Googlers go Trainsjoch

Last Sunday I went hiking with a few fellow Googlers. When we met at 10:00 in Siegertsbrunn the sky was dark gray and it did not look like a good day for hiking. But after a few minutes we could see patches of blue sky south of us and when we parked the car, the weather had changed to perfect spring weather – cool and sunny.

We followed the trail which looked more like a small street than a hiking trail – wide enough for a car but fairly steep. After about an hour of walking and about 400m of climbing over just a few kilometers we reached the Trockenbachalm. It was about 12:00 which was (according to wikipedia) to late for second breakfast but we enjoyed some coffee and cake in the sun anyway.

Leaving the Trockenbachalm through a gate we continued on a track that looked more like a hiking trail than the road we were on before. It followed the southern hillside of the Nesselberg and after a turn we I even lost the trail for a few hundred meters until we Matt realized that we were wrong.

We headed up towards the saddle between Trainsjoch and Ascherjoch. Up on the saddle the trail to Trainsalm continues eastwards but we turn north up to Trainsjoch. From here on we encounter multiple patches of snow which make this easy hike more challenging. After another 30 minutes we reach the summit and have a few minutes to enjoy the view. The weather forecast was right and we can see the clouds closing in on us. After a short break we decide to split up, some of us take the same way back down while the others (including me) head down via Nesselberg.

This was the most challenging section. First the track follows the rigde from Trainsjoch to the summit of Nesselberg. We got about a minute of hail, but fortunately it stopped again.

From the summit we have to climb down a gully full of rocks and snow. Nobody made it down without falling at least once and I was glad I carried my trekking poles. I gave one of them to Daniel and we both made good use of them.

The last few meters back to Trockenbachalm were mostly level and it started to rain about the time we saw the Alm again. A lot of people were already eating and no seats were left inside. We sat outside but coverd by the overhanging roof. A hot meal (Speckknödelsuppe, very yummy!) and a Radler later we headed back to the car and to recover from the strenuous hike we visited the Theme Bad Aibling and enjoyed a few hours of Sauna.

More pictures can be found on picasa.

Stats according to MyTracks:
Total Distance: 16.92 km (10.5 mi)
Total Time: 5:06:48
Moving Time: 3:24:31
Average Speed: 3.31 km/h (2.1 mi/h)
Average Moving Speed: 4.96 km/h (3.1 mi/h)
Max Speed: 9.90 km/h (6.2 mi/h)
Min Elevation: 874 m (2869 ft)
Max Elevation: 1758 m (5769 ft)
Elevation Gain: 1068 m (3503 ft)
Max Grade: 32 %
Min Grade: -34 %
Recorded: Sun Apr 18 11:04:39 GMT+02:00 2010
Activity type: hiking