Naked European Walking Tour 2014 – Monday

The Monday started badly as it seemed that Polly was limping very badly and I suspected a strained ligament or fractured bone somewhere from all the running around in the river on the previous day, although it was hard to tell which leg was hurting as it seemed to change from time to time, which was strange. Sandra was also suffering from a sore throat and heavy head cold and could hardly speak, so we therefore took the day off from hiking and instead headed for the local doctor’s office in Ramsau. Meanwhile the rest of the troupe headed off to do the first day’s tour without me, ably lead by Pierre. Having fixed up Sandra with various chemicals and the prerequisite health insurance paperwork, we headed for a vet finally finding one in Schladming. It turned out that Polly’s limping, was due to her paws being rubbed raw and sliced partially open, probably because of her pads being softened by the wet ground and then the water in the river, followed by madly rushing around over the rocks after sticks all day long. So it was doggie-shoes for all four of Polly’s paws, (she did look fairly funny, if a bit confused), and at least the rest of the day off, and a return to the hut for a swim and some chill-out time.

While we were there, Sandra wrote up her story of our first meeting, and the strangeness of being introduced to the idea of naked hiking by having her date remove his clothing during our first walk. We also met and chatted with the friendly farmer who was renting his house to us, and he posed for a photo with me, while pointing to one hanging on the wall of him climbing in the area when he was young. He had been an active member of the local mountain rescue and also had several letters of commendation, and newspaper clippings from his adventures, framed and hung around the hut.