I left comfortably in mid morning after a nice breakfast at my guest house near Berchtesgaden. It was a Sunday, and I was surprised to see that there were no grocery stores open. Anywhere. I found a Spar Express, basically a gas station, a bit south of Salzburg that was open so headed that direction. I had plenty of time before I could check into my hotel in Gosau and the distance was not far. However, this was one of the dumbest oversights of my trip; this Spar Express was literally 4 minutes from the Von Trapp house, and I never did see it in the end.

My next detour was at Golling, as according to a quick Google Maps search there appeared to be a scenic waterfall in the area. I had my gas station lunch in the car at the parking lot, and began a relatively long walk under the highway and towards the trailhead. In the end, there did appear to be some parking lots very near to the trailhead but my maps app told me to park and walk. It was nice, however, as I strolled through the small town and visited some cows along the way.

I think it cost 7 Euro to enter the hike. The waterfall was indeed very picturesque. There was an old mill downstream that I couldn't find a good access point to photograph.

Afterwards, I went to Gosau and checked into my lodge style hotel. I enjoyed a bit of downtime before looking at the sky and trying my luck at an evening trip to Hallstatt. I wasn't sure what to expect from this famous town, and I'd heard parking was limited and you had to drive through a tunnel to get there. In the end, parking wasn't an issue and their token system was quite easy. It was crowded, but you could tell a lot of people were starting to head back to their vehicles as the day wound down. The classic viewpoint was crowded but I found an unobtrusive spot underneath a sign to set up my tripod close to the ground. On one hand I hate contributing to these overtouristed areas, but they are popular for good reason. It was a spectacular setting, and once in a lifetime to see it. Moreover, the clear conditions with colourful clouds were lucky; it could have just as easily be mired in low cloud this time of year.

A less photographed location of Hallstatt is from above. In these locations which are tricky to frame with my Fujifilm XT-5, I find the iPhone panorama function does a serviceable job.

The following morning, I was again up at dawn to find a vantage point over the Gosau valley. The town is quite spread out and two or three churches were visible. I found a stone staircase leading up a hill and followed it to a small church at the edge of the forest. The contrast over the large distant mountains was very challenging to photograph.