Trip to Mount Schafberg with a Moka portable coffee maker from Coffe2go
Travel is, in a way, becoming a firm part of me. Spending time in nature is very addictive and relaxing. And especially when it's spontaneous.
And that's when I decided to trade my motorbike for a motorhome. On my very first trip in the van, I met some very nice people from a rental company not far from Bratislava. Transit Camper Vans
And so my choice was clear. After checking the available dates, I immediately booked the Ford Transit midi. The plan was clear: properly wild camping.
The only thing that was clear was the objective: Schafberg mountain, located in Salzburg, a stone's throw from Mondsee lake. However, I chose the motorway for convenience. I had accommodation more or less mapped out using the Park4night app, which is great for all sorts of travellers. My favourite was a cosy spot in the woods, not far from the official car park. According to the maps, there was no prohibition on entry. By the way, our western neighbours are quite strict about this, and in many places you'll find restrictions, especially for campervans. Luckily, mine was smaller and under 3.5 tonnes.
The air cooled pleasantly on the journey and a gentle rain began to fall. I was looking forward to sleeping in the car, accompanied by the soft patter of raindrops on the roof. Along the way, as usual, I made a coffee from our Travel Moka coffee maker, who was already nicely settled in our travel holder.
I arrived at the spot in the late afternoon. The place was already occupied by travellers from the Czech Republic, but there's plenty of room for good people, so I parked in the furthest spot possible. I set up the grill, cooked a sausage, made some tea, and put on Netflix. What more can I say...
My planned destination was scheduled for an early start at seven in the morning, but sleeping was just too comfortable... I started cycling at 10:00 AM, which was quite a mistake, partly because I shortened my time for breaks, and also the temperature was higher than I would have liked. I rate the difficulty of the hike as harder. I rode non-stop to the end, many times on steep forest ascents, full of rocks, roots, and mud from previous rain.
I had a few weak moments during the climb and considered giving up, but since I'm here... 🙂 I kept on pedaling. Until I came to between the stops of probably the longest cog in the AT. I googled buying a ticket for the last stretch, but all I could find was a full price ticket for around 63€, which includes the trip from the valley station and back. I only wanted to cheat the last 1/3 of the way though. And that seemed like too much, so after 45 minutes of sniffling I kept pedaling to the top. How happy I was when I was below the summit. The only thing that „sucked“ was the fog that was rolling in from the other side of the rock. Finally there was a longer pause. A pause for lunch, coffee and drone footage, quantum of photos and videos. Time was inexorably running out and I had no choice but to pack up and head back. On the way up, I crossed the rappel a few times, so I figured I'd make it easy on myself. The slope was free of mud, branches, and a minor downhill. My naive idea was that somewhere in the middle of the trail I would disconnect from the log flume and connect to the hiking trail. It was unlucky, because this log flume didn't cross the trail a single time, I stretched my trip by 2 hours, several miles, and to make matters worse, I ran out of water. There came a moment when I had had enough, just at the moment when the path was crossed by a small stream, I immediately stripped and got my chassis, my hands, and my feet wet. It came in very handy.
Around seven, after 22km on foot, having burned 3,600 calories and taken nearly 40,000 steps, I arrived at the car and sat inside with a chilled cola. My next objective was clear just from looking down into the valley from above. To wash away that oily stain in Mondsee lake. I had scouted the location using Google Maps. I discovered a place to sleep on the way up; it was a dead-end in a village called Winkl, in the woods, by a stream, where foxes bid goodnight. There was no "no entry" sign and with my inconspicuous campervan, it wasn't an issue. Around 8 pm, I parked on a lovely little grassy car park and thanks to the late hour, it was free and the place was almost empty. The temperature of the turquoise lake was perfect, the water crystal clear, as was the entire surroundings. I splashed about like a small child for an hour.
The retreat to a secret location followed, a cleanse, quick pasta for dinner, and then just lounging in bed to the babbling of the stream. An unbelievable feeling. Packing and the motorway journey home awaited me in the morning. Returns are always peculiar. On the one hand, it's the end of a trip, but on the other hand, I'm really looking forward to my family and our little imp, who is growing every day. But the end of one journey is always the beginning of a new one, after all. After a break of a few days, we then had a family trip planned somewhere in Slovakia, and this feeling continued to warm me there…
