Austria hut to hut : 2 The Silvretta

[past my sell by date]

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 route

Day 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 hut

Further up - with a fine view of the Piz Buin

The Wiesbadener hut - a modern library picture
In 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 provinces

On 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 skitracks

Looking North back towards the Stausee with the 2934m Höhes Rad on the R

Clouds swirling around the Piz Buin

Day 2
at 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 photos
From 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 Radsattel

Looking up to to the Getschnerscharte

The 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 3

map of day 3 walk

Leaving the Jamtal hut heading East towards the Zahnjoch

The Rauher Kopf across the Jamtal

The routes into the Jamtal: The Getschnerscharte is the snowy col R of centre: the Tirolscharte the one on the far L

Above the snow line - looking back again to the Jamtal and the Getschnerscharte

The final snow slopes to the 2945m Zahnjoch - the alternative route was by the 2974m Kronenjoch further to our R

Entering Switzerland at the Zahnjoch: a final look back to Austria and the Jamtal

Descending into the Fimbatal (Val Fenga): on the huge moraine fields below the Fluchthorn

In the Swiss val Fenga (Fimbatal) - looking up to the head of the valley

Seen from near the Heidelberger hut, the 3398m Fluchthorn (Piz Fenga) with its three peaks is the highest mountain in the Silvretta

Modern Library photo - The Heidelberger hut is another hotel like edifice - I think you can drive to it from Ischgl now

Day 4
We headed down to Ischgl: we were back in Austria after a km or so

Descending the long track to Ischgl

Further down - the peaks of the Verwall appear in the distance
Once 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.

[Pointless Parasite]

I've never been to this part of the Alps but it looks impressive and much more remote than most of Switzerland. With the exception of the mountain huts this could almost be New Zealand. Thanks for sharing