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We started our beautiful day quite early, but not too early; one of the group’s best consensus decisions. Our motivation was high and the preparation went very smoothly, was well organized and quick. After a gospel inspired motivation song before departure we saddled our bikes and hit the road. Sun was shining from a blue sky and an easy breeze was refreshing our bright eyes.

In the very beginning we started the first steep part. Although it was very short, it was a great indication of what was ahead of us. Reaching a slight downhill section was a real relief and our guides were leading the way. After approximately 10km we reached a splitting point where we needed to decide which way to take to climb the steepest part of the day; ca. 4-5km of uphill and several hundred meters. The group decided to split into two groups. One took the asphalt road and the othes took the gravel road. Jure, Neza and Domen took an asphalt road because they decided that they could do it without having to push their bikes. It was quite difficult and uphill the whole 4,7 km. But they made it and their sweaty, salty lips changed into big smiles.” We made it!” they exclaimed! All that was left was 1km of easy downhill and the lake was in front of them. On the entrance to the camp Lea was already there with a car. Bikes were parked, swimsuits were pulled on and hot bodies sank in to the lovely “white” water of a precious Weißensee lake.

After a while the other group arrived as well, they had a beautiful ride (or pushing) uphill as well, a little bit slower than the other ones, but the view was great and everybody was proud afterwards. Eva said “I never thought I would make it up there, but I did it!” The smiles when they arrived were as big as the challenge had been.

After everybody arrived at Weißensee the whole group enjoyed the free afternoon spent in the amazing surroundings. Some of us wrote an emotional and intense press-release to answer the political discussion about the Isel, Natura 2000 and hydropower question that is taking part right now in Tirol. You will hear about that tomorrow!

We finished the afternoon with a delicious dinner and Judith , Ian´s girlfriend, joined us and our family gained yet another member. Night came down on us while we were still finishing our work. At the end we all gathered again around our first Riverwalk open camp fire, which´s heat warmed our smiling hearts and tired bodies. Stay tuned! Love ya!!

Today we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. Right after breakfast we had a photo shooting for a local newspaper.

Then some of us went shopping for food and some went to rent the bicycles. We picked our helmets, packed our stuff into bike bags and started riding towards Berg.

Lady luck wanted us to cross paths with our friend from the Iselfest yet again. What a coincidence! We got an update about the current happening around the Isel issue which gave us a fresh insight on the importance of Riverwalk and a new drive to keep on going.  Here is a link to an article (in a Tyrolean Newspaper) describing the “dirty politics” at work!

Finally it was lunch time! We got off our bikes and walked to a sandy riverside where we dipped our feet into the Drau for the first time. A funny thing happened when a ball that we had already seen when we made a quick stop an hour before came floating by.

When we arrived to the camp, the guys got a ball so the first thought was – of course! – volleyball. Covered in sand we hit the showers because dinner was almost ready. Meagan and the cooking team made us a delicious meal with rice and spicy curry. Thank you Maegan!!!

Now we have to stop writing because spiders are starting to take over the tablet – YIKES!! ;D

Waking up at six o´clock in the morning was easy, knowing there was a day of rafting ahead of us. As we were warming up with capoeira exercises, we had two new faces joining our team. We met Noel from Belgium and Corina from East Tyrol the night before while watching Germany win the World Cup. Excited about the Riverwalk and the upcoming rafting adventure, they decided to become a part of it.

AT THIS POINT WE WOULD LIKE TO INVITE ANYONE INTERESTED IN BIKING WITH US IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS TO JOIN US AT ANY STAGE OF OUR TRIP (CHECK OUT OUR ROUTE HERE).

The guys from the rafting club and a friendly beagle called Betty White picked us up in Feld and took us to the starting point. After a few instructions and a quick test of the current, we got the boats into the water and started to paddle hard. Fortunately, apart from a few people “taking a swim”, there were no riverwalkers injured during the raft. We also did spins, stand ups and a lot of tequilas between the paddling – hold on, not those ones! It means dipping your helmet in the water, cheeky!

After lunch we were looking forward to meeting the ORF!!! We were filmed and interviewed during our hike towards Lienz. Not even the rain could stop us from being TV stars, putting up a QR-code and enjoying the stunning view of the river all at the same time.

As we were taking a short break at a fountain, we ran into a couple whom we met at Iselfest. Towards the end of today´s hike, sandbanks and a breathtaking path called “Katzensteig” led us over a cliffy river bank over to little wooden bridges, steep steps and finally the city of Lienz.

Tip of the day: We are sure you have stacks of plasters (band-aids) at home, but Katja swears that laughter is the best medicine for blisters!

From damp, soft forest ground, back to the grey asphalt – but only for a short while! Stay tuned 😉

Having mastered the group warm up called, a human knot, we began the third part of our walk.

As soon as we put on our backpacks and made our first steps, vivid conversations started. With the sun coming out, our mood got another boost.  Joyfully we walked through thick groves of fir trees and enjoyed the scent of the forest. Some parts even brought up a jungle-like feeling, with all the lush and dense greens. While always having the sounds of the wild Isel in our ears.

Having had two days of a warm up behind us doing only light walking, the real thing was about to start. We had 15km before us and needed to find a pace that the entire group was comfortable with. That wasn’t always easy as we have some experienced riverwalkers as well as some amateur walkers. But we knew that some delicious local food was awaiting us in Feld, our destination, and that was some good motivation.

But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t had lovely food on our way. Because as always the kitchen team did a good job with lunch. Also mother nature treated us with some of her fruits, along our path hungry mouths got satisfied with tasty wild strawberries, raspberries and black currents.

Lots of laughter accompanied us and eventually we got to Feld. A little shower of rain welcomed us as we arrived. After it had gone, we decided to have a reviving swim in the Isel. We can tell you this works better than five cups of coffee! Finally, we got to indulge in some “Schlüpfkrapfen,” pasta dumplings stuffed with a potato filling, served with chives and melted butter. Domen set a record of 18 “Schlüpfkrapfen” at one sitting.

We ended our day with some planning work for our upcoming art project, which will be presented to you in Bovec. So stay tuned, it’s going to be mindblowing.

At 6:30 in the morning, we woke up with sun shining in our faces and we packed our stuff and broke down the tents for the first time. After breakfast, we took our FIRST STEPS toward Slovenia…only 200 kilometers to go!

Our first stop was in Prägraten where we prepared everything for our workshops at the Iselfest. The festival was organized by the citizens group working to protect the Isel River, OEAV (Alpine Association) and WWF.

As the kayakers arrived in bright colored boats, the festival officially began.

We organized an info stand and had a stream of visitors who were interested in our trip and asked us lots of questions.

We offered 3 workshops on Land Art, Water Ecology, and “Mit Allen Sinnen” (With all your senses) led by Riverwalk participants.

About one hundred people attended the festival: young and old alike! There was music, local food, and a positive atmosphere. Everyone was having a good time in the warm sun near the flowing Isel. The land art project was a great success.

After a big farewell from the organizers and public, we continued our walk with a shower of applause!

After 2 hours of a beautiful hike along a path in the woods that crossed countless streams flowing down the mountainside, we arrived at the Niedermauern Campground (near Virgen).

After finishing dinner, we watched the rain coming closer and closer and soon we were soaked (again)!