Day 12 – Lunch At The Kradorferalm

Feb 16, 2023

Today’s Adventure

Today was a quiet and easy day, but that was entirely by design given that Cindy was still recovering from being very sick the day before. We had a relaxed start before heading out to catch the 441 bus. That bus took us directly from Innichen through Monguelfo then northeast up the valley to a small town called St. Magdalena in Gsies. St. Magdalena is located one valley to the east from the Antholzertal, another alpine valley where we hiked earlier in this trip.

The bus route was complicated but amazingly we weren’t required to make any changes – there were plenty of stops along the way, though, so our Südtirolmobil was very useful to track our progess. We had boarded the bus at the origin of the route so we had no trouble getting a seat, but by the time we arrived at St. Magdalena it was quite crowded with skiers and other tourists who had boarded at the various stops along the valley floor.

The ‘in Gsies’ suffix tacked onto “St. Magdalena in Gsies” indicates that there’s more than one place in the country named St. Magdalena – the additional description is necessary to avoid confusion. Fortunately the suffix is typically dropped in local conversation so it’s not too cumbersome. We’ve also visited one of the other St. Magdalena’s during on our fall 2022 trip, specifically a similarly small village located about 50 miles to the southwest in Val di Funes.

We started out of town on Trail 49, a winter hiking trail running along the edge of some farmer’s fields that were put into service for cross-country skiing. The trail eventually went into the forest as we made the climb up to our lunch destination. We passed the attractive (albeit closed) Messnerhütte along the way, a good landmark to let us know that we weren’t far from a beer-based reward for our morning stroll. When we crossed the narrow bridge over a small mountain stream we finally got a good look at the Kradorfer Alm and started the final climb.

The Kradorfer Alm is a relatively small and very traditional hütte built on the top of a small knoll that enjoys a nice mountain views up to the head of the valley. The structures were very charming and had lots of patina, so you knew that at some point this really was a farmhouse and not purpose-built to be a restaurant.

There was a tiny single row balcony across the front that was already full so we grabbed two seats at a table on the large sun deck. We enjoyed a couple of ice cold Forst drafts while we waited for our lunch to arrive. Stuart ordered his traditional hiker’s lunch with fried eggs, speck, and Röstkartoffeln. Cindy ordered the farmer’s wurst with sauerkraut and Röstkartoffeln, which looked very good with horseradish and mustard. Stuart would have liked to order this but you just never know what seasonings were used and if they would trigger his food allergies.

After sitting in the sun and enjoying the mountain views for a little while longer we headed back down the valley towards St. Magdalena. We had some time to spare before our bus was due to arrive so we found a table on the terrace at the Talschlusshütte, a restaurant located strategically at the base of the local ski hill and next to the main bus stop. We ordered Pear Williams schnapps and shared a slice of buckwheat cake with jam filling, a local specialty that we’ve learned to appreciate during our visits to the area. Our choice of tables gave us front row seats to watch some paragliders playing in the thermals rising over the valley and then landing on one of the ski slopes.

We settled the tab (with Apple Pay, of course!) and then caught our bus for the hour-long ride back to Innichen. We had a quiet evening in the apartment with Cindy’s homemade beef stew for dinner. Today we hiked 4.1 miles with 817 feet of vertical in 1-1/2 hours – just about right given the circumstances.

For Innichen’s main page click here.

For Castelrotto’s main page click here.

For the entire trip’s main page click here.