Mayrhofen Almabtrieb 2019

I had the opportunity to see the  yearly tradition/festival of watching the cows come home from the mountains in Mayrhofen, Austria. This cattle drive celebrates the return of healthy cows from the mountains, where they have been all summer. ​

My adventure started with an early morning departure (4am) and arrived around 9:30am. The weather was suppose to be 90% rain with cooler temperatures, so I was pretty worried, but I really lucked out. It rain on the way there and back but only sprinkled during the day. Once I arrived in town I decided to take the cable car up to the top and enjoy the views. It was sunny with limited cloud cover, so I figured what better time. The views from the top were awesome. I have decided I would love to bring Mario and the dogs back in the spring or early fall to do some hiking. 

I headed down the cable car and walked the Main Street. The cows and goats head right down the Main Street of town. When you hear the bells you clear the street and let them pass. The cows and goats started to come down around 1 to 3pm. I can't upload video from here but will post the video I took to my Facebook account. It was definitely like nothing I have seen before and so excited I was able to cross it off my bucket list. The group I was with left around 4:30pm and I arrive back home at 10:30pm. Another great trip in the books.