Holzgau, Österreich
04/01/2023
To kick 2023 off right, my family and I decided to go skiing. This time the destination was Holzgau in Tyrol, a small 373 inhabitant town in Austria near Vorarlberg.
While it had been crazy cold with tons of snow a month earlier, this time around it had gotten warm and the snow was mostly melting. So instead of going skiing another day, my father, brother and I decided to go on a hike to the nearby Hängebrücke Holzgau, a suspension bridge up on the mountain.
In fact, the bridge was a section of the so-called ‘Vitalweg’, or ‘Vitalway’ a family-friendly hiking trail inspired by former fitfluencer Sebastian Kneipp (* 1821, † 1897), who revolutionised health theory back in the days and promoted a set of five elements for a fulfilled and healthy life: herbs, exercise, inner order, water and nutrition.
While we did not really care about Kneipp’s health theory so much, the suspension bridge did strike us as quite exciting. So we packed our cameras and started hiking – which we had not done in quite some time – up the trail.
The hike took us through a forest to the bridge, which spanned quite far and was actually a really fun experience to walk over. It also offered a wonderful photo opportunity, despite or because of the dramatic scenery.
Moreover, since I had naturally brought my drone, it was a great opportunity to fly around a little to gain a bird’s-eye view of the area.
As it was getting cold, we continued our journey. Not far from the bridge, a ski lift crossed the road. As it was a T-bar lift, our immediate reaction was to pose for some skiing-inspired pictures – on the grass. It is sad to think that such images might unironically become normal in a couple of years.
We followed the path further and came to explore numerous great spots along the way. The tinted sky made for an even more sinister atmosphere, but the forest was wonderfully calming with very fresh air (as one should hope from a forest), so we came home joyful.
Pfiat-eich!