Hiking round Wolfgangsee

The forecast for a cool and cloudy day proved accurate.
Our plan had been to ride up to the top of Schafberg on the Schafbergbahn cog railway. However we couldn’t even see the top of the mountain so decided to spend the morning walking round the lake, aiming for the little ferry that runs from near Attersee to the edge of St Wolfgang.
The walk took us on paths along the edge of the forest, and through it at points, until we dropped down back to the lakeside. I had hope to ride the summer toboggan run which we had aimed for initially but it wasn’t open and sadly looked like it was closed for good (not just because it was Monday!).
All sorts of wildlife - a herd of wild deer which ran off as we approached (see video - I just caught the end of them running away towards the left) and a family of frogs living in a puddle complete with loads of tadpoles. Also a donkey which sort of chased Richard but in the end it seemed as if it thought he was the owner with food and a herd of goats in the process of jumping over the fence to their enclosure.
The ferry worked perfectly- you summon it by pressing a button - and then we had a bite to eat in in St Wolfgang. The webcam at the top of the Schafberg showed that the visibility was still very poor so it didn’t seem worth riding the railway - we will have to leave that for next time.
On round the lake after lunch, back to Strobl along a fabulous path built out over the lake. Lots of benches with interesting info including one saying that the water quality in the lake is almost the best in Europe and is used as a standard of quality Europe wide. It’s actually drinking water quality and supports a huge range of fish and other creatures. I felt very privileged to have swum in it!
It was still cold so we decided to have a cup of tea and then eat early at the pizza place to avoid having g to walk back in later. As we ate it began to rain and there was also some thunder - it turns out that Toby’s bag contains an eye mask that he was keen to wear on the way back to the hotel even tho that would have rendered him completely blind- he hates thunderstorms. We managed to dissuade him.Read more