Walking in Austria. Kev Reynolds

by habitat, soil, climate and altitude, they are also limited by competition, by grazing or cultivation. And as we have seen, conditions that favour some plants on a given site may be absent elsewhere. Those conditions may not be obvious except to the trained botanist, but happily it is not essential to have a botanical background to enjoy the wealth of alpine flowers that add so much to a mountain walking holiday, for there will always be surprises.

      Many of the best-known alpines such as gentians, anemones, soldanellas and primulas flower early in the lower valleys shortly after winter’s snow has melted – on occasion as the snow melts, with exposed islands of turf bursting into flower in the midst of a mottled snowfield. But as the snowline recedes up the hillside, these same flowers appear higher up, while those of the lower valleys may have faded or disappeared completely. By the middle of July grazing cattle will have cleared the upper pastures of most of the flowers, but above those pastures rock faces and screes that are inaccessible to domestic animals will give a sometimes startling display of alpines, often luxuriant but slow-growing cushion plants that exploit what may seem to the untrained eye to be an entirely hostile environment.

      In the west, in Vorarlberg with its mix of lime and granite formations, a rich variety of flowers is there to be enjoyed, among the most common being arnica, edelweiss and saxifrage. Adjacent to the Lindauer Hut in the Rätikon Alps there’s a noted alpine garden in which visitors can identify specific plants that are likely to be in flower at any given time and place.

      In neighbouring Tyrol, a province that claims to be ‘nature’s own alpine garden’, early summer meadows can seem bewitchingly colourful and fragrant. Here too both limestone and crystalline mountains provide a range of habitats and the full gamut of alpine landscapes ranging from green wooded hills to glacier-draped peaks and dolomitic fingers of rock. Each has its own specific flora. In the highest valleys of the Ötztal Alps, for example, the deep blue-violet Primula glutinosa is worth noting, as is the pink-flowered creeping azalea Loiseleuria procumbens which is known to grow up to 3000m. Also found at a similar altitude on scree or rocky ridges, is the rare Mont Cenis bellfower, Campanula cenisia, a dwarf plant with tiny slaty-blue flowers. Among other surprises is a reported sighting of a fringe of martagon lilies (Lilium martagon) near the top of a cliff face at around 2235m by the Riffelsee. This plant with its pendulous Turkscap flowers is usually confined to woods or meadows.

      The Hohe Tauern rewards botanist, walker and climber in equal measure. Around Austria’s highest peak, the Grossglockner, turf dampened by snowmelt produces a mass of Primula minima, its colour ranging from blue-mauve to magenta-pink. The wonderfully fragrant Daphne striata is also here. A straggling or prostrate bush 15–20cm tall, it has clusters of reddish purple flowers with a ruff of down-pointing leaves at its best in June. Among the gentians to be seen is the common but very lovely spring gentian, Gentiana verna, as well as Gentiana nivalis, the so-called snow gentian, and the biennial Gentianella ciliata, a brilliant blue flower with fringed lobes.

      In the Karawanken mountains of Carinthia which spread into Slovenia, many native plants are reminiscent of those found in the Dolomites, which would suggest that strands of dolomitic rock appear in the Carinthian limestone. Aster bellidiastrum, a tall perennial that resembles a large common daisy has taken on a rosy-pink tinge. There are purple coloured aquilegias, and the aptly-named Schneerose (Snow rose) hellebore, Helleborus niger. Cyclamen grace the pinewoods, lemon-yellow poppies bring colour to white screes and, of course, a great splash of pink or scarlet on the hillsides betrays the presence of the ubiquitous alpenrose almost everywhere.

Wildlife

      Alpine flowers may be a colourful adornment to the mountains, but the sighting of wildlife can be a highlight of any walk. In the Austrian Alps there should be plenty of opportunities to study birds and animals in their natural environment, but since most of the mammals are notoriously shy, you’ll need to walk quietly and remain alert to be rewarded. On some of our trips we’ve studied ibex on an exposed ridge above the Braunschweiger Hut, had young marmots play round our stationary boots, watched roe deer watching us, and been impressed by the grace and speed of a small herd of chamois racing across a near-vertical scree. Each of these experiences served to enrich our day and remains imprinted on memory long after.

      Ibex (Steinbock in German) must count among the most striking to observe in the wild. The male, with its large, knobbly, swept-back curving horns and stub of a beard, is the king of the mountains. It has fairly short legs and a stocky body, but its powerful muscles enable it to spring onto narrow ledges of rock with surprising ease, or race away from danger with an unexpected turn of speed. The female is smaller and less showy than the male. With a grey or coffee-coloured coat and much shorter horns, she spends most of the year away from adult males, and when sighted could be mistaken for a chamois. It is only in the autumn-to-winter mating season that males seek out the females. First, they fight for the right to mate, and then the hills echo to the sound of clashing horns. Some hut wardens spread salt near their huts to entice ibex to graze nearby, and this is often the best way to observe them.

      Less stocky than the ibex, the chamois (Gemse) is distinguished by short, sickle-shaped horns and a white rump. Its thick winter coat moults during May or June, and in summer it takes on a dark reddish-brown colour with a black stripe along the spine, and a white lower jaw. Like the ibex, the chamois is well adapted to the severity of its habitat, and is more resistant to the harsh winter weather than the roe deer, with whom it shares the forests when snow covers its normal high altitude territory. It’s a graceful and extremely agile animal, but also a very shy one with a keen sense of smell and acute hearing which makes it difficult to approach undetected. When startled the chamois makes a sharp wheezing snort as warning.

      In the early summer, young marmots may be seen in the alpine meadows

      Of all alpine mammals the marmot is the most endearing and most often seen. These sociable furry rodents live in colonies below the snowline and can be observed in many regions covered by this book. Growing to the size of a large hare and weighing up to 10kg, the marmot spends from 5–6 months each winter in hibernation, emerging rather lean in springtime, but soon fattening up on the summer grasses. Towards late September, having accumulated a good reserve of fat during the summer, the adults prepare their nests in readiness for winter, with dried grasses scythed with their sharp teeth. The famous warning whistle is emitted from the back of the throat by an alert adult sitting up on its haunches; its main enemies being the fox and eagle.

      Among other mammals that may be seen by chance in these mountains is the carnivorous stoat which sometimes attacks young birds in ground-sited nests, but favours voles or even young mountain hares. In summer its coat is a russet-fawn which changes to white in winter, and it invariably makes its nest beneath a rock or a pile of stones.

      Both the dainty roe deer and more powerful red deer inhabit the wooded areas, of which Austria has so many. Having a nervous disposition and exceptional hearing, neither are easy to catch unawares. The red squirrel, on the other hand, can often be detected scampering along a forest path, or scrabbling up a tree, its almost black coat and tufted ears being recognisable features.

      Coniferous woods are home to the nutcracker who, with a kre kre kre alarm call, rivals the jay as policeman of the woods. With large head, strong beak, tawny speckled breast and swooping flight, the nutcracker is adept at breaking open pine cones in order to access the fatty seeds which it hides to feed on in winter. Capercaillie and black grouse are also present in wooded valleys and the lower mountain slopes.

      The alpine chough is among the most common of birds to be met on trips into the higher mountain regions. The unmistakable yellow beak and coral-red feet distinguish it from other members of the crow family, and it will often hop around popular summits and vantage points to gather crumbs left by visiting walkers and climbers.

      The pastoral idyll of the summer Alps

Getting There

      By Air

      A number of airports in Austria and neighbouring Germany have regular flights