2022 Austria Day 8: Hohenwerfen Castle & Grossglockner high alpine road trip

 15 Sep 2022: Day 8

Hohenwerfen Castle is a 900-year-old medieval rock castle, enthroned high above the Salzach River Valley. My parents took the funicular railway to the top while I chose to walk up under drizzling rain. I was relieved that my parents took the railway as the walking path was short but really steep. It took me 25 minutes to reach the castle.

We joined a guided tour that brought us to the creepy torture chamber which included the thumb screws and a chastity belt, and then to the bell tower with a beautiful view.

We also had impressive birds of prey show staged by the historic regional falconry center. Absolutely amazing to see the eagles, falcons and vultures perform and fly over you with less than a meter

‘The Legend of Jackl – Wizards and Witches in Salzburg’ is an exhibition that illuminates one of the darker chapters of Salzburg’s history, highlighting the practice of sorcery down the centuries. Between 1675 and 1679 Salzburg’s royal court prosecuted the alleged sorcerer, Jakob Koller, and his followers. 198 people of all ages were accused of having practised witchcraft, many of whom were tortured for their confessions – and 138 were executed. An entire floor of the castle has been devoted to these past events.

Finally the rain stopped and the sky was cleared. It was the perfect weather to do Grossglockner high alpine road trip. We started from the northern starting point near Fusch and thankfully it was the correct decision because the southern starting point Heiligenblut was closed. 

Our first stop was Fuscher Törl Memorial 2428m which was built in honor of the workers that lost their lives while working on the construction of the alpine road

second stop: Fuscher Lacke 2262m

Third stop: Hochtor 2504m

Nassfeld Waterfall 2528m & Nassfeld Speicher 2233m

From the Kaiser-Franz-Josef-Höhe 3798m we took a secured alpine climb which led us directly to the Pasterzengletscher as the cable car was closed due to winter season. I spent 45 minutes to go down but only 35 minutes to climb back up. I was trying to complete the hike as fast as I could because it was already almost 5pm, and the alpine road would be closed at 7pm. 

There were no other visitors except for this young family. I was really proud of them to have the determination to do this challenging hike together with their toddler. I guess they didn't complete the hike, so didn't my parents because apparently I was the only hiker in the end. 

There was no clear pathway, and there was no other hikers I could follow. I just walked towards the direction of the glacier. And to be honest, I didn't know where the end point was. This was where I stopped and climbed back up.

We drove back to the starting point. The weather turned so bad and became really misty. Nevertheless I was driving fast to make sure I could reach the starting point before the road was closed. We were actually 5-10 minutes late. The counter staff were all gone, but fortunately we could still exit.