Hut to Hut Through the Austrian Alps With My Sister | Gesäuse National Park

This week I'm heading into the Austrian Alps for three days of hut-to-hut hiking with my sister. We're exploring a lesser-known part of the Alps, enjoying some beautiful mountain scenery and more importantly getting some much-needed time together. If you're new here, I'm Ellie. I quit my 9-to-5 a few years ago and now spend most of my time walking, wild camping and having plenty of coffee along the way. So let's head into the mountains. Hi everyone and welcome to a new video. A bit of a different setting today. I'm back home in Germany but as you can see I'm basically on the go already. I'm going to visit my sister in Austria and we're going on a little hut hiking trip. I haven't seen her in over four months, so let's go. We've made it to the village we're going to start from. Good morning everyone. As I said I'm not alone today. Everyone say hi to Hanna, my sister and we just set off on a little three day, three night hut hiking, hut-to-hut hiking trip. Basically in the heart of Austria. Otto is not with me today because it's probably a bit too warm for him, a bit too exposed and also in a lot of these alpine mountain huts it's a bit hard. Oftentimes they don't allow dogs so you have to book well in advance. So it's just the two of us now. I'm really excited to see a part of Austria that I don't really know. The weather looks really nice, not too hot yet. So let's go. We're about one hour and four kilometers in and we've climbed almost 600 meters so far. I think in total today is going to be close to 1500 meters of ascent I think and I can already feel that I'm not really used to the warmer temperatures, like hiking in warmer temperatures and also having these steep climbs. We're climbing several hundred meters within a very short distance. We're at over 1500 meters now and look at this view. It's incredible. This is where we started down there. Wow, this is so beautiful. 5.5 kilometers down and we've climbed just over 900 meters. I think we're going to stop soon for a little lunch break. So beautiful. Look at all the different trees, all the different wildflowers, grasses, wild herbs. For a little sweet treat I'm having probably one of the most iconic famous Austrian sweets, which is accidentally vegan too. It's some sort of waffle hazelnut thing. One of my favorite sweets. Oh wow, this is so beautiful. Such an interesting mix of grassy areas, wooded areas and then the high rocky peaks. It's quite steep dropping down and as you can see there's lots of loose gravel, loose rock, so it's a bit slow going. This is where we came down, quite rough. Almost eight kilometers in there's a little hut for refreshments, so I'm going to get a coffee and something cold maybe too. The Gesäuse National Park is one of the wider corners of the Austrian Alps, tucked away in Styria. It's known for its steep limestone mountains, narrow valleys and the river Enns running right through the middle of it. And compared to some of Austria's more famous mountain destinations, it's noticeably quieter. There are no cable cars taking you up into the mountains here and you're well away from the big tourist hotspots. The national park was established with a focus on protecting the area's natural habitats and allowing the landscape to develop as naturally as possible. Wow, look at this view, this is so epic. Only 50 more minutes, not long now. It's getting really really warm now. I think we've made it. Look at this view, this is so gorgeous. Cheers! Oh, home, sweet home. Oh, so cute. It's really new. I took a quick shower, which is really really nice, especially because there aren't showers on all huts in the Alps. So yeah, whenever you get to a hut with a shower it's always a real treat. On these huts you always need to bring an inlay, not a real sleeping bag, just some sort of inlay for hygiene purposes. Such a beautiful view. We had our dinner and a couple of drinks and now it's almost nine o'clock and we're going to bed. I always get the best night's sleep in these mountain huts, I don't know, just because there's no distractions, no signal in this case. And yeah, you're just exhausted from walking all day and it's just completely quiet. So I'm really excited to have a really good night's sleep and we'll see you tomorrow. Good night! Good morning. We had such a good night's sleep. We still have some things for breakfast left, so we're only going to get a coffee and then set off because it's supposed to be more unsettled in the afternoon. So we're trying to have an early start and get some rides in, so let's go. For the first part of today, I think for the first couple of kilometers, we're going to drop down into the next valley. I think we're going to lose 800 meters in height, and basically going all the way down and then up to the other side to another hut. So we're going to climb another 1000 meters I think. The hut was so cozy, not crowded at all. Despite it almost being the summer holidays. Even though my sister and I live in different countries and have quite different lives, we're still really close. We try to see each other as much as we can, but obviously it doesn't always work out. So whenever we get to spend a few days together, it's really nice to just have some proper time together, catch up and enjoy each other's company. We're on our climb for the day up to I think 1700 or 1800 meters to the hut we're going to stay tonight. Wow, look at that. This looks so impressive now. Wow. We're not going to go straight up obviously. That's more of a climbing route, but we're going to go on the right and then behind over the shoulder. Wow, this is so beautiful. There's something about being surrounded by these huge mountains that makes you feel very small. But rather than being unsettling, I find it quite comforting. It puts everything into perspective. And when you're walking through it with nothing but the landscape around you and barely any noise, it's easy to let your thoughts wander and just be in the moment. It started to rain now, but it's not too heavy yet. And also it's not too far to our end point for tonight. This is a bit of a bigger hut. I think it has about 90 spaces, 90 beds. Oh, this looks so, so stunning. So impressive. Wow. This is home for tonight. M. M2, 9. Alpha 2. Versenkt. It's half eight now. We had a really chill afternoon and evening. We had some drinks and our dinner and now it's time for bed. And we'll see you tomorrow. Good night. It's raining heavily and the way down is probably quite steep and slippery, so we're trying to wait out the rain for a little bit. It should get better throughout the day. For now, the rain is really heavy. It's day three of our little hut hiking adventure. We just set off from last night's hut up there. The rain for now has ceased a little bit. It's supposed to get better throughout the day and clear, hopefully. But we didn't have signal for 24 hours, so yeah, couldn't really check the weather and see what it's going to be like. But apart from that, it's still a beautiful day. The colors are so nice. It's so quiet. You don't hear anything cut from the raindrops and the trees, the birds. It's a really, really nice day. Today's going to be a bit similar to our last days. So we are basically going to drop down into the next valley and then walk up to the next hut. So again, about 14-ish kilometers. It's so nice how much diversity there is. As you can see, there's lots and lots of different grasses, wildflowers, fern, trees. Just so, so, so beautiful. So much variation. The Alps always feel quite different to me compared to the landscapes I usually walk through. There's something much more raw and rugged about them. Higher up, the mountains become steeper and more exposed. And there are definitely moments when they feel a little intimidating. But that's also what I love about being up here. There's so much variety as you move through the landscape. Lush green meadows and forests lower down, an incredible range of alpine plants and wildlife, and then rocky slopes and bare limestone higher up. It's strange how harsh the landscape can feel up here, especially when the weather turns. And at the same time, being incredibly peaceful. Wow, this looks so moody. Look at that. Just a vertical rock, like a couple of hundred meters all the way to the top. This is epic. It's quite slow going. We're not even all the way down yet. We need to lose 1100 meters, which obviously takes quite a bit of time. As you can see, it's pretty rocky, slow going, a bit slippery. I think we passed the worst bit, the hardest bit. This is not easy today. Wow, look at that. It's so high. The camera doesn't do it justice, but this is so incredible. We've made it down. Time for some easier, quicker miles and then a lunch break. This is incredible to think about, but we've been up there and then coming down all this way, where you can't even see a path at all. I had two lemonades, Hannah had a coffee. It's already 2 p.m. We only covered 7 kilometers today. She's been very slow going. We're at almost 600 meters now and we're going to climb up to 1580, I think, so almost 1000 meters of climbing and about 6-7 kilometers. Apparently, there are quite a few wild cats. I don't know if you call them that or lynx in this area. It would be really, really special and magical to spot one, but obviously they stay well away from people and I think they're mostly active at night. It just shows how wild this area is, how little houses, villages this area has. And this is again where we came down. We've almost made it. Only 10 more minutes. We're at 1500 meters now. It's almost 5 p.m. and we've been walking for just over seven hours, I think. Quite a tough day. I think the hardest one of the three days. Can't wait to get to the hut, which is also the oldest hut in this area in the national park. It was built in 1885. It has running water, but no hot water, no showers. So it probably has that old-school alpine hut vibe, which I really love. So happy to get there. Just drop our stuff, get our bed and then have a beer. We've made it. Looks so cute. This is home for tonight and it really has this old-school feel. It's so cute, so cozy. Look at that. This is so, so beautiful. Okay, this is crazy. This is it for today. It's been a beautiful but also quite a tough day. We had a really nice evening, had some great food and now it's just past 9 p.m. and it's time for bed. I'll see you tomorrow. Good night. Such a beautiful, peaceful morning. It's incredible. I'm going to check what birds I can hear that I don't normally hear. We set off without a breakfast again because it only started at half seven and we wanted to set up a bit earlier to catch our bus but we still have quite a few snacks. So we're just going to drop down a bit more and then find a spot for our breakfast break. Oh, how cute. We've made it back to the car park where we started three days ago. It's been a really nice little three-day adventure. The area is really beautiful. It's not too busy. We had a great time, great huts, great scenery. This is it for this video. It's a bit of a different one but I hope you've enjoyed it. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for everything. Let me know in the comments what you think and I hope I see you soon. Bye. Bye. I can't wait to see Otto. I think it's been over two years since the last time where I was away from him for more than a day or so. I really missed him so I can't wait to get home now. Hello.