The Grossglockner High Alpine Road to Innsbruck

Saturday, May 12, 2018

With a few more photos (and sighs) to fix the memory of the tranquil pastoral valley that has been our base in Gosau, we were off on today’s high (altitude) adventure.  We spent most of the day traveling just the 48 km of the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse, widely regarded as the most beautiful Alpine road of all.  The road is named for Austria’s highest mountain and it runs through Hohe Tauern National Park.

 

The road rose high into the mountains with many switchbacks and lots of points of interest along the way.  As we drove higher, the snow fields grew deeper and the temperature dropped.  The road opened for the season earlier this month, but one spur section was cleared just three days ago.  In fact, at one point we were stopped in a line of cars when a loud boom shook our car; workers were precipitating a “micro avalanche” to shake loose some large chunks of snow before they fell down onto the road. 

 

There was traffic of all kinds on the road  – motorcycles, bicycles, and buses; we even saw a rowing recumbent bike.  Along the route, there were exhibits, museums, playgrounds, restaurants, shops, and even a slalom ski race.  The highest point on the road, Edelweiss Spitze, is atop a small hill at the end of a spur whose switchbacks are so narrow that buses are prohibited.  The 360-degree views were worth the nail-biting rides up and down, though the bikers who zipped past us didn’t seem at all fazed by the narrowness of this section of road.

 

The most recently opened section of the road affords the best views of the Grossglockner and the Pasterze Glacier at a large complex that includes a Visitors’ Center for the National Park, exhibits, a cinema, and what we assume must be the world’s largest Swarovski Crystal.  It’s actually a transparent crystal-shaped observation tower donated by Wilhelm Swarovski, the company founder.

At the southern end of the road lies the village of Heiligenblut, with its lovely church and encircling cemetery.  Set in a very green valley, with houses and farms climbing the hillsides, surrounded by Alpine peaks, crossed by streams fed by thundering waterfalls, it was typical of the many small towns we traveled through today and during our time in Austria – simply, quietly, peacefully lovely.

 

Our route to Innsbruck actually took us into Northern Italy for a short while before re-entering Austria south of Innsbruck.  We arrived in Innsbruck too late to do anything but find a restaurant for a traditional meal.  We’re here for just one night, so we’ll try to have a look around the old town before we head for Switzerland tomorrow.