E5 Via Alpina Stage 37/36

The morning was cool as we continued down to the town of Zams.  A warm shirt and some mellow music in our headphones kept us going until the sunlight hit the valley floor.  An alpine farmer has the right idea.  He has turned his Summer farm house into a cafe with hot coffee.  His place is the first one after a long and steep slog.  Speaking of long slogs.  This trail is unlike any we have hiked before.  You basically have a 10,000 foot change of altitude with a hut at the top and a town at the bottom of both sides.  

Since we are NOT thru-hiking, the guide book says to take a cable car from the town up to a ski area.  From there you continue the climb and follow a ridge line before descending 5,000 feet again.  Our arrival was perfect timing to squish into the cable car full  of people.  At the top was another ski lodge where we stopped for lunch.  Generally the food has been good here, although it wasn't a smart decision to eat at the ski resort.  I had something called a Currywurst.  Basically a sausage covered with ketchup and curry mayo.  My stomach growled the rest of the day.

We have not seen any other people tenting and the flat spots are few and far between.  Some say that camping in Europe is not allowed.  Others say it's ok above tree line.  I figure if a bunch of cows can poop everywhere, we can sleep on a flat spot.  Today we had no intentions of staying at a Pension (cheap version of a B&B), but there were no flat spots for miles.  Shadow and I were walking into the town of Wenns on a small path between houses when an orange cat greeted us.  The cat is owned by a Pension near by which is where we stayed.  You can usually find one for around 27 Euros per person including breakfast.  After checking in we dined at one of the only 2 places in town.  As we ate on a covered balcony above the street a storm came though.  Maybe it's a good thing we couldn't find a flat spot for the night.