Trekking to the Ramoljoch Pass in the Austrian Alps

The last two days of our seven-day trek through the Otztal Valley in the Austrian Alps took us up over 4000 feet to the Ramoljoch pass, and then down the other side more than 5000 feet in a single day. It was my favorite part of the trip, as there are no ski resorts in this area, just glaciers and rivers and valleys above the tree line. Also, as you'll see in the photos, the morning of the second day was the climb to the saddle (AKA "joch"), where you get to the top and cross out of the Otztal Valley and into the other valley. 

Here we are after leaving the little village near the base of the valley. The hut is actually visible in this photo, but it's miles away. 

We passed a few grazing cows when we first started out. The jangling of their bells could be heard from a good distance. They were curious about us as we passed, probably hoping we had food for them.

As we climbed higher and higher on our side of the valley, the views of the other side got better. We could see a beautiful, braided river at the base of a side valley across from us. Also visible in the lower right of this photo are a couple of two-story buildings used for resupplying our hut by cable. There were cables stretched all the way from those buildings, across the valley, to our hut. There was a small aluminum box on the cable that could be used to send up food, toilet paper, and other essentials. 

There were no cows at the higher altitudes. We were heading to 10,000 feet (about 3000 meters) that day. Instead, we passed lots of sheep. They were also curious. Some even came over to see if we wanted to share our lunch with them. 

This was the view looking back towards where we started after a couple of hours. 

Here we have a good view of the Gurgl glacier. As with almost every glacier in the Alps, it's lost a large majority of its mass over the last fifty years. The bare rock marks where the ice used to reach. It's much smaller in terms of both height and length. 

After a few hours, we're getting closer to the hut, which is barely visible in the upper right corner of this photo. Unfortunately for us, it's closer, but still far above us. The trail rises gradually for most of the hike, but that changes at the very end. 

Here's how it looked as we got to the final approach to the hut. 

Luckily, this section of the trail was relatively short. 

Once we arrived at the hut, we sat out on the nice deck facing the glacier and the valley. It was only around 4 PM, and they weren't open yet. Luckily, they brought us food and drink out on the deck. It was fantastic weather, cool and pretty windy. It's funny everyone is looking at their phones here, as there was no signal, but one can try. Plus, they could have been reviewing all their photos of the day. 

Closer view of the glacier field across the valley. This is the Gurgl glacier. Notice the huts way up there, below the left ice field.

While we were waiting for dinner, I went back outside to look at the glacier. As it happened, a whole herd of sheep showed up to munch on the sparse grass around the hut. That poor grass has no chance to grow, as these guys eat every bit as soon as it pops up. It's hard enough with the cold weather and high altitude. I can't believe there's anything left alive once you add sheep. 

So, we spent the night in the Ramolhaus hut, in a tiny, six-bunk room, with sponge baths at the sinks in the (quite clean) bathrooms, and lots of snoring. Then it was time to do the last 500' of climbing to get over the Ramoljoch pass and start the 5000' descent to the town of Vent on the other side. 

When we woke up, we were in the clouds. We couldn't see anything but gray mist in all directions. After breakfast and packing up, we started to get glimpses of the mountains across the valley again. They would appear and disappear by the minute for the next couple of hours. 

Finally, it was clear enough to get started. We walked out the opposite side of the hut we had arrived from the night before, right onto the trail to Vent. As you can see from the photo, the clouds were filtering through as we walked. It was very slippery crossing the packed snow, but we managed. 

Then we reached the really exciting part - the via ferrata - where they've installed metal steps, with cables to hold onto, for the 500' ascent to the saddle.

You can tell how steep it is from the way the people only a few steps ahead are almost directly above us. 

I absolutely loved this section and wished it was even longer!

Since before the trip began, I'd been worrying that the heights, exposure, difficulty, and technical nature of this section would cause problems for our group. Our guide company rated this section as "Extreme." Fortunately, none of it slowed down the group at all. We went right up this section without a complaint or a rest. 

Here's how it looked facing back toward the way we came as we got near the top. As you can see, the clouds still hadn't cleared out by the time we reached to top. They were still filling up the Otztal Valley that we had come from. 

Finally, we reached the top, which was around 10500'. From up here, we could see into the other valley, which had its own glaciers. I loved how the clouds were below us, and hugging the mountains on the far side of the next valley.  We were curious why the glacier clearly had two different colors, and all these black lines of sediment.

The rest of the day, we would be hiking all the way down, even lower than the lowest part of that green area, a descent of over 5000'. Long day, but we brought plenty of food and water and took a few breaks to enjoy the views and listen to the glacial river flowing beside us. We were so lucky with the weather on this day too, as it had been raining every day earlier in the trip. 

Antarctica: Second and Third Gentoo Penguin Colonies

 

On this day, we visited two different Gentoo penguin colonies. There were penguin chicks with almost every parent. You can see them in most of the photos below, except the ones where the parent is rushing out to catch some fish or coming home from eating krill (tiny shrimp-like creatures that are key to the entire Antarctic food chain), squid, and fish. 

Dinner time. The tongue is just as bright orange as the beak. I thought that was kind of surprising. Also, the tongue is like a cat's tongue with sharp spikes curving back towards the throat.  They're called papillae, and they help with catching prey.   

A chick pushing its head into the throat of its parent to get food may be a bit disturbing, but it's nothing compared with the videos they showed during the recap presentation that night. Someone had videos of  the semi-digested fish paste oozing out of the parent's throat and into the chick's mouth. Ick! In this photo, you can see the papillae (that's a fun word) on the parent's tongue in even more detail. 

Most of the time, the chicks seemed to be enjoying the warmth and security of a parent's belly. 

More chicks burrowing under bellies. All four of these parents have a chick under there. Fun how they're all facing the same way. 

It's not just a penguin photo, it's an Antarctica penguin photo. The setting is as important to me as the animals.  

Love this amazing glacier face combined with the penguins.

That afternoon, we moved on to a different landing site. In the photo, you can see a guide standing in a Zodiac, just below a rare bit of direct sunlight hitting the glacier face. The glacier is even larger than it looks, as he's not as close to the face as it looks like in this photo. Safety demands keeping a safe distance away from glaciers, as they could calve without warning; creating a huge wave that could capsize or swamp nearby boats. 

The glacier is breaking up into chunks because it's sliding over a large hump of rock underneath. 

This is a Weddell seal that we saw when we arrived at the next site. You can tell the difference between this and a leopard seal by the shape of the face and jaw.  The lower jaw of a leopard seal is bizarrely large and deep. The Weddell seal has the cuter whisker face. 

Funny how they look so comfortable lying on a lumpy bed of ice. They have no fear of the nearby people and boats. 

After getting a good look at this seal, and watching a Minke whale play with another Zodiac, we landed and hung out with the local penguins. 

They would often decide to squawk for a few seconds. 

I saw them point their beak to the sky quite a few times also. Maybe they're just stretching their necks. I like the water and glacier in the background. 

Coming home from fishing. 

Here's a quick video of a couple of penguins on one of the many penguin highways at the colony. Once a few penguins take the same path, the snow and ice are compacted, which makes it easier to walk there. After that, more and more take the same path until it turns into a highway they all like to take. These guys were so cute. You can hear me reminding someone to give them room (as the guides had told us to) because everyone gets so excited to see a penguin coming so close that they often end up standing right in the path of the poor confused penguin. 

Also audible in the background - the otherworldly sound of all the penguins doing their various cries, . 

We saw this whale on the way out of the bay. You can see the roiled water where another whale dove a second before. 

Links to other Antarctica posts:

First Antarctica post, including video of the epic 80 MPH storm we lived through.

Second Antarctica post, with spectacular icebergs in the sun. 

Third Antarctica post, about passing through the narrow channel called the Gullet.

Lots more penguin photos.

Antarctica: Gentoo Penguin Colony

Our penguin colony excursion was amazing, if eye-watering. We could smell it from the Zodiac long before we landed. Once we arrived on shore, you simply had to try to block it out of your mind, which wasn't always easy. Happily, the sounds and activities all around made for compelling distractions. Parent and chick below. I wouldn't say "mother and chick" because the mother and father share responsibilities for the chick. They alternate minding the chick and going for food. 

This is how the colony looked as we approached. The hard blue ice of the glacier, exposed by wind, fractures, and melting, can be seen in the back. The middle ground is snow with red and yellow algae growing in it, while the penguins are perched mainly on the black bedrock in the foreground. 

Three families of penguins, with the left parent feeding the juvenile by regurgitation. 

I think he got tired and decided to rest.  

Jennifer got this great shot with her phone. 

  

Whenever they walk on land, they look like they can barely keep their balance, but I saw them do some pretty tough maneuvers jumping from rock to rock. Didn't see any fall over. 

The uneven feathers are a sign of molting, when they get new feathers. Penguin molting is called "catastrophic molting" because it happens all over the whole body at once, which is unusual.   

Two parent-child pairs in this one. I like how the one on the right has a rock to add to his or her nest. Also, I love that mountain in the back. No rock is visible. It completely lost the battle with snow and ice. 

Most of the chicks were nearly full size, as we were there in late Antarctic summer, meaning the chicks hatched months ago.  

It was gray and cold, with a tiny bit of rain, during our visit to this Gentoo penguin colony. Gentoos have a red beak and a white mark on the head behind the eyes. Watching all these penguins in the cold rain made me question my concept of comfort. This was some of the best weather they see all year: a bit of sunlight and relatively warm temperatures. In fact, since their blubber keeps them perfectly comfortable in near-freezing water, they may think of 35 degrees Fahrenheit as too damned hot. 

Penguin Rock Band - with the vocalist up front, the awkward adolescent molting, the lazy guy lying down, and the thoughtful one staring at the sea in back. 

Sometimes they seemed to get a burst of energy and just start flapping their wings and wagging their tail wildly. This one's tail is wagging so fast it's just a blur. 

At first I didn't like the red, green, and yellow algae spoiling the perfect blue of the ice, but then I started to like the variety of color it provides. Some might accuse me of thinking in terms of what it looks like in photos before anything else. 

The glacier face may appear close in this photo, but is about a mile away. 

I feared this guy would slip or trip, but he knew what he was doing. He even hopped up onto a higher rock and one point. Not bad. 

Can't resist that insane deep glacier ice. We're seeing a cross section of the compacted hard ice that's usually buried under snow. 

Here's a short video from Jennifer of penguins on a "penguin highway."  It's sort of like deer trails. It's easier to walk on packed snow, so after a few go the same way, the rest continue using the same path, until it gets packed into a groove that becomes a trail used by the whole colony. 

A couple of short videos of penguins porpoising. I'm no videographer yet. Anyway, it's tough to figure out where they're going to surface next! 

That's all the penguins for this post, but a couple more fun things from that day. These are from later the same evening. We saw whales on a regular basis. I wonder what these waters would have looked like back in the late 1800's, when there were still millions of whales.  

A couple of short videos of whales diving.

Something we chose NOT to do - the Polar Plunge - see the guy in midair? We were amazed at how many people chose to do it. They had a tether on, plus two guides in a Zodiac ready for rescue. In the closer Zodiac, a ship photographer in an orange life vest was taking photos. 

In this photo, guides were out practicing cold water rescues when a whale passed by. There were several whales working this bay that night. This provides a hint of the relative sizes of the whale, the people, and the glacier behind. If you're looking at this on a phone, you'll probably need to zoom in. 

That's it for the first penguin post! 

Click here for even more penguin photos, plus videos in the next post. 

Click here for my first Antarctica post, including video of the epic 80 MPH storm we lived through.

Click here for my second Antarctica post, with spectacular icebergs in the sun. 

Click here for my third Antarctica post, about passing through the narrow channel called the Gullet.