Voralpen Guide Book

Today I got a little surprise in the mail. Wasn't expecting for them to do such a speedy delivery, since I just ordered the guide book for the Voralpen long distance trail 2 days ago. But of course I couldn't resist to take a peak at it before taking Gina out. As soon as I got back and as soon as my crazy girl was fed I curled up with the guide book on the couch and looked parts of it up. You can get a badge for a through hike. Not sure if I'm gonna go for the badge. After all the point is to have fun on the trail with Gina and not for earning a badge. But we will see, I guess.
The other thing is there are 2 routes for the first 150 miles or so. A northern and a southern route. Both are fun hikes actually. And I'm still not sure wich of the two to take. The northern route is a more speedy hike, but the southern route goes through the local mountains. And that's something that I really appreciate. Of course there is the possibility that I might just do both routes. Just for the fun of it.
The average milage per day ist about 15 to 18 miles. Something that can easily be done. And yes it's really hard for me to wait. On the one hand I don't have all my gear together yet, on the other hand the weather is not exactly perfect for a through hike yet. Temps below freezing and still quite some snowpack in the local mountains. And yes it's just the beginning of February. But I just want to start with Gina on the trail. Yes, I'm excited and no I haven't planned all the details out yet. After all if you hike on weekends you have to figure out the schedule of public transportation in order to get to the trail and to get back to Vienna in a reasonable amount of time on Sunday evenings. And as long as it is that cold, I will have to stay at local motels and bed&breakfasts and I have to figure out if they let me stay there with Gina. If not I will have just have to take day trips. After all at this point of the year it's a little to cold for my taste to stay in a tent. If it would be later in the year I would just be doing that and not have to worry about the dog policy of motels. Another downside of starting that early on the trail is the fact, that most of the alpine lodges are still closed. A lot of the lodges have a winter room where you can stay, but you have to figure out if the winter room is open or if you have to pick up a key first. So there is still quite some planning to be done, before I can start out.