With free transportation throughout the valley, there were endless mountains to explore, walk, bike and/or hike. I poured over the topographic maps every night, and consulted the bus timetables trying to decide which mountain to hike the following day. You may think that’s easy but every mountain had trails beginning and ending in all directions.

The buses to Damuls don’t run as frequently as the other routes but we managed to push our way on (the buses were always crowded), and the Transportation Authority ordered another bus for those people still standing on the curb. A very busy weekend. Two busloads of people unloaded in Damuls and raced to the Uga Bahn four-person chairlift for the ride up including us. (Love the name “Uga”…reminds me of the Oompa Loompa people in “Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.”)

ex-Marine on the Uga Bahn, Austria
There were actually two goats at the top which gave me an excuse to burst into …up on a hill is a lonely goatherd… and hundreds of people examining maps and trail signs, heading in every direction. …View image…

billy goat gruff at the top of the Uga Bahn, Damuls, Austria
It’s humbling to see people who refuse to let their disabilities stop them from enjoying a day walking on the mountains. Several people with arm braces and crutches disembarked from the Uga Bahn and started walking very slowly on the trails. Whenever I try to find an excuse for not attempting something, the disabled skiers at Winter Park, Colorado whooshing by on the slopes and the blind runner tethered to his seeing-eye runner, remind me that there is no excuse for not trying.

walking with arm braces in Damuls, Austria
Our intent was to walk across the broad plateau to Mellau and take the cable car down in Mellau. The directional sign to Mellau was partially covered with a notice in German. I thought it said geschlossen, closed. That word I knew but couldn’t make out the rest and decided to set off on the trail and see what happened.
One hour into the hike, it became obvious that the trail was indeed geschlossen and if some dumbkof (idiot) didn’t understand German, there were barriers to keep anyone from continuing! Big duh… Turned back, and took the chairlift down to again catch that 12:45 p.m. bus back to Au.

You’ll even see interesting sights out of the bus windows. A very tiny, old church at the side of the road…

teeny, tiny old church in the Au, Austria area
…and a little, old lady dressed in a traditional Austrian costume going about her daily shopping…

dressed in Austrian dirndls
Back at Hotel Tannahof, we told Juliane about today’s debacle and she answered, “Oh, yes, they are building a new ski trail there.” TIP: We are dumbkofs. Consult your hosts for information about the local surroundings. They know everything that’s going on and could have saved us a trip to Damuls if only we had asked her…