austria – A Fine Blog

One does wonder where places do get their names from. Drachensee – Dragon Lake is one of those. There is surprisingly little information to be found on this, but after having been there this past weekend I have a feeling the name was sparked by mere imagination…Crystal clear, cold and calm…with uncountable different shades of blue, green and grey and surrounded by an amphit-theatre of impressive mountains it does seem like the perfect place for a dragon to dwell. I just saw one website calling this place the “Loch Ness of Tirol” – rather apt, especially when the sun is hiding behind clouds.

The climb is absolutely worth it. We started our little adventure at the Ehrwalder Almbahn, purposely taking option “Hoher Gang” up to Seebensee rather than going the long way around via Ehrwalder Alm. It is a decent climb… for the first wee while the track zigzags through forest until it becomes steeper. So steep at some point the route is secured with steel ropes that one can hold onto. Not always helpful but sometimes…

It is worth it though, because the first glimpses of Seebensee are very rewarding. Glowing somehow translucently green in the late morning sun, it forms an amazing vista with the towering peaks of Sonnenspitze, Drachenkopf and the Tajaköpfe – and the Zugspitze on the other side of the valley.

IMG_3552_resized — View from up higher towards Seebensee and Zugspitze

We dwelled here for some time, simply enjoying the views and the sun (the weather turned out to be much nicer than forecast). Then, we made the final ascent on to Coburger Hütte and Drachensee. On a stunning day like this it was relatively busy, but we did get our well-deserved beer, skiwasser and Kaiserschmarrn pretty fast. Munching delicious food with a picture-perfect view – what else can you ask for on a Sunday?
Why the hut belongs to “Sektion Coburg” of the German Alpine Club albeit being on Austrian territory remains a mystery to me.
Well nourished we then wandered down to the lake.

I could have stared into the depths of the lake for ages, watching the colours constantly change depending on the light. It went from sparkling green and turquoise to a dark bottomless blue. Despite people being around, it seemed very peaceful and almost otherworldy.

20170813_135031_resized — Mirror, mirror on the wall…

If there were dragons, this is where they would be.

It took some effort to leave this beautiful place to make our way back down to Ehrwald. Thinking it wouldn’t be nice to climb down “Hoher Gang” we opted for the long way around to Ehrwalder Alm via Seebensee Alm. We did cheat a little bit at the end by taking the cable car back down from Ehrwalder Alm. Oh, well.