest. My legs are getting tired and I still have 9km to go. I’ll be walking until seven thirty, I expect. That’ll make tomorrow a shorter day, but it’s going to be a tough one.
16:27:54 
16:28:11
16:50: 1248m
17:02: Turrach village. Probably two hours to go.
17:19: Stopped for a slice of swiss roll and an iced tea, probably for ten minutes. Moving again. Soles hurt. €5.00.
17:23:01 
17:23:08
17:27: Leaving Turrach.
17:39:59
18:32: Approaching Turracher Höhe.
18:45: Turracher Höhe town limit. Fat raindrops.
18:51: Top of the pass. 1763m. GPS 1791m.
18:53:43 
18:53:50 
19:00:20 
19:07:33
19:24: I’ve limped down a steep stony track1 to Alpenhütte Schmidt which is a tiny cabin with a padlocked door. Hope there’s phone signal down here!
20:18: No reply from the proprietor. My calls keep going to voicemail. There’s a torrential shower blowing over now, but as soon as that’s passed, I’ll pitch up. There’s a spring next to the house, which is a relief.
…and straight past the signpost for the campsite on the right. I don’t know why I didn’t take that turn. Having passed it, I promptly forgot I’d seen it. It was only on the way back up the hill the next day that a saw it, and remembered that I saw it. A lesson in the pitfalls of trudging on mindlessly.↩
