Transalp with "Dr. rad"Andreas Albrecht |
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| Transalp.info and TransAlp-Touren.de: information and guides tours |
Deuter Transalpine - Explorer-Tour 2003: Mittenwald - Torbole
supported by Deuter Rucksacks
| route | Mittenwald - Brenner - Pfunderer Joch - Brixen - Sarntaler Alpen - Grauner Joch - Andalo - Monte Gazza - Gardasee | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| length | 423 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| elevation gain | 12.008 hm | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| date | 16th to 21st of August 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| stages (6) |
roadbooks: see report in germanclick here
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| maps | Kompass:
digital map Austria,
digital map Tirol,
digital map South Tyrol,
5,
35,
54, 56,
73, 74 101, Tabacco
Nr. 11 overview map: Kompass - road map 358; Tirol - Trentino ISBN: 3-85491-853-4 buy via Amazon: click the number of the map |
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| tour planning | Andreas Albrecht | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| tour guiding | Andreas Albrecht | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| participants | Matthias "Matze" Eckardt (Gräfenroda) |
tour report (translation by Katie Stephens)
(Matze und Albi - 2003)
| prologue | ||||
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Translator's note: all place names in the bilingual South Tyrol / Alto Adige have
been left in the more widely used German.
To plan the tour I used reports from other internet transalp sites; the relevant Kompass maps and Uli Stanciu's book "Traumtouren Transalp" published by Delius Klasing, (ISBN 3-7688-1270-7), www.traumtouren-transalp.de. It includes an interactive CD-ROM and was helpful showing the altitude profiles of some passages, but unfortunately is only available in German. Digital maps are really useful to help fine-tune a route, and increasingly easy to find. For the first time I used the topographic digital maps of Austria; the whole country is covered on two CDs (www.austrianmap.at). I didn't bother making a detailed road book, but instead scanned in the relevant bits of maps and printed them out as a word document. On the printout I marked the planned route, and then every evening drew in the route we actually rode. There weren't any major diversions, and actually everything proved to be very clear. |
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| Day 1: Biker-Pilgrimage | ||||||||
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| This year our chosen starting point was Mittenwald, home of the successful German
biathlete Martina Glagow as a sign at the entrance to the town proudly announces.
Mittenwald is also the traditional starting point of the Transalp-Challenge, whose 2003
route we often crossed on our last two days. We left the car in a long-stay car park and shortly after 9am were on our bikes. The weather forecast was good - almost a little too warm, but as I prefer heat to the cold it was great for me. As far as Seefeld (of Winter Olympic game) we had an easy time cycling along the many logging roads, but once we got there orientation was on the agenda. We intended to take the historic logging track left of Mösern which leads down to the Inntal. In the end it wasn't a great problem to find, and whilst on this steep but unproblematic downhill we really did meet a local farmer who'd loaded his tractor with wood. At a suitable spot he pulled in to let us pass with a friendly wave. We reached the Inntal near Oberpettnau and were hit by the heat of the 2003 super summer. Our water stocks were replenished at the village well, and on we went towards the Axamer Lizum.
According to legend, at Easter 1407, two shepherd boys found an image of the Madonna and Child on a hollow larch tree. They sawed the roughly metre high image out of the tree and brought it down to Matrei. At Whitsun in the same year, the poor woodsman Christian Lusch heard a voice telling him to climb up to Waldrast and to wait on a mossy stone. There a vision of the Virgin Mary appeared to him and showed him the spot on which he should build a chapel. With help of the bishop of Brixen a chapel was built in 1421 and the statue of the Madonna found a home. Twice the monastery church was the victim of secular rulers, the miraculous image of the virgin loosing its accustomed place on the high altar to take involuntary journeys: in 1785 the monastery was raised by Kaiser Joseph II and only renovated in 1846 when the holy sculpture returned in great triumph. Since then, apart from a short break between 1941 and 1945 it has stayed and been a destination for pilgrims. We took a break in the clerical setting. You can stay over night, but it's recommended
to call in advance and reserve. We however went down in to the Wipptal, and after a few
fruitless attempts finally found a comfy abode at the "Gasthaus zur Brücke" in
Matrei. We have fond memories of the first night of our tour, particularly due to the
large biker friendly breakfast buffet! |
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| Day 2: Into Italy - the Brenner Ridge Road | ||||||||
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Coming from the Austrian side, the way up to the track is liberally spiced with passages where you have no choice but to push or carry the bikes. We had chosen the way over the Flachjoch or the "flat pass" (2124 m). It doesn't live up to its name. At the Hochleger Alm you have to lean your head right back just to be able to see the Italian border. The around 200 vertical metres one has to push/carry is really rather tedious, but quickly forgotten once up and you see the view over the other side into the South Tyrolean Wipptal. You get an awesome 360° panorama reaching over to the Zillertaler Alps, and the Tribulaun massif behind you. On a clear day you can easily make out the track up to the Schlüsseljoch - our next pass, taking us on to Pfitschtal.
From Sterzing, Gossensass or Brennerbad the military tracks are easy to reach and fantastic to ride, and consequently this was just about the only time on our tour we met hoards of Mountain Bikers. I started talking to one as I was interested in finding out more about the Sandjöchl as an alternative to the Flachjoch; its advantage is that you then get to enjoy the full splendour of the ridge road going downhill. He confirmed this and also recommended that we don't turn off to the Wechsel Alm, but stay on the main track towards Brennerbad. After several photo stops we enjoyed the wonderful downhill to the "Silbergasser" Restaurant on the Brenner road, where we had an excellent vegetable soup, preparing ourselves well for the climb up to Zirog. We had to go a short way down the busy road before turning left, going under the motorway and then started our attack on the uphill. The new asphalt soon switches to a slow, crumbly track, but never gets bad to cycle. From the Zirog Alm we could see our goal for the day: the Enzian Hütte. Normally you could easily get over the Schlüsseljoch on the same day, but we'd opted for a short stage as we weren't sure of how easy it would be to find accommodation in Pfitsch: it was the middle of the great Italian holiday season, "ferragosto". Anyway, we moved in to our good value room, cleaned ourselves and our bikes, and enjoyed a warm afternoon in the sun. Slowly more mountain bikers trickled in, and we got plenty of opportunity to talk shop. |
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| Day 3: The Pfunderer Joch | ||||||||||||
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The Pfunderer Joch is in a touristic no-man's land, making it one of the most impressive passes on the main Alpine chain that you can sensibly attempt by mountain bike. On our way we came across just a single, solitary shepherd. The track is mostly extremely steep, without any flatter passages, and on the border of what one can realistically cycle. It's hard to resist getting off and pushing for a bit, but all depends on your level of fitness. Whether riding, or on foot you should make it to the top in about two and a half hours. Once there you have one of the best high alpine downhills anywhere waiting for you.
The Weitenberg Alm is a logical place to take a break, and you should make use of
their rustic menu selection. We had an enormous portion of eggs and the South Tyrolean
bacon-like "Speck" washed down by milk from happy cows. Particularly in the upper part,
the long way down the Pfunderer valley is really spectacular. We often had to stop to
soak it all in. From the hamlet Dun (1583 m) there's a good asphalt road that brings you
quickly to Niedervintl, where the Mediterranean summer heat hit us again with full force.
As we stopped, we noticed that Matze's back tyre had a little tear in it from the gravel.
He let some air out and we didn't waste any time getting down to Brixen, first along the
cycling road, then on the road over Mühlbach. At the entrance to Brixen we found a
sports shop with a professional bike service (Profisport, 39042 Brixen,
Brennerstraße 72, Tel.: 0039/0472/837668), and got our bike's problems fixed. |
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| Day 4: The Sarntaler Alps | ||||||||
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This transalp is characterized by the massive differences in altitude which we have to get through every day - it feels a bit like jumping from mountain to mountain. I made use of yesterday's repair break to find out more about our climb into the Sarntaler Alps. Norbert Hoffman, a local mountain biker gave me the valuable tip to go through the picturesque Tinnetal (many thanks again!).
The Stöffl Hütte was a logical rest stop. From here we could see the other way up from the fork. Unlike our chosen way it was probably completely cyclable. Our route took us over a rocky trail through the meadows letting us indulge our wanderlust. Sitting on the Stöffl Hütte's terrace we enjoyed the panorama, and filled up on some necessary calories. Afterwards we took a good gravel track above the tree line towards the Rittner Horn which also had its climb. The path dropped a few meters to Moar in Plun hut then rose again to the Gasteiner Sattel.
We knew that we wanted to get down to Bozen that evening, we just didn't quite know how. Up to now the Sarntaler Alps have been rather ignored by transalpers, quite unjustifiably, as I discovered on this tour. Maybe due to its island position, which means you have to cross the Eisaktal to get there, ripping you out of the mountain quietness for a while, the contrast with the hustle and bustle in the valley also has its charm though. With the help of a local biker we found a way down to Bozen on forest paths and back roads via Pemmern, Kematen, Oberbozen and Signat taking us down to the heat and noise of the city. Without doubt it was too hectic for us here, so we hurried to find the cycle road leading along the banks of the Eisack. We fled along the asphalt track which then turns in to the Etschtal cycle road, and in an hour we landed in Tramin, where we found a bed and breakfast in the middle of the vineyards. There's not really a lot to say about Tramin: It's on the South Tyrolean Wine road, a favourite holiday spot for German tourists, and you can do a lot of bike tours from here. |
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| Day 5: "Royal Stage" over the Grauner Joch | ||||||||
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The Grauner Joch at 1800 m doesn't really sound spectacular; but we started from about 220m, and with the sun beating down we quickly realized what was waiting for us. This transition into the Italian language area may well be completely rideable, but is often absolutely at the limits. What ever you do, make sure you have plenty of water with you, as we discovered all too late - the last refill point before the alm on the other side was in Graun at c. 900 m. We got going with a little lap of honour around the hiker's car park, before moving straight on to good gravel tracks, and made it through the 1000 meter climb with just a single water bottle each. As we finally got to the top, we knew how camels must feel in the desert just before they die of thirst. Our only aim was to get down as quickly as possible to the next Malga with water. It wasn't so easy, as the path marked in the Kompass map was more an artist's impression than representation of reality. We relied on our sense of direction and in the end, after a few tricky ups and downs along the mountain crest found the right way to the Malga Coredo. I guess we must have poured a good 2 litres of water in to ourselves there.
Having been on the saddle for more than seven hours, we'd had enough. We bought supper in the supermarket and parked our bikes next to the boss' Porsche Boxster in the hotel garage. In the evening I treated myself to a grappa and an espresso in the hotel bar, and got talking to the young boss of the hotel. My very moderate Italian luckily was enough to get the basics of why and wherefore across. I'm always fascinated by the open-minded and friendly approach of Italians. Breakfast after a night in a four-poster bed was by Italian standards ample. Despite costing €45 a night with breakfast I can highly recommend the hotel: www.hotelscoiattolo.it |
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| Day 6: Monte Gazza, Tre Laghi | ||||||||||||
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Even so it wasn't exactly easy to find the right way through the ski area. It started to drizzle which didn't inspire us to spend a lot of time hunting for it, so, we set off up the ski slope, and got on with pushing the bikes. It looked like the rain would eventually stop so we made use of a ski lift station nearby where we could at least shelter in the dry. In the course of the hour long pause we had to put on thicker and thicker clothing as it was getting uncomfortably cold - a rare feeling for the summer of 2003. All we could do was sit it out and wait. Eventually the rain started lightening off and was just spitting when we set off again. On the mountain they were busy building roads and tracks, so again we had to rely upon our well developed sense of direction to find the right way towards the Malga di Covelo, first on foot and later back in the saddle. The tracks were recently widened, and were still very rough and bad to ride. Next time it'll be better. At about 1800 meters we reached the highest point of the day and could see along the ridge of Monte Gazza. In front of us, way below in the valley was the Sarca River, the Lago di Toblino, Lago di Cavedine and right at the back in the summer haze Lake Garda.
In fairness I have to mention that there are other opinions to this turnoff. SpOOky fish (if you use the IBC-Forum you'll know who he is) writes the following: "The first short bit of the path through the meadows unfortunately isn't so great to ride, more like a washed out gravel channel. As you go on, the surface gets better, not so loose, and the trail becomes nice and effortless, with a few steep passages and switch backs, maybe best compared to the mule paths in Liguria. Maybe this is one too. I don't know exactly where it comes out, but I think it's by a Trattoria in Margone. If you find the right starting point in Margone, you get a further short trail leading to the road to Ranzo. In Ranzo itself orientation is really tricky because of all the twisting lanes. From there on the way isn't so great, partially on a wide rough gravel track to Castel Toblino. It's important for me to mention that the trail isn't exposed and so relatively safe. For me exposed trails come into my knock-out criteria, and mean I push." After the Malga Gazza the way soon gets better and spirals on in serpentines down to the little mountain village of Margone.
There are at least two ways from here to Lake Garda: the first goes through the Valle dei Laghi, past Castel Toblino, through the scree slopes of the Marocche over Arco to Lake Garda, and the second is over Ranzo towards Lago Molveno and on down to Ponte Arche, where one meets the classic transalp route to Riva (we took this way). I have tried both and prefer the legendary route to Lake Toblino and on to Arco, as much as anything because behind the shoe store in Dro there's the Gelateria "Maui" which makes the best home made ice cream in the whole area. Happy and satisfied we finally reach the Lago di Garda, which has become something of a second home, and look forward to two relaxing days in my regular hotel the "Elisabetta": www.hotelelisabetta.com. Thank the trusty shuttle service from "No Limit" (www.no-limits-sportreisen.de) we're brought back stress-free to Mittenwald, filled up with impressions of this transalp tour. |
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| conclusion: | ||||
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The "Deuter Transalpine 25"pack proved itself to be worthy of the job: light, compact and could take everything you need to schlep around on a transalp tour. If you want to ride with a camelbag you should never the less fall back on the 30l big brother. |
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