Day 26 - St. Poltner Hutte to Kitchen (?&%!km)

Our ascent to St. Poltner Hutte had seen no recent footprints or tracks (which certainly would have been visible in the snow). Yet, the hut was stocked and had a family living there. We took this as a hint that the descent down the other side must be the access road. It was going to be a fast and fun ride down.

Wrong.

It was a four hour hike-a-bike - through snow, cow shit, and a rocky trail. We were *very* happy to see pavement. At least the weather was nice and the 'trail' was marked.

Given the strain of our hike last night and again this morning, we decided to make it a short distance day, going only another to Kitzbuhel. We took a room at the town hostel, which was run by a New Zealander/Bulgarian guy named Dave. He had long hair, a shirt with a kalishnakoff on it, and had his socks flapping around from the end of his toes like a kid. Despite his appearance, he seemed to be running a tight ship.

We walked into the 'old town' for dinner. It was like disneyland for rich adults; fancy brand name shops, expensive restaurants and mint condition chalets. It was kind of the opposite of where we started the day.