Snow at the end of August?

Rinkes, Tobi and I had the idea to go biking, a weekend tour in the Alps - Friday to Sunday. After having some troubles getting three bikes in and on one single car we were heading south as far as Mayrhofen, Zillertal, Austria. Starting unexpectedly late, 600 metres of altitude were awaiting us already. It was dark, of course, before reaching the apartment which was hosting us as its only guests. I believe it's gonna be more crowded in winter time.

The next morning was starting as promised, clouds and heavy rain regionally! Well, we've been in that region, obviously. No mercy. Tobi was suffering knee problems and wasn't able to make it up the Tuxer Joch.

He didn't miss much uphill, 5 degrees, still rain. No view, no lookout, nothing, just that freezing cold forcing us to rethink if it has been a good idea. We continued downhilling (I had a little incident and took a shortcut, kind of), crossed the Brenner and finished the day off by approaching the Enzian cottage right at dinner time, but too exhausted and falling asleep at 9 pm latest.

Weather in the Alps could change rapidly. And we were part of it on Sunday morning. While having breakfast, the sky was clear and it seemed to be acceptably warm outside. We changed, packed our stuff and were about to leave. When leaving the cottage we found ourselves in dense fog – temperature 1°C!!! Luckily, I forgot my gloves. The further up we went the more rain turns into snow. The summit – Schlüsseljoch – was covered with snow.

What a ride down to the valley. I don’t know how we managed, but we did. Down there, temperature was going up as far as 24°C again. Time to change once more. Incredible! A little lunch and power nap was well deserved before passing the Pfitscher Joch and closing the circle in Mayrhofen.