A Hole in the Ground

On February 14th of this year I sent Hanna an email with the subject "Can we go here?" The only content of the email was this URL: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=47.587801,13.269387

Hanna's reply:

sure ^_^

umm... where is it?

But the truth was, besides the coordinates, I hadn't the slightest idea. All I knew was that, in my search for good reference pictures on gorges, I had found what appeared to be a sinkhole in the ground surrounded by evergreens and oaks with this surreal Caribbean teal water in its belly. It was pretty. I wanted to see it.

So Hanna, bless her, researched these google coordinates, figured out the town they were in, how to get there, and slotted it into our itinerary.

A few days ago we arrived in Salzburg, from whence we took a train to the wee town of Golling-Abentau, from whence we took a bus to the Oberscheffau stop called Lammeröffen.

Yes, those are clouds beneath the mountains :)

A huge informational board stood at the bus stop, extolling the wonders of "The Lammerklam" (klam = gorge). It turns out my hole in the ground was not merely a lone sinkhole, but a winding whitewater river rushing through cracks in the Austrian Alps.

The Path to the Lammerklam

After walking somewhat awkwardly through what appeared to be several persons backyards, we reached an unimpeded view of the river. The water was unreal. I always associate blue/green water with the tropics, which meant, of course, that when I saw the white-green river, I had to double check to make sure it was actually cold.

It was.

"Hanna, my hand, it's cold now!"

A short while after this, both my and Hanna's cameras died. We managed to get a few good shots of the water, first.

Also noteworthy is the weather: a European drizzle that drifted into rain every few minutes, and on top of that Alps-chilled air. On any other occasion, I'd call the weather atrocious, but in this case it just added to the overall atmosphere. It added challenge, it added fun, it made us feel like real adventurers on an epic trek. We loved it.

Sallying forth, brave adventurers!

The coolest part, and the part from whence the initial, fantastic photo was taken, is at the top of the trail. Called the "dunkelklam" or "Dark Gorge", it's a natural dome carved by the waters, like a sliver of a cave, and there the water is at its deepest - and greenest!

Descending to the Dunkelklam!

There's something indescribably charming about going on such an adventure, finding a strange new world in the middle of nowhere that you only caught a glimpse of a long time ago in a digital slice. I broke into this dumb smile at the bottom and turned to Hanna, "We did it! We finally found my hole in the ground!"

Nothing is impossible.