Three 7s in the date. That must be lucky as the sun was out.
After a breakfast energy top up it was a short drive to Lucknerhouse at 1930 meters to abandon the car, shoulder the pack and head upwards. The well-formed way passed Lucknerhut and then narrowed to a well-marked, but narrow mountain path to head towards Stüdlehut at 2801 meters. After lunch I was to meet with my Guide there for the rest of the Grossglockner climb.
On the way up there were lots of photos taken of the last of the Spring flowers, the scenery and some fairly unperturbed Ibex (Steinbock). I made it to the hut by 11am in 1 hour 50 minutes in time for a hearty lunch. Armin, my guide, found me and gave me the helmet, harness and crampons. I would need these later on the way to Erzherzog-Johann-Hut. This is located at an altitude of 3451 meters (the highest Mountain hut in the Austrian Alps), and was a total height gain of 1521 meters for the day.
The walk at first was fairly easy, even across the Kodnitz glacier. We did rope up for this, but no crampons as the fresh snow from the last days gave our boots plenty of grip. Going up the rock on the spur under the hut crampons were needed as the snow and ice made them slippery. You did have to thin where you were putting your hands and feet up this bit. My big camera was safely in the pack and only my waterproof point and shoot made it out for some doco shots.
We made it to the hut by 3pm, so a 2 hour climb from the Stüdlehut. Now for an early dinner. Early night, early start, and hoping for clear skies for the summit tomorrow. Certainly not pleasant outside at the moment.
Regards
Walter
