Herrenkogel Reloaded

Bereits vor längerer Zeit geplant nahmen sich beso08 und wir Zoidis heute die Berg-Etappe der Hochalmrunde vor. Beim Wetter hatten wir einen Volltreffer gelandet: Traumhaftes sonniges Spätsommerwetter mit einer schönen Fernsicht. Der Aufstieg vom Almwirt aus ging doch besser als erwartet; bei der Hochalmhütte angelangt bot sich uns ein herrliches Panorama über die umliegenden Berge und Täler. Die auf der Hochalm liegenden Tradis wurden ebenfalls besucht und dieser Teil der Hochalmrunde danach mit dem Abstieg in den kleinen Gößgraben (auch zeitlich gesehen) passend abgeschlossen.

Anmerkung zu diesem Cache: Ein weiterer Gipfelsturm während der Hochalm Tour! beso08 konnte diese Dose dank des Hinweises punktgenau finden. Nach dem erfolgreichen Loggen genossen wir hier erneut den Fernblick bei diesem traumhaften Wetter...

TFTC an Rhodo Dendron für Idee, Realisierung und Wartung dieses Caches!

Von der Tour über die Hochalm einen Abstecher zu diesem Cache gemacht und das Logbuch signiert. Hier hatte ich eie herrliche Aussicht. Danke fürs Herführen. 

Cooler Cach

To be honest I have not been happy at all when this cache showed up which shares the hideout and the idea with the formerly existing cache by the same cache hider. In my opinion a cache maintenance visit would have been the proper reaction to the situation of the old cache and not a new cache listing. The archive log for the previous cache "Platz fuer neues" schaffen is quite sarcastic but fits probably well in a time when it has become normal to focus mainly on numbers and when throwdowns and found it logs instead of DNF logs in such caches have become common too.

I would certainly have revisited the Herrenkogel also without a new cache listed up there and I actually have visited the old cache twice, once with start in the Gamsgraben in August 2009 and once in June 2014 with start in Bruck/Mur together with Annamoritz. I also would have visited it a third time as well.

As already mentioned in my log for the new Huehnerfelsen [Hike&peak 5 cache] I took a day off today as the weather forecast for today was so much better for today than for the weekend. I have already described my hiking experience up to the Huehnerfelsen in my log for that cache and I will not repeat this here.

From the Huehnerkogel I returned back to the Hochalm hut which was closed as the cattle has left the pastures already and followed the 02 hiking trail further on to the Herrenkogel. After a short and relaxing walk (almost no height changes involved) I arrived in the summit area of the Herrenkogel where it was a bit windy.

I could still remember the approximate location of the cache hideout but used my GPS-r to speed up things nevertheless. Parts of the cache container were visible - I tried to cover it a bit better but I'm not sure whether this will have a permanent effect. The cache container and the small log sheet are in proper condition. A larger container would certainly have fitted into the hideout and then also would have allowed the usage of a real log book and not just a sheet where one cannot write more than geocaching alias and date. It's unfortunate that this part of geocaching has become so widely ignored meanwhile with so many only/or at least mainly focussing on "+1".

As I was not sure how long the weather would stay stable and as I had to be back at the Ross-Stall parking lot by 5pm (today being September 16) anyway, I decided to turn around at the Herrenkogel and not continue further. When I was on my way back to the Hochalm hut I could watch a woman further down a bit away from the hiking trails who was picking up something - I guess cranberries. She was lucky that noone official was around as the property owner strictly forbids collecting berries and mushrooms in this area (and many others owned by him).

I took the same route for my way back to my car than I had taken for the way up to the Herrenkogel. I arrived at my after less than 6 hours and a bit more than 5 hours pure walking time - my level of fitness does not even come close to the fitness of the majority of those cachers who visit caches in the mountains. For me my hike today was not a short afternoon hike and I also did not spend the recent weeks with hiking to mountains about 1000 higher than the Herrenkogel - actually I have hardly ever been at such altitudes in my entire life with very few exceptions. In any case it was a very nice hike in an quiet and peaceful area at this time of the year.

Let's see whether I will ever manage to explore the route to the Herrenkogel via the Trasattel. It would be tempting to follow the 05 trail for a while but unfortunately there is the barrier of some long legs without huts in between. The close-down of the Fensteralm hut is really a big loss. The way from the Mugel to the Gleinalm hut is too much for me on one day. In any case I had a nice view over to the Mugel today which reminded me of my visit there last year in June.

I really wish that there will be a really new Rhodo Dendron cache some time in the future, i.e. not a reloaded version of an existing cache but one leading to a new location. There is such a lack of nice hiking caches that are not set up in powertrail like manner in Styria.