Off to Bürstegg!

It's Monday, the sun is shining and there are only a few clouds in the sky. My work colleague Markus and I decide to take advantage of the good weather and start a short hike. The destination of our hike is Bürstegg, the highest Walser settlement in Vorarlberg.

We start our tour at Rüfiplatz, where we take the bus line 4 to Oberlech. At the last stop "Schlössle Oberlech" we get off and walk along the road towards Hotel Mohnenfluh. A few meters before the hotel we take the turn to the right, towards Schottenhof and Skyspace-Lech. We follow the road to the "Tannegg", where the Skyspace-Lech by James Turrell is located. We strongly recommend to make a detour there.

The Skyspace-Lech is an almost entirely underground structure that blends sensitively into the landscape at "Tannegg". The oval main room has an equally oval opening in the ceiling and a surrounding bench, which, like the floor, is lined with black granite. At dusk - just before sunrise and sunset - the walls and ceiling in the Skyspace-Lech are bathed in color-changing light. The sky is perceived as part of the room through the opening.

After our visit to Skyspace-Lech, we continue our hike. We now follow the gravel path to the Gaisbühelalpe. From here the hiking trail leads us over the Auenfeld further and further towards Bürstegg. We pass a few cows that partially block the path. Since this is often the case around Lech Zürs and many cows and other grazing animals enjoy their alpine summer on the lush green pastures in the beautiful mountain world of the Arlberg, the correct and safe handling of grazing animals is everything.

About an hour later, we reach the old Walser settlement "Bürstegg", at an altitude of 1,719m. The area at the foot of the Karhorn was settled by Walsers around the year 1300. At that time the settlement was inhabited all year round. Today it is only used as an alpine pasture in the summer months.

We search for a nice spot there, right by the "bath tub" and take a short drinking break. Afterwards we make our way down to the Bodenalpe. We follow the narrow hiking trail, which is surrounded by a colorful, beautiful flower meadow on the left and right. About half an hour later we are at the Gasthaus Bodenalpe, where we enjoy a delicious lunch.

After lunch, we decide to take the leisurely option back to Lech and take the bus to the "Schlosskopf" bus stop. Of course, you can also get back to Lech on foot, via the Lechweg.

A dream day with a great hike, which we can only recommend, comes to an end. 

But the next hiking adventure is waiting for sure 😉.