After a rainy night camped beside the riverbank in Lienz we cruised off up another valley towards yet another pass. The forecast was not good, and it was very chilly so we coaxed ourselves along by the prospect of a warm coffee in St Leonard.
Biking in the wet and cold is horrible, I now officially declare! So, as we reached St Leonard, due to a small break in the rain and a few wee arguments between a sodden Emily and a sodden Chris we continued up valley. The weather was supposed to get even worse on the following day (Friday) and climbing the pass before the snow got thicker did seem the sensible if unappealing decision.
We turned off up towards Klammjoch Pass (2288) which is a recommended cycle route and shingle road. The valley was beautiful and would have been a fantastic bike route were it not for the rain come sleet come snow. We stopped for a hot coffee at the Oberhausalm and put new brake pads on the bikes seeing as neither of us really had any brakes left.
Then it was up up up over the pass as the snow fell thickly. Luckily we stayed warm all the way up, and cunnigly put all our warm gear on 100m before the top, so as to descend with some internal climbing warmth remaining. I commented to Chris that this part of the trip was starting to feel a bit like an adventure race! He just grinned in reply.
We descended quickly and found a patch of dry forest right beside the small town of Luttach. After a dinner brew up we jumped into our sleeping bags and gradually began to warm up.
However, Chris got colder in the night, and we couldn´t understand why until we unzipped the tent in the morning to discover lots of fresh snow! We had descended at least 600m below the snow line last night so it had got even colder. So maybe it was just as well we had already climbed the pass.
Above: Chris in the morning in the snow, in the bushes to his left you can just make out our little purple tent.
We put every clothing item we had on and did lots of star jumps before descending another 800m, and continuing down valley to Brunico, where it is not snowy, just grey and rainy. Here we have spent several hours drinking yummy coffee and eating pizza! (What else do you do in Italy?) The forecast is now expected to improve, so we really hope so. Until it does I think coffee and pizzas will be our biggest goal (0:
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