Mon. 26. [26 August 1895] Up early - fine and cold with frost on the
mountains. Walked up a waterfall before breakfast. Left at 6.50
carrying our r¸cksacks - the postman a cheerful person with a red
beard, carried the box. Walked up the valley to a place where it
divided one road going to Gurgl and here we took the right hand path
and went through a wood and along a bare hillside to Heilig kreuz.
The sun came on us in the wood and the snow tops of the Ramoljoch
on our left glistened like fun[?]. We got a small boy called Vincenz to
carry some of our loads. We stopped at H. Kreuz and eat bread and
chocolate by a mountain stream. No more trees - the path went along
the hillside, crossed and recrossed the stream, climbed up and
turned to the right showing us Vent - a white church and a few houses
standing like a toy on the grass and snow hills beyond. Reached
Vent at 11 and went to Tapeiner's Inn where we dined and entered
into speech with many guides. Finally we engaged one called Alois
Klotz, a native of Gurgl and agreed to go up to the Breslauer H¸tte that
evening. I spent the afternoon under a rock by the stream. [Next
sentence added at bottom of page] We presented Vincenz with an
alpenstock [last line illegible] Started at 4.20 and got up to the H¸tte
at 6. We had a porter, Alois. Bare path leading us under the bottom
of a glacier - beautiful glaciers and morains [sic] on the opposite side.
Pig's H¸tte. We found in it Mr Churchill and his brother (Drs Fˆrst) the
Boy, a red faced gentleman and another. Elsa and I and the 4 men
slept in one room in bunks. Our dinner was cooked by Alois - we had
pea soup, tinned meats and sardines. The fire smoked and the
guides smoked. The night was cloudless, wonderful sunset and a
little moon afterwards. Talked to Mr Churchill who knows English.
And so to bunk. Pretty cold in the night - woke at intervals but slept
very well. Hugo and Papa were on Hen lagers.