INTO FELDKIRCH
VIA ALPINA DAY 36 – MONDAY 27 JULY 2026
BUCHBODEN – FELDKIRCH
DISTANCE HIKED: 28.0 km
ELEVATION GAIN: 523 m
TOTAL DISTANCE HIKED: 913.95 km
TOTAL ELEVATION GAIN: 45,308 m
It was the nicest feeling to step into our dry and warm hiking shoes and head out this morning. The hotel, like many huts, had a shoe drying rack in the basement. What luxury!
The sky was grey with rain predicted later in the day. But we were fed, clean and rested and there were trails and vistas waiting for us.
We hiked today with heavy hearts having received news from home this morning that Mike’s cousin had passed away. He was a kind and loving family man who was in the prime of his life. His gentle spirit will be greatly missed by us.
The first hour or so of hiking was a pleasant flat riverside trail to Garcella. We were following the Lutz River valley with beautiful looking houses up on the hillsides. The trail was a dirt road that meant we could hike side by side and chat.
From Garcella we continued to follow the river through a trail in the forest then sloping meadows with no discernible trail. There was quite a bit of logging nearby and it all got a bit messy, especially walking through tall wet grass. Our nice dry shoes were getting sodden. We lost the trail at times which added to the frustration.
Wanting to make the most of the still dry weather and also see a bit more of the surrounding village life we ended up walking off the trail and up to a road, which paralleled the trail upslope, following it up to Blons and a bit beyond. There were no cows but plenty of barns and one large field we passed which was sprayed with liquid cow manure. What surprises me is that this huge meadow covered in this ‘organic fertiliser’ was on the banks of the Lutz River so any runoff is going straight into the river.
We made it to the small store in Blons with 10 minutes to spare before it closed for the day at noon.
While having lunch we sat in a lovely landscaped courtyard outside the store listening to church bells chime from the beautiful church next door. I will never get tired of that sound. The trail today marks the final descent out of the high peaks of the Central Alps down into the Rhine Valley. We were passing through a UNESCO recognised and protected Grosses Walsertal Biosphere Park.
We left Blons with darkening skies behind us, but no rain yet. The rain pretty much stayed away all day as we passed through the pretty villages of St Gérold then Thüringerberg and Duns. From Buchboden it was evident that we were passing through a much more populated area so despite many great looking spots, camping was not going to be possible at all. The distant mountains seem to diminish in stature as the valley widened below.
Our destination today was a slightly bigger village, Satteins. When we got into town we found it to be largely residential. The only hotel in town was fully booked and the owner tried to find us accomodation in Frastanz, a town which was off the trail. We figured we still had daylight we could hike another 6km to Feldkirch which was our next trail town destination.
We booked a hotel in Feldkirch and just as we were leaving Satteins I picked up a message from Kristy letting us know that a section of trail leading to Feldkirch was closed. We were tired, we’ve already hiked 28km so the thought of navigating around a trail closure late in the day was totally unappealing. So we turned back and got a bus from Satteins for a 6km, 25 minute ride up the valley to Feldenkirch.
So refreshing to find a town buzzing with life. We liked the atmosphere and decided to take a zero day tomorrow.
