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Published: September 18th 2015
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The weather was looking dicey for today so we set off for Gosau with raincoats and umbrellas. Our destination was Gosausee which is a small lake at the head of the valley with a smaller one further up - not unlike Langbathsee. You get there by turning off the road along Lake Halstatt and winding up and along a gorge until you arrive at Gosau in a broad, open area. It is not set into a narrow valley like many of the towns in the lake areas. I guess because it's not on a lake. The setting is very pretty with farms and houses dotted up the gently rising slopes. We continued in towards the mountains until we reached the parking area for Lake Gosau and were amazed at the number of cars parked there for a day that wasn't exactly nice. The head of the valley is not only great for hikers and climbers but also skiers with seilbahns operating up to the higher slopes. You would definitely have been in the cloud up there today.
We put on raincoats and warm clothes, put up the umbrellas and set off up the right hand side of the lake. Despite
the weather, there were many walkers out and about and also mountaineering groups set up with ropes, helmets and carabiners so it wasn't quiet. However, it wasn't unpleasant either with the rain being gentle and absolutely no wind. We found the one and only dry seat around the lake and had our picnic lunch. Yes, only Kiwis would have a picnic in the rain while the rest head for a nice warm restaurant. Our lunch was bread rolls with ham and emmentaler cheese, a Snickers bar, iced peach tea and an apple. And at E6.50 right up there with TTATs philosophy!
We skipped the upper lake because of the rain and walked back down the other side of the lake just as the sun decided to come out. It was magic. There was absolutely no wind the reflections on the water were perfect mirror images of what was above the water.
There were various information boards around the lake about water but the best stop showed some excellent fossils in the rocks. Goodness knows where the actual location of the rocks are as I've not been able to see any fossils despite looking.
Back at the car
we headed off back to Gosau and Bad Goisern where we had a coffee and figured we still had time to pay a visit to the water falls in Ebensee that we had heard about from Katherine. Last time we were here this area was closed because of the floods washing out the road. We followed the signs, parked and headed off up the valley to find the waterfalls. The signage wasn't great and the river was dry so where was the waterfall? After 15 minutes up the track we heard the distant sound of water and eventually found the fall. It wasn't coming over the high cliff faces as expected but from a drop of a previous glacier down to the main valley. They were well worth the visit with narrow, winding, gushing water falling over several layers of shiny rock and gravel shaped shutes and down into a large pool. I had a hunt in the river bed for interesting rocks or fossils but it was pretty much limestone and marble and not much else.
So, a good day, despite the cloud and rain.
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