High Altitude Swimming

A 'short walk' that turned out to be quite a long hike! It's been tricky to plan much in advance this summer as the weather has had a habit of changing it's mind rather frequently. However, today's change was for the better, so we opted for an early start to get up to a nearby lake before the afternoon rains arrived.

The hike up to the glacial cwm of Schonrinnkar was our objective, via the small alpage of Nisslalm. It began with a steep hike up through a vibrant, lush forest from the small village of Grise. The woodland was dense and dripping with water from the overnight rains, but once above the treeline, the day started to brighten up and after being hidden in the woodland, the views opened up too.

Our legs are at least used to walking uphill by now, so we made good time up to the lake, arriving in half the advertised time.

The water was mirror calm and perfectly clear. It all looked so inviting...

There was however a bank of snow around the far edges of the lake, which may have contributed to the less than ideal water temperature. It was the coldest water I've been in in ages. Painful at first, despite the alluring appearance.

We had to get knee deep, then get back out while we alimatized to the single digit temperatures! - You can just make out Clare on the bank in this photo, to give some scale.



Eventually, Clare committed to the swim and took the plunge!

I was a little more hesitant!

But eventually, I made it in and put some ripples onto the surface. It was decided that the 'head under' rule might not be so sensible up here, so to conserve heat, we kept our hair dry and we frantically swam while trying not to hyperventilate!

Back on land, we put on all our clothes, hiked up hill further to a rocky knoll to get a better view and brewed up fresh coffee on the stove!

A great way to warm up, looking down at the lake.



We had the binoculars with us, so sat out in the sun, looking at the 360 degree views. We even saw a big Marmotte exploring the hillside. 

The walk down went over a few old snow patches, which we skied down.

In the ground below the lake, in the middle of knowhere, we came across a blue plastic barrel?!

It weighed a tonne and I could only just stand it upright. Inside, it was full of chunks of salt crystals! A mystery!?...

We took our time getting down, with plenty of rests to enjoy the views and watch the clouds come and go.

At the farm at Nissalm, we stopped for some refreshments. They only took cash, so we pooled our resources and were able to get a mighty slice of chocolate cake to share! As we sat eating it, the rains started! We sat undercover while the worst passed overhead, then continued down.

With a quick stop to enjoy a swing seat with a view!

The car was right down there... 

We needed waterproofs for the hike down, but didn't get too wet. It was a 13km day with over 1000m of height climbed and descended! There was a festival in the village, which started an hour later, but we were too tired to stick around in the rain. Hot showers and a big feed were needed!