Sillianer Hütte -> Sillian train station – the Knees are singing a Song to the Tighs

15. September 2025

 

 

8,3 km

0 m up

1.370 m down

3:45 hrs.

 

The first time I was actually faster than Mapy! How could that be??? But first things first: First waking up and looking outside: fog. Breakfast outdoors: fog. Almost done with breakfast: movement in the fog. And – hooray — then it cleared up, and the stunning mountains came into view!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I packed my things and hurried off. At first I was still moving slowly, since there was a bit to snap photos of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I left behind the view of Italy and could see the route ahead of me: all the way down at the bottom was the train station, from where I would have a 6–7 hour journey home.

 

 

It was still cold and shady, so I kept my woolly hat on. But when I stepped into the sun and wanted to switch, I realized: damn, I’d forgotten my sunglasses and cap. It felt too far to climb all the way back up, so I decided to just hurry straight down. The signs only mentioned 3 hours anyway — and since a train was leaving at 11:30, I hoped to catch that one.

 

So just straight down. Luckily, my body cooperated — the knees groaned and complained, but they didn’t hurt. The thighs clenched their fibers. And at times I even felt a bit of lightness and managed to walk faster than usual. Thankfully, the forest here wasn’t quite so thinned out — except in a few spots.

 

 

 

And then I was down! And there was still plenty of time before the train left! And despite some delays and 5 changes, I arrived exactly when I had hoped. Including a big ice cream at my favorite café in Traunstein..

 

 

 

 

Conclusion: When I set out, I honestly wasn’t very eager. All that hassle with hut reservations (just before I left, I checked again: many spots had been canceled, and in fact, every hut had plenty of space), I actually would have preferred to hike with a companion, and the weather forecast wasn’t exactly encouraging. But in the end, it turned out to be much more wonderful than expected! I really enjoyed the mountain scenery, the huts felt a bit more relaxed, and on top of that, I had a series of lovely encounters. I came back content.

 

And without my bigger camera? That one always produces brighter, more vivid shots, and compared to that, my phone photos used to feel dull and inadequate. But now—actually, I’m quite happy with what I ended up capturing. Sure, the big camera still has its advantages, but when it comes to weight and convenience, it’s really not so bad to just take the phone—and not feel disappointed by the results. Plus, I could do some nice filming too—though I can’t show that here…