Day One - Dresdner Hütte to Selzenauhütte

The first day of the trek was the route between Dresdner Hütte to Selzenauhütte. The route starts on the east side of the cable car station and immediately ascends. The first section is through a boulder field. The rocks here are of a decent size and look unstable from a distance. But once on the trail, the rocks are solid and some even appear to have been rearranged into a staircase in certain sections. Care should be taken to follow the red and white blazes on the rocks. It is easy to get off course as, unlike a dirt trail, there is often no worn path to orient yourself.

Typical view going through a "boulder field".
Note the blazes on the rocks to see where the
trail goes.

Above the boulder field the trail open up into a rocky, packed
dirt trail.

The first sign post is only about 20 min in and it is decision time. To the left, or roughly North, is the longer, higher route over the Grosser Trögler. To the right is the shorter, lower route over to Bieljoch. It takes an extra hour to go over the Trögler and although the 2900m pass was tempting we opted for an easier route on our first day. That being said, the route to Beiljoch is still a good push. It gave us our first real taste of cable sections. After the split at the sign post the trail begins to switch back to the South and ascends to an outcropping ridge. Once on top of the ridge the trail heads again East through a second, higher and flatter boulder field.

This field leads into the infamous and very well photographed area: Bieljoch. This wide saddle like pass is known for its well over one hundred (and likely growing) stacks of rocks, cairns, marker piles etc. I am tempted to describe them as inuksuk, but they are really are more like piles. The far side of the pass treats you to your first view of a glacier, or the Selzenauferner.

Taken just after starting to descend from Beiljoch. The rock cairns
can be seen in the background.
.

The first view of the Selzenau Glacier from Beiljoch

The descent on the far side of Beiljoch is quite rocky but quick down to the next signpost. There you have the option to head straight for the hut or take the Wildewasserweg detour down to the glacier's melt pool. Both routes are signed as an hour but the latter route was definitely slower as there is so much more to see. The base of glacier is quite a sight. You are standing at the melted water that forms downstream rivers and waterfalls. The edges of the glacier here are very approachable and provide an opportunity to walk on the glacier itself. Extreme caution should always be taken when doing this. I went out about 100 feet and there did not appear to be any crevasses or suspicious areas at all. But we must all respect the changing nature of a glacier, especially in plus 20 degree weather and day after day on non-stop sun. One of the videos in the montage posted for this section (you tube link at the bottom) shows a section of the glacier breaking off that I was lucky enough the catch and film.

 

View from the base of the glacier at the melt pool.

Standing beside the rapids fed by the glacier. Selzenauhütte is
just below the grassy section at the far left.

Walking away from the glacier the trail descends down to a wide flat area along the surging rapids fed by the pool above. The trial gets very close to the rushing water and the sights and sounds make the lower section the definite winner. Once down onto flat ground (ahhh ...that feels good on the knees and quads) it is about 25 min to Selzenauhütte and a cold beer.

Section Summary and Links


Sign Post Time:  3 hours    Our Time:   4.5 hours
Distance:  4.4 Km    Elevation Up: 480m   Elevation Down: 584m

Start Hut: Dresdner Hütte  End Hut:  Selzenauhütte.
GPS overlay on map and elevation versus distance chart - Outdooractive.com
     NOTE: on this GPS overlay the person who recorded it did NOT take the Wildewasserweg route  
     beside the glacial pool

More Pictures and Vidoes

All posted pictures for this section - Picasa
Video clips for this section - Youtube

Hut Review 1 - Dresdner Hütte

The first night of the trek we stayed at the Dresdner Hütte (2308m). Getting to this hut from the valley offers an easy start to the trek if you do not wish to make the climb. You can take the Stubai Gletcher cable car to within about 100m of the hut.

The hut was the largest and most well appointed hut of the four we stayed at. This is likely a reflection of its location beside the cable car as both many guests and large items can easily make their way to the hut. It is very clean and comfortable and we had a nice private room. The room (I assume other private rooms are similar) had a bunk bed, a locker and best of all a small sink. The toilets and showers (different rooms) were off the hallway and were shared. The showers are pay and although I did not use the I can say that they and the toilets were very clean. There are some pictures below of our room and the showers.




We elected for the Halbpension (half board) and for the two of use the total was 97 Euro or 48.5 Euro per person. Note: all of the four huts only took cash so bring enough!

The dinning room was a little different as it was set up more like a cafeteria. There was some confusion but we eventually figured out that we had an assigned seat and were to look for our name on a table. We quickly found it and that we were sitting with two other people. This is quite common so be prepared for more of a communal dinning experience if you have not already eaten at a hut. It is in no way a bad thing but, depending on your personality, can be awkward (language barrier or otherwise). In our case the other two people were a very nice Spanish couple from Zaragoza. They broke the ice and were kind enough to speak in English to us.

The dinner included a salad bar and it is set up near the entrance to the eating area (same area for some breakfast items) but all other half pension items are served to you at your table. The food is great and I think most people will find the combination of self serve salad and served soup, entree and desert more than enough. Cheryl had a vegetarian meal that included the same soup and spaghetti. You can line up for beer (on tap and bottles) and coffee, juice, etc., and/or to order a la carte menu items if not on half pension. Pictures below are of my entree and our area of the dinning room.



After dinner we found a chess board and some beers. There are lots of games/cards to use and many people were in the dinning room drinking until it closed at 10. There was WiFi in the hut and I was told it was pay - I assume per hour. However I was able to get on for free. There is also a computer terminal that takes coins.

As far as access to electrical outlets for charging cameras/phone etc., this was not an issue. In our room there was at least one outlet and use of it was not an issue. I only mention this as some huts in Switzerland are more conservative with their power (asking you to limit use or refrain) due to their generation by Solar. All the huts on our trek has seemed to have ample Power. Dresdner Hutte I believe gets their power from the valley on the same line/feed as its neighboring cable car transfer station. Other huts had hyrdo turbine generation and or reserves of diesel.

In the next hut review I plan to post a comparison table for all huts with items such as WiFi access, shower cost, etc.

The full gallery of Dresdner Hutte pics can be found here.

Overall Dresdner is a great hut to start the trek or stop for lunch is passing through.

The Gear I took

I did not get around to any pre-departure posts. I had wanted to take the time to detail the gear I was planning to take so I will do that post tense. The embedded video below shows the gear I packed in my bag with some commentary. The load weighed in at 21.4 Lbs including 2 liters of water and the pack itself (which weights 5 Lbs). Note: for those who are detail oriented like me the 21.4 Lbs does not include the following items that are shown in the video (as I would be wearing them) – the boots, one pair of shorts, one t-shift, one pair of boxers and one pair of socks.

What I May Not Bring Again

The only item I might not bring again was the rain pants. We lucked out in terms of rain but mine are also heavy and bulky. In the interest of saving weight by bringing items that serve more than one function I would like to get some waterproof pant that zip off into shorts.

What You Might Not Think/Know To Bring

For those who have never been to a hut before another consideration is hut footwear. All huts expect that you take your boots off inside. Even if they did not I doubt after hours in your rigid boots you would want to keep them on. That being said you need to consider what else you will wear and their weight/pack ability. We took MEC Get Dow Booties and while they may look a little odd but they are warm, comfy and as flexible a pillow. They can be squished into any shape or that tight corner of your pack nothing else will fit. Other people had a wide variety from very thin slippers (that look like they were lifted from a spa) to hiking sandals.

Another essential item is a Schalfsack or sleeping sack. This is requested by the huts as a way to reduce laundry. What it is a thin cotton or silk/synthetic sack that you get into to essentially provide a barrier between you and the provided bedding. What you will find at most huts is a fitted sheet over the mattress and a duvet (with a removable/washable duvet cover) or wool blanket as a covering/insulation. You should know that these sheets and duvet covers are not going to be washed every time (at least not at every hut). Therefore your schlafsack is the only thing separating you from “other people”. All that being said the communal reality of the huts is an atmosphere of conscious and considerate people, and most people shower before bed.

The Pack Itself

As mentioned in the video my 60 liter pack is a bit big for this kind of trip. You could easily do it with a 35-40 pack and this seemed to be the choice for most people. I continue to be a big fan of the water bladder stored inside the pack and we took one 2 liter and one 3 liter (Note: with the weather this time of year I think 2 liters of water per person is sufficient). One observation is that bladders are definitely either not popular in this area or just less available. Most people had Sigg style water bottles, one on either side of their pack.

Communication On The Trail

For safety I took a cell phone in case we needed to call for help or call ahead to the hut to say we would be late for dinner, etc. I am told that cell service is good in this area but due to some technical issues with my iPhone 3G, I cannot comment on that (I never was able to get it working). For those looking to stay in contact over the internet, only two of the huts had Wifi – Dresdner and Sulzenauhutte. Dresdner’s was pay and although we intended to pay for it ( I assume for x amount per hour) we were able to get on for free (???). I am not sure about Sulzenauhutte as it was password protected and I did not enquire if it was for public use. None of the four huts I visited had public terminals for internet. Note: I will comment in the individual hut reviews about access to power outlet for charging, but sneak peak: they are easy to find and not an issue with these huts.

And last of all, one item we did not have but always seemed to need: a simple pen.