Up to The Kasseler Hūtte.
The usual bus/train/plane/train had us into Mayrhofen by tea time, sorry coffee time. Our booked Gasthof Zillertal on the outskirts of town looked a little austere but turned out to be friendly, clean and economical. Basic rooms perfect for one night and a good breakfast thrown in. Mayrhofen is touristy with plenty of funny hats and cuckoo clocks for sale. We retreated into the traditional Berghof Hotel for a civilised dinner of Goulash Soup and Lake Pike fried in butter. Slept like a log.
In the morning we walked up to the TI office where we were to catch a private mini bus, sitting outside the time for departure arrived but no bus. A glance down the road spotted a likely looking vehicle which we just managed to board before it departed. Up the Stilluptal valley we passed a famous waterfall and continued on a private track in increasingly dramatic scenery to Grüne Wand Hütte. Here we felt we deserved some refreshment before setting off – it was the best apple strudel I’ve ever had! 
The steep zigzagging trail through woods and then rocks brought us in 800m to the Kasseller. A traditional hut sitting on a promontory with excellent views of tomorrow’s walk. I am with the ‘rockman’ and by chance on the terrace in the sun he met a fellow geologist from Israel, much discussion ensued. There was a lovely display of local wild flowers all labelled which interested me more.
The two geologists.
We were humorously quizzed about Brexit by the guardian – if you voted in you had a room, if out all you got was a mattress. The usual evening meal was followed by a talk from the guardian about the various route options and the weather [set fair] – a nice touch if we could have understood it all. You may have noticed we’ve hopped into the route on day 2 to avoid the 9hr day from the Edelhûtte. It’s called the Berliner Höhenweg because most of the huts are run by the Berlin section of the German Alpine Club, DAV.
Today’s quote – “every third night is enough” on discussing shower arrangements.
I’ll tell you what, there’s a lot of good food being eaten in this post. I could do with a spot of goulash soup and fried pike right now. Not to mention the strudel.
Alen
There’s more to come – mainly in the form of heavy and fatty Knödel, dumplings. The mountain huts have to provide a calorie laden meal – bergsteigenessen.