Dobratsch 16.7.2016
Dr. Anthony Mvungi, Surgeon at the Momella hospital ward inTansania is staying in Austria for a month of further training. I am in touch with Anthony for a few months now. He is a very much nice guy and strongly dedicated to his profession and the project. I am very much impressed by this project that has been started in the small village of Momella 6 years ago by to Viennese female doctors, so this is to ask you to inform yourselves about the project using the link above and maybe even donate some money for it.
I have planned a few days in the mountains for this summer anyway, soI invited Anthony to a weekend in the mountains. I start from home at 6 a.m., then Collect Anthony from the hospital at St.Veit an der Glan, where he is accomodated in the stuff o er im stuff dwelling house, and drive to Feldkirchen and Villach. have abandoned my original plan to drive the Nockalmstraße and then up to the Kölnbreinsperre, because rain is forecast to the North of Austria, but sunshine to the south. So it is to keep as south aspossible.
Of course we drive up the Villach Alpine road and start our walk from its end, the Rosstratte.
Rosstratte seems to be living up to its name ("Ross" in English means "horse")
Anthony is fascinated by the cows which are so big and "fat" - as a child, together with his grandfather, on the foothills of Kilimanjaro he took care of much smaller and droughtier cattle, he says.
Still no perfectly beautiful weather, but it stays dry, the clouds are high, and the visibility is reasonably good.
View over the Rosstratte - lake Ossiach to the left, then lake Wörth and lake Faak, to the right the pyramid of the Mittagskogel (2.145 m)
Moe cows for Anthony
Panoramic view from the ascent to the Elfernock. Far right the Julian Alps. Click here or into the pictures for a larger display.
Anthony busy taking pictures (not oly from cows!)
View back to the Zehnernock. The snall hut once was the summit station of a ski lift, which long ago has been abandoned and dismounted due to poor cost-effectiveness.
Lake Ossiach and lake Wörth.
Zehnernock and Julian Alps. The highest summit of the Triglav is in clouds.
Walking round the corner at the Zwölfernock, and all of a sudden, we get a free view to the summit of Dobratsch, with the church and the TV and radio transponder of the ORF.
View to the Julian Alps
Dobratsch summit
Much more clouds at the main Alpine ridge, most of the 3000 m peaks are wrapped in clouds.
Hochalmspitze ???
Julian Alps
Dwarf pines felled along the road - I don´t know why (maybe to prohibit snow drift).
The ORF transponder tower is 167 m high - the highest one in Austria.
The highest church of Austria and Europe, the "German church", was built in 1693 on the southern summit of the Dobratsch (2.159 m)
View to the northern summit (2.166 m) with the second, smaller church called "Windische Kirche".
Inside the "German church"
Anthony is busy taking pictures.
360 degree summit panorama from the southern summit of Dobratsch, with the "German church". Click here or into the pictures for a larger display.
View back to Zwölfernock and Elfernock as well as to the Ossiach, Wörth and Faak.
The ORF transponder tower.
Anthony very much likes the pace.
The "German church"
Two summiteers.
The Dobratsch - summit lodge besides the tower. It was completely rebuilt in 2010 as a modern passive house.
View up the Gail valley.
View to the Dobratsch northern summit.
Southern summit and German church on Dobratsch
The northern summit of Dobratsch with the summit cross and the "Windish church".
View from the northern summit to the transponder tower and the German church.
View from the northern summit to the German church.
Lower Gail valley and Julian Alps.
Panoramic view from the northern summit of Dobratsch. Click here or into the pictures for a larger display.
The ORF transponder tower on Dobratsch.
The "Windic church on Dobratsch northern summit.
Fragrant orchids (Gymnadenia conopsea) on Dobratsch northern summit.
Time for a lunch now in the modern summit lodge.
For the descent, we chose a variant leading a bit down the southern flanks of the mountain, over a narrow and stony path.
Nice views to the impressive rock escarpments at this side
Rock escarpments at the southern side of Dobratsch. Click here or into the pictures for a larger display.
Rock escarpments at the southern side of Dobratsch.
View to Arnoldstein and the Julian Alps.
Now descended a bit on the southern flanks ...
... and a bit back up to the Zehnernock. Here I was with snow shoes in February 2012..
View from Zehnernock to the summit of Dobratsch.
The visibility to Villach is improved somewhat in the meantime.
Black vanilla orchid (Nigritella rhellicani)
Nearly back at the Rosstratte.
Rosstratte. Mittagskogel (2.145 m) in behind.
We have drived down; I want to show Anthony the highest waterfall in Carinthia, so we take the highway to Gmünd and dive down into the Malta valley ...
to the Fallbach - waterfall, with nearly 200 m the highest freely falling waterfall in Austria.
View to the Gößgraben branching off from the main valley on the opposite side.
