With her book “Sehnsucht Weitwandern” author Claudia Schallauer helps with the first steps by giving basic tips from planning to equipment and describing four routes in such detail that you’ll want to grab a hiking stick and start hiking straight away.
Excursions, mountain hiking or the general experience of nature have received a new boost in recent years due to Corona and its travel restrictions. And taking a trip away from everyday life for several days and “eating” many kilometers on foot has a very special appeal. The author captured this not only in writing, but also with very atmospheric images.
Tips and tricks that really help
You can also find tips for backpacks and their contents as well as the right shoes from other sources. What will be extremely helpful for beginners, however, is the timetable for organization and preparation, which begins three to five months in advance: Where should we go? Which (daily) stages do I dare to do? Do you use the shuttle service that is often offered for your luggage or do you carry everything from accommodation to accommodation yourself? Finally, you have to take the seasons into account and fix the stages and make appropriate bookings. The packing list and obtaining the necessary utensils are not insignificant – but above all, new shoes must be received in good time for smaller trips. And just before setting off, it definitely doesn’t hurt to take a look at the weather forecast.
If you want to save yourself at least some of the organization, you can also set out on one of the four hiking trails that Schallauer has already walked and described in stages. These are the Johannesweg in the Mühlviertel over 84 kilometers, the Luchstrail (220 kilometers), which leads through the Kalkalpen and Gesäuse National Park as well as the Dürrenstein-Lassingtal wilderness area, as well as the Life Path with its 270 kilometers, mainly through the southern Waldviertel. At 275 kilometers and 14,000 meters in altitude, the Hohe Tauern Panorama Trail is probably the most strenuous.
By the way, Schallauer can’t make a decision for anyone: whether to embark on such an adventure alone, as a couple or with a whole group. However, she recommends discussing a lot of things openly in advance so that you don’t set out with completely different expectations.
- The book: “Longing for long-distance hiking – tempting long-distance routes in Austria”, by Claudia Schallauer, Anton Pustet publishing house, 192 pages, illustrated throughout in color, 26 euros
