Hut tour through Vorarlberg - inspiring encounters and a spontaneous extension

I've just come back from my tour and am sitting here in a café in Vorarlberg, still half dressed in my hiking gear, writing this post. What can I say? It was so incredibly beautiful that I can hardly put it into words. And no, this is not a classic travelogue, that would be too boring for me, but I'm also taking you with me on my trip and telling you all about the things I was able to experience and the surprises that life has conjured up. It's often these unforeseen things that turn a trip into an adventure and leave you with a feeling of absolute enrichment. I'll also tell you about Gérhard from Cape Town, two encounters from Munich and the weather god, who was on my side (almost) the whole time.

It all started with the idea: I really want to go back to Vorarlberg. I want to immerse myself in the mountains, I want to take photos and just have a good time. Do what's good for me. Ever since I was there a few years ago, I've been drawn back again and again. I can't explain why exactly. It just feels good. Hardly any other place has touched and inspired me as much as Vorarlberg. My plan was to go back to a campsite and start my hikes from there every day. But unfortunately everything was fully booked. "Too short notice" doesn't count for me, as you'll see later. Because I always find that even when things are fully booked, I still manage to get a place there in an amazing way. It just wasn't meant to be this time. I remembered a hut that I wanted to start my "ski touring boot run-in tour" in winter. Unfortunately, it didn't work out due to a lack of snow. But well, I'll just have a look at it in summer, was my thought. But everything was fully booked at the hut too - that was obvious. The longer I stared at the fully booked beds on the homepage, the more certain I became that I wanted to go there and that I would manage it. I didn't know how. And then after a while, by some miracle, something became available again. No doubt due to the bad weather forecast. My bed was booked and I was ready to go.

I drove to the Latschau hiking parking lot to start my tour from there. It should take about 2.5 hours and 800 vertical meters to get to the hut. A good route for my first hut test. I really wanted to try out what it's like to hike with a heavy rucksack, where it pinches, what I need and what I don't need and what it's like in a hut. I was a bit nervous about the weather, because the forecast was thunderstorms. According to the app, I should make it before the rain if I hurry. I made my way up quickly, always keeping an eye on the sky. But everything was fine, the sun was shining and the clouds didn't look dangerous yet. A nice tour, wide path, good for families. The last section was a little steeper and more strenuous.

And at this point I would like to talk about hiking and traveling "alone". How many people look at me with pity and irritation when I happily tell them that I travel alone a lot and love it. As if it were my destiny to only be able to hike alone and they can't believe my joy. But it's a conscious decision that brings with it so much freedom and a flow of life that not many people seem to have experienced or have the confidence to experience themselves. I'm sure after this story, you'll understand more what I'm talking about and what's so great about it. And once again, it didn't take too long before I was no longer alone. So much for the plan to hike alone.

Further up, I arrived at a pasture and was unsure whether the cows would like my presence or not. I therefore walked parallel to the pasture fence to avoid having to walk through the herd, which was standing in the middle of the path. But then at some point the path bent so that I was forced to enter the pasture after all. As I stood there in front of the electric fence, wondering how to get my large rucksack and myself over or under it without being electrocuted, I was approached by an older man who had just come up the path behind me. After a conversation about the cows, which he didn't consider dangerous, we got talking. Our conversation continued and we walked together until just before the fork in the path in front of the hut.

He told me about Vorarlberg and the dialect and how it came about. I am simply fascinated by it, because there are many words there that I have never heard before and that have something very unique and special about them. And the pronunciation of place names is also different to what I know from Austria or Bavaria. He also told me about the Habsburgs, who originally came from Switzerland and actually acquired Vorarlberg as an “intermediate piece”, as a link between Austria and Switzerland. When we reached the fork in the path, where he wanted to go right to an alpine pasture and I wanted to go left to the hut, he patiently showed me all the mountains with his arm outstretched and named them. And he told me about a glacier that has unfortunately melted away so much that it is no longer listed in the glacier register. He then suggested other tours and described exactly how I could continue my trip tomorrow - as if he was sure that I would need this information. These are exactly the moments that I love so much. I don't even ask and life presents me with solutions before I even know that I was looking for one. We then said goodbye.

When I arrived at the Lindauer Hütte, I first checked into my cute room with red and white checked bed linen, wooden beds and the most beautiful view of the highest mountains. I immediately felt at home with all the natural wood and beautiful bathroom. A modern hut, a wonderful view and lots of space around it with its own alpine garden and outdoor seating under parasols. I was allowed to find my way around first and then made myself comfortable on the terrace. One thing was clear: there is hardly any reception here, which means plenty of time to enjoy nature. But when you're traveling alone, you can't distract yourself with a cell phone and stare at a screen for hours on end. I noticed different people: Families with children, a group of Vorarlbergers who must have cycled up on their bikes and were now spending a birthday at the hut. They were sitting there with their white sauna towels, enjoying themselves with a glass of wine in their hands and telling funny stories. I noticed the different dialects, they all came from different parts of Austria. And then there was a man sitting there who somehow had a certain aura, like an inner glow. I couldn't interpret it, so I decided to ignore him for the time being. I wasn't in the mood for any small talk, so I preferred to look around and explore the surroundings.I took a deep dive with my camera and captured the plants, the great light and the mountains, which disappeared more and more into the clouds. The weather that had been forecast slowly became more and more cloudy and made the mountains disappear more and more.

After my short tour, I wanted to explore the Alpine Garden, which people have visited time and again. A sign shows that it was lovingly created by the German Alpine Association and has become a large botanical collection over the years. I noticed this one man watching me as I opened the creaky wooden gate to the garden and just thought to myself “Don't move!”. It didn't take long for him to follow me. That was obvious! People are so predictable! Just ignore them, I told myself. I just didn't feel like talking and was happy to stroll through the overgrown stone hills in peace. Just as I was crouching on the ground taking photos of a few thistles with bees, he suddenly stood a few meters away from me and quietly said “hello”. I noticed that he kept a respectful safe distance and was beaming all over his face. I have to say, it's rare for someone to have such a positive and radiant aura. He somehow reminded me of a contented Buddah. After I had assessed the situation as harmless, a conversation slowly developed, one that I hadn't expected.

He told me that he comes from South Africa and has been traveling in Europe for several months with his tent and backpack. He usually spends the night outside or in huts and loves to watch the stars. Above 2000 m altitude, this is probably also allowed in Switzerland. I was fascinated by the fact that he seems to have no fear and is so full of happiness. He comes from Cape Town and runs his own business there, where he buys and rents out accommodation. And when the season ends there, he always goes traveling for six months. I can't describe in words how incredibly enriching this conversation was. With everything he said, he conveyed so much wisdom and truth and, above all, confidence in life. I had the feeling that he had found a way for himself to lead his very own life, and above all a very happy life. At the end he said “I think the happiest people are travelers!”. And I understood exactly what he meant at that moment. It's often the little things that make you happy. When you travel, you learn to set priorities, to make do with little and at the same time to welcome life's opportunities and surprises with open arms. You get to talk to inspiring people and you learn to stay flexible and believe in yourself. This conversation gave me so much courage and confidence in life. Because I realized at that moment how much more open he was to life than I was. As if he had come to me to give me these very words. So my initial aversion was absolutely unfounded. Perhaps I had already subconsciously sensed that it wasn't going to be a normal conversation and that it meant change. Who knows?

I then spent a nice evening on the terrace, with good food, the photos on my camera and then went to bed early, satisfied. The whole room smelled terribly of sweaty laundry because my neighbors dried it in the room instead of taking it to the drying room. Thanks for that! Airing the room only helped a little too. But after such a beautiful day, you can just sleep soundly. All the exercise, the fresh air, the many impressions and conversations make you tired. The many impressions and conversations from today were still working inside me. I went to bed with the feeling that I would change my plans tomorrow.

The next morning - in my case at 6:45 a.m. thanks to my roommate - I went for breakfast and packed my rucksack again. I checked the weather forecast again and again, as best I could with the reception, and weighed up whether I would go back to the parking lot or go further - somewhere. After yesterday, thanks to my guide, I knew all about the routes and huts in the area and how to get back to my starting point from there. I realized that I didn't want to go back, I wanted to keep going and decided to go for it, despite the fact that the hut was fully booked. I'll find a place to sleep. I then decided to hike towards Lünersee, as I had always wanted to go there. It's this feeling of magical attraction that usually serves as a compass for me. It tells me: go in this direction, it will be good!

When you leave the hut in the morning, you usually do so at the same time as a horde of other people who pack their rucksacks, tie their shoes and set off one by one around 8 o'clock. Almost everyone walked out of the hut on the right side of the mountain, but my path was supposed to branch off to the left and continue into the valley. Somehow I wasn't sure if that was the right thing to do. If they are all going somewhere else, is it not so nice where I want to go or is the path not the right one? As I stood there waiting to gain some clarity, I approached a couple my age who, to my relief, were walking in my direction. They confirmed that the path was the right one. After a brief conversation, the woman said: "You're welcome to have my friend's bed, who canceled because of the weather. I haven't canceled yet." And there it was again, that feeling that anything is possible and you only have to take one step in the right direction and then life will give you everything you need. In my case, a bed and some security on the route. I now had my own personal escort, so to speak, who would lead me safely to Lünersee. Very comfortable.

The route was really no problem at all, it's just that it's always steeper for longer, which makes you sweat. The landscape is beautiful and I couldn't get enough of it. The interplay between clouds and light could be observed everywhere, constantly changing the landscape. I often pulled out my camera to take a picture and then a cloud moved in front of the mountain again - too late, crap! I often felt like that. My two companions were also moving at quite a fast pace, which meant that I always had to step on the gas to catch up with them during my short breaks to take photos. Thanks to the time we spent together, Jan, one of them, has now taken some pictures of me.

The valley was constantly changing: green mountain slopes, rugged mountain peaks, rocks stained red by iron running right through a mountainside, snowfields, a mountain stream, lots of cows and also playing and whistling marmots, which we observed again and again. My companion made it fun to whistle herself, which led to the marmots also whistling to warn each other about us. The clouds that kept piling up behind us were exciting and raised the question of whether they would soon catch up with us with rain. A thunderstorm had been forecast, which meant I was constantly accompanied by a slightly queasy feeling in my stomach. However, I then felt very vindicated in my decision to take this route, as everyone else, including the Cape Town man, had probably already had to hike in the rain. And I too would probably have been caught in the rain on the planned way back to the parking lot. That was exactly right!

After another stage with 400 meters of ascent, we finally reached the top of a mountain with a great view of Lake Lünersee. I had the feeling that I was looking at the turquoise blue sea, as the gray dam wall could not be seen through the clouds. The horizon seemed endless. All around me, fields of purple and yellow flowers, cotton grass and a view of the mountain pasture down by the lake, where we wanted to make a short stop. There were more people here again, especially those on day trips around the lake. Only a few of them were carrying as big a rucksack as we were. It felt good to have already hiked such a long way and to have experienced so much today. And we hadn't even reached our destination yet.

When we arrived at the mountain pasture, we had a quick snack and I stroked the goat that was standing next to me on my bench and was very insistent on my cheese sandwich. We wanted to relax a little before the steep ascent continued. The Totalphütte that the two of them had booked was not directly on the lake, but another 1 hour and 600 meters in altitude away. So my tour was even longer than planned, as I thought my destination was the hut at Lünersee. Actually, it would only have been another 400 meters in altitude, but Jan wanted to take the “more alpine” route to the top, which meant even steeper and longer. I wasn't used to hiking with such a heavy rucksack and was therefore not very enthusiastic at first. Afterwards, however, I was really happy because the view from up there was so beautiful and it felt like a real mountain tour over scree fields. And it's always a good feeling to realize that you can do more than you often think.

We then climbed steeply uphill past the cows above the lake. At the top, it became increasingly rocky and rugged. Lots of scree, unpaved paths and a magnificent view of the Lünersee! I really enjoyed the last section with a view of the cloudy peaks until they caught up with us here too and there was nothing to see but gray soup. I was slowly glad when we finally reached the top. We'd already been on the road for over three hours and it gets cold in the clouds.

The Totalphütte is situated at 2385 m and was significantly smaller than the Lindauer Hütte. It was also modern and still quite new. When we arrived, we were lucky to be able to enjoy the sunshine for a short time before the clouds took over. I quickly took my last photos before nothing more could be seen. The weather was slowly gathering and the next day was supposed to be really rainy according to the weather forecast. Rain is ok, but no thunderstorms please. The evening was entertaining and nice. You always get to know people quickly at the hut, especially when you're sitting at a table with them. Again, I could tell stories about the dreams of the people there, their plans, thoughts and their view of life. You can learn so much from others.

For me, it was unfortunately a very short night of maybe four hours' sleep. Unfortunately, the light kept banging in my face as soon as someone opened the door to the room. Total bad planning. Next time I'll definitely take a sleep mask with me. Better safe than sorry! After breakfast, we set off at 8:15 am. Out into the foggy, wet and rugged landscape. We then took a different route back towards Lünersee. The whole time we had a great, albeit somewhat cloudy, view of the lake - simply magical. And thanks to the wet weather, we must have seen around 15 black Alpine salamanders of all sizes along the way. That was really something special and a first for me. Instead of taking the Lünserseebahn cable car down, we walked - saving money. The path then leads over the “Bösen Tritt”. You really shouldn't “stretch your legs” here, as the path goes steeply downhill and is very bumpy, slippery and narrow. Thanks to the steel cable, you can always find a foothold in places. It was drizzling the whole time and we were glad when we reached the bottom after another hour. It really started to pour down at the bottom. Perfect timing I would say! Then we took two buses, a section of the Montafon cable car and another bus back to the parking lot. The bus driver took me as close as possible to my parking space, how nice!

That was the report of my three-day hut tour, which developed rather accidentally. In conclusion, I would like to say once again how great it is to get out into life and then be richly rewarded. Sometimes I even have the feeling that life is having fun confronting you with such “absurd” surprises. One example: I wanted to continue my tour and I was not only sent a tipster, but later a couple as my personal escort with a reserved bed at the fully booked hut. And I don't want to forget Gérhard, my friend from Cape Town, who radiated so much confidence in life and gave me so many valuable messages in this short time. Like a messenger sent to me to prepare me for my next tour or even a new chapter in my life.

I am now sitting here with my laptop in the café in Feldkirch and feel absolutely grateful, enriched and somehow can't quite believe that I have experienced all of this over the last three days. The photos remind me of my experiences, but they can't compare with the fascination or the glow in my heart that I felt in those moments. Sometimes I would like to look down on myself from above when life hands me gifts and I stand there with a bewildered face, unable to believe what wonderful things have just happened again.

What else would you like to experience? Have you ever tried a hut tour? What moments conjure up a “wow” in you? Do you know that feeling when everything seems to fall into place and everything you need is brought to you? Maybe you didn't even ask for it. In which moments do you experience this more often?