Tour Des Alpes (part 2 of 3)

Day 3 (334 km)

This was to be the first “touring” day. Original plan was to head up to the Stilfserjoch (probably better known as the Stelvio) and return over the Umbrai. But after sitting in a traffic jam on the SS38 outside Meran for quite a while I decided to pull into a fuel station. While filling up the car with fuel, the attendant told me that the Stilfserjoch was closed due to heavy snowfall on its northern flank. So we needed a change of plan. As we already had lost quite a lot of time in the traffic jam we opted for a short trip into Switzerland, over the Ofenpass and then back over the Reschenpass. Especially the Ofenpass was good fun with very smooth road surfaces and nice wide flowing comers And again some very nice views at the top (and good food too!).

The Ofenpass from above

On top of the Ofenpass (CH)

On top of the Ofenpass, with the Piz Nair in the background (CH)

View from the top of the Ofenpass into the Engadin Tal (CH)

After lunch in the public house at the top of the Ofenpass

we headed down into the valley of the River Inn.

On the Hauptstraße H27 in the Inntal near Guarda (CH)

Which we followed right till the border with Austria. But instead of taking the Finstermünzpass we took a shortcut, a rather lovely and almost deserted pass road between the villages of Martina and Nauders.

The B185 or Martinsbrucker Straße from above

From where we headed into the Vinschgautal, and along the shores of the Reschensee and back to the B&B in St. Martin.

On the SS40 Along the eastern shores of the Reschensee just north of the dam (I)

As we passed the road leading to the foot of the north face of Stilfserjoch for the second time that day, we found out that they had cleared the snow there. So we decided to stop for a drink or two and see if there were some interesting cars coming down. Not much really, only grey Euro boxes and motorcycles. So nothing we could do but admire the drinks and the views instead.

View from the terrace of Hotel Post in Sponding

Dilapidated cottage along the Stilfserjoch Straße, Sponding

With the drinks finished we returned “home” to our B&B, only to find it was still way too early for the evening meal. And with the Jaufenpass only a few miles away, we thought it a good idea to go up there just for fun, which it was. As it was late in the afternoon most tourists had already disappeared. And as an added bonus there were some fabulous views at the top.

On top of the Jaufenpass with the Sarntaler Alpen in the background.

The DHC with the Wansser Tal and the Sarntaler Alpen in the background

Only problem (while heading down again) was the low early evening sun. As a result of which in some places visibility was rather poor, with the sun shining through the trees and straight into my eyes. Not good if you can’t see where the road is going. Another thing which we noticed on the way down was that the brakes clearly were starting to get on temperature, they could be smelled very clearly. So René thought that they were overheating. But it looks like the Mintex M1144 pads need some heat in them to work properly, as the feel of the brakes was much better than the previous days.

But that evening, while returning from St. Leonard, they were up to their normal standard again. While slowing down to allow some bikers (on foot) to cross the road, the brakes managed to lock up the front wheels rather dramatically. The bikers also saw the fun of it, once they had recovered from the scare!

Day 4 (226 km)

We had planned a trip back over the Timmelsjoch, through the Õtztal and up the Kaunertaller Gletscherstraße for this day.

Early morning start up the south slope of the Timmelsjoch

near Moos in Passeier

Short road tunnel near the top of the Timmelsjoch

underneath the Bankerjoch Alm

But after reaching the top of the Timmelsjoch we found out that the weather on the other side of the mountains wasn’t brilliant. As we were at the edge of a rain front, the light conditions were rather fine from a photographic point. So I decided on a short photo shoot of the car at the top of the Timmelstaler Urweg.

On top of the Timmelsjoch with the Jochköfele in the background

On top of the Timmelsjoch with the Stubaier Alpen in the background

On top of the Timmelsjoch with the Jochköfele in the background

View from the top of the Timmelsjoch into the Passeirer Timmelstal

After the photoshoot plan B was put into action. This plan consisted of driving to Bozen (Bolzano) through the Passeirtal and from there over the Penserjoch and Jaufenpass. Only problem we encountered was a filling station that didn’t deliver the fuel I paid for. Luckily that got sorted properly.

The drive up to the Penserjoch proved to be very nice, with the road gradually climbing out of Bozen through the narrow Sarntal, up to the pass itself.

The Penserjoch from above

At the top we encountered a German woman who was driving a lovely coloured modern Triumph motorcycle. And judging by her reaction to her friends rather sarcastic remark (“great you’ve chosen a colour from 1980”), she was not very pleased when I pointed her to my car a few yards away 😁

Lovely green Triumph Tiger

Time for a well-deserved simple but good lunch at the Gasthof Alpenrosenhof. Here we were also able to enjoy the fine views off the Egger Obertal

View of Gasthof Alpenrosenhof and.the Egger Obertal

View of the Egger Obertal

View of the Egger Obertal with the Funderer Berge in the distance

The sign at the top

After we had lunch and admired the views one last time we headed down towards Sterzing, and the foot off the last pass of the day, the Jaufenpass.

The Jaufenpass from above

On the way up to the pass road itself I was driving behind a modern BMW M3. As the driver was really hanging around I thought it a good idea to challenge him a bit ones on the pass road itself. He took the bait, resulting in a very nice blast up to the top of the pass. Jolly good fun indeed. The down side was that I lost nearly half a litre of oil in 25 kilometres! Made a mental note to keep the revs down.

As we had been on the top a day earlier we decided to drive on and stop a few miles down the road at a public house with a nice terrace overlooking the valley below and enjoy a few drinks and the views.

On the terrace of Gasthaus Alpenrose

View over the Passeiertal and the Kitzbichl

The small hamlet of Larcher on the flanks of the Nörderspitze

The initial plan was to stay there till we spotted the first Triumph that would come up or down the road. But after a few drinks we left the idea and returned to St. Martin, otherwise we might probably still be sitting there now! So we finished our drinks and headed back to Sankt Martin in Passeier, where we even had some time left to admire the wood works and the surroundings.

New barndoor, Dorfstraße Sankt Martin In Passeier

Not so new wooden staircase, Dorfstraße Sankt Martin In Passeier

Traditional woodwork, Dorfstraße Sankt Martin In Passeier

The small hamlet of Magdfeld in the early evening Sun

seen from our B&B in Sankt Martin In Passeier

The cemetery chapel, beside the parish church of Sankt Martin In Passeier

with the Jauffen Kamm in the background

 And to end a lovely day we were driven underneath the restaurant’s rain shelters

by a fairly heavy rain shower that managed to find its way into the valley!

Storm clouds building over the Riffelspitze, Sankt Martin In Passeier

Storm clouds shrouding the Riffelspitze, Sankt Martin In Passeier

Edited 8^th August 2020: As it is 10 years ago that I was touring the Alps, for the “shake-down-tour” of my freshly restored DHC, I decided to freshen up the pictures using the original digital “negatives”. Also added a few extra pictures and edited the text where necessary.