Week 101: Hike to Nixenfall
This weekend we did a little leaf-peeping and waterfall-watching. Spring and summer are the prime seasons to check out an Austrian waterfall, but the amount of rain that has fallen in the past 2 weeks allowed the waterfall season to spill into fall.
Over 200 waterfalls exist throughout Austria ranging from 1000-foot plunges to tiny trickles.
A few we have seen are:
Stuibenfall in Tirol in week 62
Gollinger in Salzburg in week 37
Traunfall in Upper Austria in week 26
Now we can add one more to the list, Nixenfall, also in Upper Austria at the south end of the Attersee.
Eric at the stairs just before the waterfall
After a 40-minute drive and a 30-minute hike, we arrived. With a height of 164 feet, it is considered a small but beautiful one.
Nixenfall
Throughout the hike, there are teepees made of sticks, kid-friendly sculptures, and signs sharing the story of the “Nixe” or “Mermaid” from Attersee named Adhara.
Adhara was responsible for the prosperity of all people living around Attersee. She brought people gold and gems. But after a while, people got greedy and retreated to the mountainside. From then on she stayed invisible behind the veil of water called the Nixenfall.
Entrance to Nixenfall
Daisy and I in a teepee
Charlie on a bridge
