Austrian Animals

My only disappointment in Austria was the lack of visible wild animals.  Most of what we saw were domestic: horses, cows, sheep, and goats.  There are a number of pretty amazing animals that live up in the alps but maybe we weren't spending enough time in one place to actually see them.  On the other hand the marmots made the final (exhausting and painful and straight up!!) climb on our Pasterze Glacier Trail a bit more fun.  We heard a scream I thought would be a big eagle or vulture and looked up to find two marmots tussling on the side of the mountain. 

Mountain Wildflowers

If I had told Matt at the beginning of our hike that I was going to stop every 30 seconds and take a photo of every wildflower he probably would have declined to come.  So I didn't tell him.  These are just some of the wildflowers we passed and a few of the reasons it took us more than 4 hours to do this hike.

Pasterze Glacier Trail

A few photos from our most incredible hike.  I'm going to let them speak for themselves because classes start tomorrow and I have a last minute addition for which I need to prepare.  But I did take a photo of nearly every wildflower and rock on this trail so you can look forward to more photos and descriptions soon.

Great Rocks

Grossglockner High Alpine Road

This was the first time I've spent any time in the Alps and I have to say we picked a fabulous place to start.  The Grossglockner High Alpine Road is a stunning drive with so many great hiking opportunities.  I would really like to go back and stay awhile longer.  I can't even tell you how much fun it would be to sit around and draw some rocks.