The day started grey and cold but got better and better. This was the start of a week of really good weather.

We took the ski lift to the top of the Hohe Mut. This was the same side of the valley that we'd been two days before and we didn't see any great sense in repeating the climb out. Actually there are two ski lifts, a double and a single. We had fleeces and waterproofs on for the second and it was still cold.

Whilst the Hohe Mut is a skiing hill, it has a long long, unspoilt ridge leading to the high hills of the Italian border. There are pretty valleys on either side, the Glaisbach and the Rotmoos, both of which end in impressive glaciers.. As we walked along the ridge I wasn't sure which way we were going to descend. My mind was made up for me by the paths: as the ridge started to rise seriously, the Glaisbach path descended steeply into the valley. Having gained the height I wanted to keep it so we took he Rotmoos path which took followed a lovely contouring line higher and higher up the valley. Even then we weren't sure how far we could go before having to turn back. In fact we were rewarded by a lovely circuit. Initially we did have to cross a number of pockets of ice before we reached a small ridge just in front of the glacier; this was a sufficiently stimulating target for walkers that it had its own stamp with a height on it (2700m). 

We dropped off jsut a little to a bit of a corner with lots of cairns and a shelter and we had lunch there. There was then a good return path (and lots of people) along a ridge before it dropped back into the Rotmoos valley and we stopped for a drink at the Schonwieshutte before returning via the lower ski lift.

But one bit of excitement on a fairly dull final section. If you've been to European mountains you know that they are alive not with the sound of music but the whistling of marmots (otherwise known as hamsters on steroids). They are easy to hear but hard to spot. In fact the only place I'd seen them before was the tourist viewpoint out on to the Grossglockner where they are virtually tame. However we took a wrong turn to a dead end but going up this path I heard a great screech in front of me and just caught sight of a marmot going down a hole. Beryl missed this but she did see the second one which ran across the track ahead of us to return to the same hole. The first one was clearly the sentry warning of aliens about.