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Home  >  Blog  >  Ragga Raggaschlucht

Ragga Raggaschlucht

Trish Burgess Posted on11/09/201328/12/2016 Austria 24 Comments

Our ancestors certainly knew a thing or two about adventure and finding ways to make the natural wonders of our world accessible to ordinary people. When we visited Scotland at Easter we climbed up the Falls of Bruar, discovering that visitors had first attempted the walk in the eighteenth century, before Robert Burns persuaded the Duke of Atholl to plant lofty pine trees to enhance its beauty for other walkers.

In Carinthia, Austria, we took a drive to Flattach, part of the Molltal Glacier region, to see the ‘Raggaschlucht‘, a magnificent gorge which first opened to visitors in 1882. What struck me was the amount of work involved in creating a trail of wooden bridges and steps, to allow people to walk the 800m (200m vertically) along the canyon. How forward-thinking were these engineers to make access possible and yet preserve the beauty of the gorge. In 1972 it became a National Monument and it’s easy to see why: it’s a breathtaking sight.

Raggaschlucht, Austria
Raggaschlucht, Carinthia, Austria

The climb up the Raggaschlucht is only an hour’s round trip so lots of families were tackling it on yet another hot day in early August. Once on the trail it was easy to see why – the water thundering down the mountain provided a cooling spray every so often. The photos don’t do it justice: the most impressive points were also the times when I needed both hands on the ropes to pull me up the steps. Ferreting about for my camera would have held everyone up, risked water damage and, well, I just wanted to experience the exhilaration of the hike rather than constantly try and capture it on film.

It was just a little bit scary at times and  the noise was deafening so it was hard to communicate. I think I would have been terrified if I’d had a young child clambering up the path with me, rather than a game teenager who was, surprisingly, as sure-footed and nimble as a goat.

 

Raggaschlucht, Flattach, Carinthia
One wooden trail….one huge drop
Austria, Raggaschlucht
The mountain goat and his father

Once at the top we found a very welcome bench where we rested, ate our ham rolls, and congratulated ourselves on how brave we were, before watching a succession of grannies and kiddies trot by. Not unlike our experience on Pec Mountain where a similar age range of walkers, some in flipflops rather than the suggested ‘sturdy shoes’, happily overtook us on the walk.

The Raggaschlucht would have cost us 6 euros each but our Kaernten card gave us free entry.


ps: If you’re wondering why I called the post Ragga Raggaschlucht, it was our name for the gorge. For some daft reason we kept thinking of Reggae Reggae sauce….!

Previous Article Grand Design
Next Article The Dwarf Park…and other places we didn’t get the chance to see in Carinthia, Austria

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24 Comments

  1. Troy Reply
    11/09/2013 at 1:58 pm

    According to their website they are stripping out the wooden structure and fitting an escalator over the winter.

    (Only joking!)

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 4:53 pm

      WHAAAA……….Phew!

  2. Sonja Hoyt Reply
    11/09/2013 at 2:38 pm

    What a gorgeous place for a walk!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 4:54 pm

      It was quite incredible, and wonderfully cool too.

  3. About Last Weekend Reply
    11/09/2013 at 4:23 pm

    I've really got to get back to Scotland – that is stunning, looks like Hawaii and you're right – the engineering – the bridges look a lot safer than the ones we encountered in Havasupai, in the Grand Canyon

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 5:00 pm

      Scotland and Austria were both equally impressive countries to visit with regard to breathtaking scenery.
      Must admit I kept wondering how we all get so hung up on Health and Safety when simple wooden structures (ok, held up with sturdy metal rods) are all that's keeping you from a tumble down the canyon.

    • K Ville Reply
      11/09/2013 at 9:37 pm

      How Sturdy?! didi you send young kids up front to jump up and down a bit? Young and old first I say, they've got the least to lose! Looks lovely, terrifying but lovely.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 10:25 pm

      You're right, I had no idea how sturdy they were. Possibly not very as at one section people had to leave a gap between each other and yet no-one seemed to be paying much attention. As you can see from the last photo, I brought up the rear of our family – I'm not stupid!

  4. libby Reply
    11/09/2013 at 7:04 pm

    I don't think I could do that walk….I get a touch of the vapours at height! Looks gorgeous though.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 10:26 pm

      Funnily enough it didn't feel like you were going up high, maybe because we were in a narrow gorge and couldn't see the sky too often to gain any perspective!

  5. Steve Reply
    11/09/2013 at 7:07 pm

    Grief! That rickety wooden walkway is giving me the heebie-jeebies just looking at a photograph of it!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 10:27 pm

      It didn't move too much…

  6. Funky Wellies Reply
    11/09/2013 at 7:42 pm

    It looks absolutely stunning! And I love how you always write all these anecdotes and facts about the places you visit. xx

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 10:28 pm

      You should see me sitting here in the study with my notes and countless leaflets we picked up during our trip!I love all that stuff 😉

  7. Expat mum Reply
    11/09/2013 at 8:55 pm

    Jeez. I'm not sure I could do that. I'd be worrying myself sick!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      11/09/2013 at 10:31 pm

      It was one of those occasions when it was best not to think about it. With people hot on your tail, you couldn't stand and dither too much so it was reasonably quick! Mind you, at one point the two sides of the gorge met at the top with a huge boulder stuck between them. Kept waiting for Wile E Coyote to push it over!

  8. Sarah Reply
    12/09/2013 at 8:05 am

    What a lovely walk, what an adventure! It makes you wonder how they discovered the waterfall in the first place. That gorge looks a tricky place to walk up, unless they found it from above and worked back.

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      13/09/2013 at 1:42 pm

      That's just what puzzled me: at what stage did they think they could fix a staircase to the side of a gorge and how on earth did they do it?

  9. MsCaroline Reply
    14/09/2013 at 6:52 am

    Absolutely breathtaking, although I'd have been questioning the integrity of those structures all the way through. About Last Weekend's right, though: the Grand Canyon's arrangements are quite sketchy in places. One of our favorite books we bought when we lived in Arizona (and also gave often as a gift) was 'Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon.' Most of the deaths, I should point out, were completely avoidable, though. Less to do with the safety of things and more to do with lack of judgement on the part of the individual. Apparently a number of men have died trying to wee off the edge of just about every precipice in the park. I found this hard to believe, but it's all documented. I'd be curious to know if the average tourist to Ragga Raggaschlucht has more sense than the average GC tourist….

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      14/09/2013 at 8:45 am

      I love how you have a book about deaths in the Grand Canyon. I remember being fascinated by reading information about failed attempts to go over the Niagara Falls (in barrels etc). Men falling to their death after weeing over precipices is worthy of another book altogether! How fascinating. Thankfully they had some loos at the base of the Raggaschlucht. There was such a queue for the insufficient ladies' cubicles that I nipped into the men's. Just as well – I wouldn't have fancied balancing myself over the wooden rail if I'd got caught short on the hike.

  10. Curry Queen Reply
    14/09/2013 at 8:10 am

    It looks beautiful but just the pictures are enough to give me that funny feeling in your knees that extreme heights generates!!

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      14/09/2013 at 8:46 am

      I look at that second photo and it does the same to me too – but I wasn't that aware of how precarious it really was at the time!

  11. BavarianSojourn Reply
    15/09/2013 at 8:35 am

    So beautiful! You did very well, and I know what you mean about how deafening it is as well. Which is probably just as well, as when my Mum went on strike at that one in Garmisch, it meant nobody could hear her screaming! Husband had to rescue her and everything. So embarrassing! 😀

    • Trish Burgess Reply
      15/09/2013 at 10:00 am

      I remember that story now. Popped over to your blog to remind myself. Your poor mum – and I bet everyone held up on the trail just loved her!!

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