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After our three day walk in the Ratikon, we had another expedition planned a little further East
The Silvretta Höchstrasse - a 22.3km private toll road opened in 1954, and going from 1051m Partenen in the Montafon via 2032m Bielerhöhe to 1584m Galtur and on to Ischgls is one of the most beautiful and popular panoramic routes in the Alps. Just South of it and bordering Switzerland is the Silvretta a mountainous area of which the 3312m Piz Buin (better known for sunscreen
), the 3398m Fluchthorn and the 3248m Silvrettahorn are the highest peaks
A map of the Höchstrasse and our entire routeDay 1 Our day 1 and 2 routes We left the car at Bielerhöhe, walked up the side of the lake and on up a wide track to the 2443m Wiesbadenerhutte arriving around lunchtime. Again we didn't book any of the huts and although they were busier than those in the Ratikon, we had no problems
Libary photo - an aerial view of the Silvretta Stausee looking South to the Silvrettahorn On the track to the hutFurther up - with a fine view of the Piz BuinThe Wiesbadener hut - a modern library pictureIn the Afternnon we walked up to the 2851m Vermuntkopf a small hill with great views.
On the moraine above the hut - looking up to the 3125m Tiroler Scharte - the border between the Vorarlberg and the Tirol provincesOn the Vermuntkopf looking across to the Silvrettahorn and the Schattenspitze The Tiroler Scharte and the Ochsenkopf :The map shows no walking route over the Tiroler Scharte, but I think there is a skilift in winter - the lines are probably skitracksLooking North back towards the Stausee with the 2934m Höhes Rad on the RClouds swirling around the Piz BuinDay 2at the hut there wre a lot of climbers setting out early for Piz Buin - there is some rock scrambling at the top and it's graded ZS (about AD in French).
Our Route however took us on the Edmund Lorenz weg to the Jamtalhutte
I am not sure it had that name in 1999, but there is an excellent account of it at https://log.mjhb.com/2019/07/17/getschnerscharte/ with a lot more photosFrom the hut we climbed to the 2652m Radsattel descended into the Bieltal, climbed over the 2839m Getschnerscharte - and descended steeply into the Jamtal
The Höhes Rad from below the RadsattelLooking up to to the GetschnerscharteThe Jamtalhutte - modern library photo. Even in 1999 it had the look of a mountain hotel rather than a traditional hut: later that year it was the scene of a major accident when a group of ten German climbers coming up to see in the New millenium were engulfed by an avalanche - only one survived From the hut looking up to the head of the Jamtal to the Dreilander Spitz above the Jamtal Ferner: the 3101m Rauher Kopf( Rauher Spitz) in the R foreground - most of the mountains around the border have two names Day 3map of day 3 walkLeaving the Jamtal hut heading East towards the ZahnjochThe Rauher Kopf across the JamtalThe routes into the Jamtal: The Getschnerscharte is the snowy col R of centre: the Tirolscharte the one on the far LAbove the snow line - looking back again to the Jamtal and the GetschnerscharteThe final snow slopes to the 2945m Zahnjoch - the alternative route was by the 2974m Kronenjoch further to our REntering Switzerland at the Zahnjoch: a final look back to Austria and the JamtalDescending into the Fimbatal (Val Fenga): on the huge moraine fields below the FluchthornIn the Swiss val Fenga (Fimbatal) - looking up to the head of the valleySeen from near the Heidelberger hut, the 3398m Fluchthorn (Piz Fenga) with its three peaks is the highest mountain in the SilvrettaModern Library photo - The Heidelberger hut is another hotel like edifice - I think you can drive to it from Ischgl nowDay 4We headed down to Ischgl: we were back in Austria after a km or so
Descending the long track to IschglFurther down - the peaks of the Verwall appear in the distanceOnce down we took a bus back to Bielerhöhe and the car. Another very enjoyable trip. We had climbed over a couple of quite high snowy passes: we carried no crampons or axes but the snow was all quite soft and our walking poles seemed to suffice
My overriding memory of the trip is of huge valleys filled with barren moraines where a few years before there would have been glaciers. A lot of them were quite devoid of plant life - which suggests that perhaps there was still some ice below the surface
However most alpine glaciers below the 3000m level have now gone and I fear that those among the higher mountains will soon be going the same way.