Sat 17. [17 August 1895] Fine but cloudy. Elsa and I went swimming
but the water was awfully cold. A devil seized me and after doing the
running dive quite well I became perfectly incapable of doing it at all
and jumped in time after time amidst shrieks of derision. I finally gave
it up. Elsa however accomplished it and we came home practising
the theory of it all along the path. At 12 Molly Hugo Elsa Papa L'Amor
and I started off for the Solstein H¸tte. In Hˆtting we met Franz who
was much intrigued to know where we were going. He told us the way
over the J‰ger H¸tte: We on the hillside just at the beginning of the
beech wood. It was very steep up to the J‰ge H¸tte and from there
the path to the Solstein H¸tte led up and down again. I got a lot of the
tall gentian roots. At the H¸tte we found Rudolf's wife who greeted us
with much affection and Rumpelstiltzkin who was making hay. He
said: "Ach Sie sind wieder da!" and he was no better pleased when I
proceeded to help him to make hay which I did very badly. At last
however I elicited from him this praise: "Scho-an gu-at!" We drank
chocolate and milk and proceeded on our way to Zirl. We met Rudolf
coming up with a mule laden with provisions and stopped and talked
to him. It was the most glorious evening - little golden clouds behind
the Hohe Munde and the eastern hills all pink - the Stubei valley
dazzling white and the Solstein lifting up a great round white head
behind Zirl. We took the train to Wilten and ran like hares for the train
which we just caught at Wilten. In at 8.30.