How many photos of snow-capped mountains, crystal clear lakes, green pastures and flower-festooned homes does it take to convey the beauty of the Austrian Alps? Certainly more than can be included in this or any blog.
Today we traveled from Salzburg to Bruck an der Grossglockner, a distance of 94 kilometers, or abouty 58 miles. The route was uphill all the way—mostly gradual but at times steep. We traveled on the road for a while, but bypasses for tunnels and the discovery of the Taurenradweg bike trail moved us away from the road for most of the journey. And that was a good thing as the road between Salzburg and Bruck is pretty heavily traveled and the trail provided a good alternative.
Our journey went along the Saalach River, one of the tributaries to the Inn River. The Saalach begins in the high Alps of Austria and wends its way to near Salzburg, where it joins the Salzach which runs into the Inn which joins the Danube and finally empties into the Black Sea. Over the millennia it has dug a deep canyon through the Alps, so as one moves through it you are surrounded by high mountains on all sides. In the course of these years the river has also created at least one beautiful valley, and we cycled through the farms and small towns of that valley today. The weather was good for most of our travel, some sun and some clouds, although it did get cool towards the end.
My previous difficulty with getting The Sound of Music tunes out of my head as I approached Salzburg disappeared as I cycled away from Salzburg. In its place was the tune and words of How Great Thou Art. This hymn, and particularly the line, When I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds thy hands have made…certainly fit the scenery of the day. And it was a whole lot better than a day of A doe a deer a female deer…
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