Do not refrain from driving

Mission: "You should not refrain from navigating" - Alps - Whitsun 2007

Loosely based on the DKV guide (for Lammeröfen):
"You should not refrain from paddling"

There were once 2-4 paddlers. And since the clocks in the east, e.g. Dresden, turn differently (approx. 2 days asynchronously), we (Andi and HD) were initially alone with 1 Sharan, 4 boats, 1 MTB and a 3sec tent (which only came along for photo purposes).

Friday, 25.05.2007:

Since the vacation was from the category "what you don't plan today, you can't discard tomorrow", we followed the first gauge (Loisach had about 90cm and went and is brilliant for moving with a bike) and jetted off to GAP, there quickly picked up food at McD and pulled some Eurons next door, you never know. At 1 a.m. we were already at the entrance and pitched our tents..... .Uhhh no, rather, we rearranged the Sharan. There in the bush we found 2 Megadome tents with 9 paddlers from Unna and made a blanket appointment for "tomorrow Loisach".

Saturday, 26.05.2007:

Quite early around 9am we started with breakfast incl. cappuccino and such. When we were ready, there was a "changing of the guard" at the table and the people from Unna took over for breakfast.... So far so good, briefly inspected the stream (still about 90cm, so everything was easy) and made a short plan with the group (you eat faster so that you can still make the Rissbach, get changed in the meantime, put all your clothes in your Ducato and bring them down quickly. So far so good, but when we came back from the move, we were 1 spraydeck short and about 5 bags of dry clothes left on top. So too bad about the plan and down again. When the Sharan arrived at the deployment site, "only" one dry bag was still up and 2 helmets were too many. Andi and I started to philosophize about inertia. The paddling was actually extremely relaxing with 11 people, even if the Unnarans folded their leader long, loud and clear when changing, because some beginners almost fell over because he went ahead ??? They should drink less coffee (milk helps at that age). Then we continued to the Rissbach, above (up to) the gorge. The tour was also quite easy, the group probably had some valerian with them... At 2 places (slate ribs, S-curve) about 3 people had to carry around, but it was OK, you could play well there. Then we separated from the Unnaran crowd and had dinner at the gorge. And then we went down into the gorge (or at least Andi lost a lot of traction there, but the wound(s) could be washed out well at the bottom).

Then it was off to the Pitztal for an overnight stay and possibly a paddle. Thanks to Sharanumschichterei it was again extremely relaxing, just take a nice parking lot at the roadside when tired.

Sunday, 27.05.2007:

While scouting we found a group (7) on the roadside between Waldschlucht and ??? under a tarp between cows and cars, they would have given us a lift as they wanted to go again. We took a look at the forest gorge, which had a water level of about 47cm (HW) at the internet level and 65cm at the weir, which was too high for us. But it was worth a look. It didn't look quite so dramatic, but at the Kastenwehr (which is X according to the DKV) you could see that most of the group consisted of extremely fit paddlers. You could also see what "bad boofing" causes in terms of work. As one of them went down there with a big Franceskoni squirter, you could also see that volume isn't everything. After we had said goodbye (nice, but not today at the start of our vacation after WW2-3 yesterday), we went to the lower Ötz in Ötz.

At 240cm, it was 10cm above HW and correspondingly "pretty". We opted for our larger boats and unloaded them first. The plan was to take the Sharan to the confluence with the Inn and from there back by MTB, as there were only rafters in the parking lot. But after I had half crossed the village, 2 cars with kayaks came towards me, so I turned back. One of them didn't want to transfer with us as they already had a bike down there and insisted on using it. But the 2nd one was willing. So we were a group of 4 again (so far). In Haiming we met another guy who joined us on his Diabolo. The route was quite sporty due to the HW, especially under the first road bridge and at the Constructa.

Then we went to Sanna, but quickly checked out the party at the exit, but it was quite weak. When we arrived in Landeck at 6 pm, Andi no longer believed that we would be able to ride, but he was proved wrong. The bike was almost unloaded, but the guys from the Pitzbach had just finished a pizza and wanted to shuttle us back.

Sanna was quite well filled with about 165cm (Fuzzi level), so kendo and somersault again. The route was quite well done, only the Pianner Schwall was difficult. We almost had a pizza too, but we wanted to wait for the Dresdeners. As Fuzzi had closed his campsite, we only spent a short time in Landeck, spoke to him briefly and got a campsite recommendation. That was "Prutz". As we didn't expect to be able to camp wild with the DD-ers, we briefly synchronized with them "we are looking for a campsite in the Inn Valley on the Tösen route. Well, the campsite in Prutz was not so satisfactory at 8.80 euros (special offer for paddlers 8.50 euros), so we moved to the Aussatz der Tösens. There was already a T4 camper there. By 10 p.m. our camp was complete and the beers were open.

Monday, 28.05.2007:

Tösens was unfortunately without a power station outlet due to a public holiday, but still quite OK thanks to MW. And it was the first creek of the vacation for the DD'ers. As expected, it went quite well, even paddling with our blind fish (hello Peter) was "normal".

The 2nd stream was the Sanna at a similar level. Unfortunately, the weather had deteriorated considerably in the meantime according to the forecast, and the radio was talking about closures and snow chains. It was too cold for Peter, as you could tell from the rhythmic movements (approx. 5 Hz). Then there were two more with an Escort and diesels. They were also cold to move, but it was OK for paddling. We had visited the Pianner Schwall beforehand and had a plan. The only confusing thing at first was that there were a few paddlers standing around on the planned route (later with more time you could see that there were 3 paddlers, one of them well washed through, and only 2 boats. The 3rd (Dagger ??) was about 1-2 m to the right of the route, barely visible. We stopped briefly and spoke to them (Swiss), but they had already checked off the boat. The Pianner exit went better thanks to scouting and the rest was "just" fresh.

In the evening, we theorized that the (coming) cold would have to tame the Ötz further, so a place at the mouth of the Ötz, which Peter still knew from a bike tour, was targeted, in order to then cycle the lower Ötz and possibly more. In the evening in Ötz and after inspecting the Weller Bridge at HW, we went to the "middle" pizzeria. The calzone is recommended. We also wanted to buy some equipment (helmet, jacket, shoes, ...), which according to theories should be possible in Ötz, Haiming or Imst. But that wasn't the case, you can't go there. Rosenheim is better equipped for this.

Tuesday, 29.05.2007:

The weather was extremely sh... and cold, but the site is extremely good. In the forest, best connection, highway only about 1km away, next gas station (only breakfast cafe) or supermarket about 200m (on foot) or 400m (car). Thanks to Minital also no noise.

Due to the weather, it was rather late until we started the Ötz (now at 220cm), the 20cm have significantly reduced the stress level (at least for Kendo and Salto). Although Andi also tracked down a rather hungry hole with the kendo, which briefly caused everyone's eyes to widen, but everything was spit out again without separating driver and boat. It was sporty for the DDs (I3-222, S8).

As we didn't have any good ideas about what we wanted to do afterwards (waiting for MW for the middle or upper Ötz would take weeks), we went back to our old spot.

Wednesday, 30.05.2007:

This day was characterized by offsetting, especially as we had a serious offsetting error and chose the wrong Gries (both on the Salzach) in Howie's satnav, ending up about 65km from our destination and thus quite close to Lammer and Kuchl-Welle. The latter saved our day, as the 220cm boats were able to surf it quite well. But it was really exhausting, more so than Sanna, as we had to carry it up again and again.

While checking out the area and shopping, a woman warned us about wild camping (we asked for a campsite but obviously didn't look like the usual camping guests in the village, which we didn't know at the time: "wild camping is not possible here, the farmers will beat you up."). Well, an inquiry helped and after consulting with the purchasing department, the campsite (our first on vacation) was mentally booked. After a lot of surfing, we went to the campsite at around 8pm, registering at the hotel reception!!! There was a large group of gypsies from Kölln (yes Peter, I've forgotten your explanation, it's common and I don't mean it in a negative way) with fat T5s or Sprinters and huge caravans. At the hotel we were offered the hotel breakfast for 5 euros and the pitch for a flat rate of 25 euros for our group. We booked and had breakfast in the morning.

Thursday, 31.05.2007: LAMMERRRRRRR!!!!!!

My right arm has been aching all night. I must have tried too hard yesterday and had a "Karen-esque" roll drama (always trying to roll on the crest of the wave and only coming up on the 5th time or so. But the warmer the better. Then some calcium and good. The morning wake-up text message says 73cm for Lammer, perfect. In the gorge there are 2-3 places that Howie and Peter don't like, so it's just Andi and me (we didn't pay any further attention to the entrance step, the 3 were enough for us, knowing too much is sometimes unfavorable for the psyche). The DDs offered to belay as well as possible in the 2 somewhat accessible places (in neo, which confused the hikers a bit). We were to be called by cell phone when they had their position. The wait was a bit like an oral diploma exam (e.g. when you learn with defined gaps). In the meantime there was a little show interlude, a group of students (approx. 9th grade) arrived on hydrospeeds from above and changed their clothes with us, nicely separated by the cars according to the polarity. But not relative to us (at a distance of about 50m). The chickens then pulled off a chatter and disappeared into the forest.

Lammer: Easy entrance, has a chicken line on the left (which we didn't need, of course). Then comes a combination of holes at the memorial stone that is quite a challenge (WW4), then it gets dark and quiet:

The switchbacks are choppy and mushroomy. Then came the surge section, which we then looked at from the right (you can also transfer there) from the third perspective with the result "should flow well in the middle of the main current". It did, so fast that I was probably only paddling with my cerebellum and spinal cord, at least I didn't react consciously, it was a WW5. Andi also came in with the same impression. The 2nd problem was a rock in the middle with a corkscrew and a baffle with undercut on the right. The narrow alley on the left was the choice, which went well, but it was not clear. The penultimate step (looks very unspectacular) works like a vacuum cleaner on the Golo (Corsica), at least if you go too slowly with a somersault. I went down the step and completely sank into the white water. Andi only saw how the somersault lived up to its name and performed the aforementioned movement backwards. After the roll, I couldn't really tell what it was, nor could I give a good tip for the following paddlers. With more steam and weight forward, the Kendo only stood almost vertically and didn't have to roll. Then just to the bridge, where

we found a level of 39cm. The rest of the day was a useless scramble to the right place, but the Salzach had lost too much water at the weir, so we went back to the campsite and took the Kuchl wave with us again as a day rescue (at least for the DD'ers).

Friday, 01.06.2007:

Last day with return journey. Quickly (according to the satnav) to Lofer in 1 hour, paddling a bit of a slalom course. Thanks to the satnav we had a brilliant border crossing (on a farm, so to speak, but fully legal. The border controls due to the G8 summit were quickly classified by us as useless. Anyone with a satnav can get across here. But the sh... detour cost us time, which we would have lost anyway, as the DM was just leaving Lofer. Luck in misfortune: after we had found the Hubertus wave/roller, we had to wait about 5 minutes until the last one was through. Then it was lunch break until 2pm, so more than enough time. The wave and course were unspectacular with a water level of approx. 109cm, only the finish at the beginning of the Teufelsschlucht was more challenging.

The ride home was uneventful, only the Blue&White was not so easy to find without web research.

Have you noticed anything?

HD

* our outpost in Hanover ;-)

To your final question: Yup, I noticed something, we filled up 6.2 cents cheaper a week before. :-)