and St Anton.
Post offices
All towns and some villages have post offices. Opening hours vary.
Currency and banks
Austria changed from using Schillings to Euros in 2002. There are banks in St Johann, Kufstein, Unterlangkampfen, Maurach, Pertisau, Absam, Innsbruck, Igls, Weidach, Ehrwald, Lermoos, Elbigenalp, Haselgehr, Holzgau, Steeg and St Anton. Normal opening hours are 0800–1230 and 1330–1500 (weekdays only), with extended opening until 1730 on Thursdays. Most branches have ATM machines, which enable you to make transactions in English. Contact your bank before you leave home to activate your card for use in Austria.
Telephones
Austria has extensive mobile phone (handi) coverage, even in mountain areas where signals can often be received from the valleys below. Contact your network provider before you leave home to ensure your phone is enabled for foreign use and that you have the optimum price package. If you plan to make many local calls once you have arrived, it usually pays to obtain a local SIM card. The international dialling code for Austria is 0043. Some DAV refuges are contacted via Germany (international dialling code 0049).
An increasing number of hotels, guesthouses and even a few refuges make internet access available to guests, often free but sometimes for a small fee.
Electricity
Voltage is 220v, 50HzAC. Plugs are standard European two-pin round.
Bschlabs church from the opposite side of Bschlabertal (Stage 19)
The natural environment
Physical geography
The Alps, which form a high mountain barrier between northern and southern Europe, are some of the youngest European mountains. They were formed approximately 50 million years ago, being pushed up by the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. The Alps run west to east through Austria and consist of three parallel mountain ranges, the high, mainly granite, central Alps flanked by the slightly lower northern and southern calcareous limestone chains. The Adlerweg traverses the most northerly of these, the Nordlichen Kalkalpen, following the range from east to west. For much of its length there are extensive views south across the deep glacial defile of the Inn valley with the higher permanently snow-capped central Alps on the horizon, and occasional views north across the Alpine foothills to the basin of the Danube beyond.
The chain is broken into a series of blocks by a number of north to south glacial river valleys that have broken through the mountains. As their name implies, the calcareous Alps are composed mostly of porous limestone, with the exact composition of this limestone varying from block to block. The two most significant geological aspects of the region are glaciation and karst country.
During the great ice ages, ice sheets covered all of central and northern Europe. As the ice retreated, great glaciers carved deep valleys through the Austrian Alps, the deepest and longest forming the Inn valley. Running east from the Engadine region of Switzerland right across Tyrol, where it separates the northern and central Alpine ranges, it reaches the Danube basin beyond Kufstein. Along its length, the Inn is joined by lateral glacial valleys flowing in from north and south. Most of the glaciers have long since melted and only a few remain, mostly in the high central Alps. The only remaining glacier encountered by the Adlerweg is Pazielferner above St Anton and upper Lechtal.
The enduring legacies left behind by the retreating glaciers are characteristic deep U-shaped valleys and morainic lakes. Throughout the walk you will be able to trace old glacial flows, from smooth bowl-shaped cirques surrounded on three sides by high jagged mountains, down stepped valleys blocked by terminal moraines containing either morainic lakes or the dried up beds of earlier lakes. The descent from Birkkarspitze (Stage 11) is almost a geography lesson with every kind of glacial feature on show.
The receding glaciers stripped much of the topsoil, leaving large areas of smooth limestone exposed. The steady slow erosion of this bare limestone by acidic rainwater causes limestone pavements to be formed. While karst pavements are seen on the surface (notably above Zireineralm, Stage U6), most karst features are hidden below ground in a series of sinkholes and cave systems. Zireinersee lake (Stages 7 and U6) is a karst lake with no visible outlet, while the Hundsalm Eishohle cave (Stage 4) is part of a karst cave system.
Glacial cirque below Birkkarspitze (Stage 11)
Walking the Adlerweg, you will encounter a few morainic lakes, some trapped by terminal moraines and some by lateral. The most notable is Achensee, the unique geography of which is described in Stage 8, while the descent from Fern pass (Stage 17) provides excellent views of a series of turquoise coloured lakes, each trapped by its own moraine. Lateral lakes line the Inn valley between Kramsach and Worgl. Dried up lakebeds far exceed actual lakes, the most obvious being the Moos (between Ehrwald and Lermoos, Stage 17) and the Hinterautal valley (Stage 11). Extensive beaches of glacial fluor (white limestone sand eroded by the glaciers) indicate the locations of the ancient lakes.
This is an ever changing landscape. Frequent landsides and washouts either block or widen rivers. Attempts are made each year to restore paths after winter damage, but when deterioration becomes irreparable, paths may be closed or diverted.
Plants
The overwhelming determinant of plantlife found along the Adlerweg is altitude, particularly the tree line. This, the altitude beyond which trees cannot survive, is found around 1800m on north facing slopes, but can reach nearly 2000m at favoured south facing locations. At lower altitudes, up to approx 1400m, mixed forests dominate with broadleaf deciduous trees like beech and oak growing alongside conifers. Woodland flowers and berries, particularly wild raspberries, grow in clearings between the trees. A wide range of edible fungi is in evidence, and local residents can often be found collecting them for the kitchen.
As altitude increases, so mixed forest gives way to coniferous forest with spruce, pine, fir, juniper and larch all in evidence. Of note is zirbe, a fir with candelabra shaped branches, the smooth wood of which is favoured for woodcarving and vernacular furniture. Zirbe grows close to the tree line, particularly on the upper north slopes of Patscherkofel where it gives its name to Zirbenweg (Stage 13). Just below the tree line, full-grown trees give way to dwarf conifers (krummholz), which grow sideways rather than upwards.
Harebell (Campanula)
The high meadow above the tree line is the alpine zone, rich with alpine flowers. Of particular note, and easy to spot are blue harebells (campanula). Slightly rarer are vivid blue trumpet gentians and the pink flowered evergreen shrub, alpenrose. Most renowned, but rarest of all, is the white edelweiss. Above this zone, where lingering snow often covers sparse grass on thin soil and bare rock, you can find bright pink flower cushions of rock jasmine and various lichen and mosses.
Edelweiss (photo: Christine Gordon)
Wildlife
A wide variety of birds, mammals, reptiles and insects are found along the Adlerweg. Many of these, including foxes, red squirrels, hares and roe deer, can be found in Britain, but there are three mammals that particularly epitomise the high alpine environment.
Grassy
