Dear Readers, John is more or less back in full operating order, so today we headed off to the village of Zwieselstain, just down the valley from Obergurgl. There’s a very pleasant walk from here down to the town of Sölden, and it’s a good leg-stretcher for the more serious walks later on. We always start at this extraordinary hotel, which seems to have taken pebble-dashing to a whole new level – maybe boulder-dashing?

But many of the chalets here are picture-perfect…

…and I love the warning signs that have sprung up, reminding people to be careful because there are children around. As everywhere, there are always some folk who drive like maniacs.

When you pass the meadows here, it’s hard not to be impressed by the massive rocks that have tumbled down, probably centuries ago. There are warning signs about falling rocks along this path, though I’m not sure exactly what you’re meant to do about them. Wearing a tin hat wouldn’t help much if something of this size was heading your way…

Up we go, and as I pass the local umbellifers I’m impressed by how many flies are pollinating them. A horse fly also landed on my arm, and I had a quick look at the rainbow band on its eye before noticing its puncturing mouthparts and shooing it away. Being bitten by one of these creatures is like being stapled. Sorry there’s no photo, but there is a limit to how far I will suffer for my art, Readers…

But having seen only one orchid yesterday, I was rewarded with hundreds in the woods today. They are absolutely stunning…

The spotted leaves seem to point to a Heath Spotted Orchid (Dactylorhiza maculata) which is often found in dry forests in Europe, so I’m fairly happy with my ID, though as usual also happy to be corrected by any orchid experts out there!

This narrow little path is also shared with mountain bikers – it was very quiet today, but I imagine it could be a lot of fun for all parties during high season.

I love seeing the variety of lichens on the branches of the larches here – this one is (I think) Usnea barbatus, or beard lichen. A slightly longer species, Usnea filipendula, is gathered to make full-body costumes for various carnivals in the Tyrol, and very scary they look too. These lichens only grow where the air quality is good.

but before we leave the woods, I have to pause to admire the Cobweb House Leeks, growing happily on a slab of rock.

Then it’s back onto a tarmac road, and down into Sölden, passing the garden with the interesting statue…

..and saying hello to the lawn-mowing robot, who has been mowing this lawn every time we’ve gone past for the last three years. What a hard-working little chap he is!

And then, the lift.  The Gaislachkoglbahn is in two parts, an eight person gondola, and a larger gondola that takes you to the top of the mountain, at over 3,000 metres. The lifts to the middle station are really closely packed and can take up to 3,800 people per hour, with some of the gondolas adjusted to take bicycles for the (truly terrifying) downhill run that adventurous people opt to risk their necks on. The second part of the lift takes you up to the top, and the ‘ice-Q restaurant and bar, which featured in the James Bond film ‘Spectre’.

It’s always a bit scary getting into the first cable car of the year but it’s amazing how quickly you get used to be transported in silence up into the mountains…

Though, the building season being as short as it is, you will sometimes get to 3,000 metres and find an earth-mover chucking rocks about…

…but the ice Q looks as elegant as always…

and then there are mountains, as far as the eye can see.

What a joy! Some people need to be close to the sea, or to forests,  but for me it’s mountains every time. Maybe I was a chamois or a marmot in a past life.