Ötzi

Today finds us in the Öztal Alps which separate Austria from Italy. We hiked up 4,200 vertical feet to the ridge (the border between Italy and Austria) where Ötzi was killed and talked about what our own theories were as to the circumstances surrounding his death. There is no definitive answer but it was revealing to experience the same hike he did. It is incredibly inhospitable territory. Talus, weather, incline and altitude make for difficult terrain to say the least. After hiking the 4,200 ft up, we had to go back down and needless to say, tonight we are exhausted. This is a great area of Süd Tirol. There are no cable cars or chairlifts so the the only "tourists" we see are fellow hikers, and they are only hardy ones. Most use the greeting "Grüss Gott" but there is still the occassional "Bonjourno". Technically we are in Italy, but it sure feels like Austria. Farmers are cutting their meadows by hand and preparing for the winter ahead. This is apple country in the valleys below and they are delicious. Space is tight so the apples are espaliered and planted only 4' on center. There are thousands of acres planted in red an golden delicious apples.

We have now noticed a complete absence of rodents (except Marmots in the high country). There are NO squirrels, mice, rats or rabbits to be found anywhere. We can leave our food out at night, on the ground and it is not touched. We wonder if after the
Great Black Plague of the middle ages Europe went on a vermin extermination movement. When we think about how horrible the plague was we can't blame them.