After crossing the Italian border, we soon joined the track heading down to the
Brennerpaß, but left it slightly prematurely on a faint farm track that should
have led to the next downward track. Instead of joining this track at the
northern end of its loop, we found ourselves continuing straight ahead and up a
side valley.  We crashed around in the woods without finding a viable path
downwards in that valley, and then backtracked and simply followed the track
down to the main valley, none the worse for the slight detour. Konrad blamed
himself for going wrong, but it was just as much my fault as his.
   
  Rain clouds were approaching again by now, and a light rain started as we hit
the valley floor. There was no obvious route across the motorway, so we
followed the road down to Brennerbad, where the door of a welcome-looking
gasthof was open. However, the grumpy old landlady said she was closed, and
shut the door in our faces, refusing even to let us have a cup of tea in the
dry. We took cover in a bus shelter for half an hour, till the rain eased, and
then went under the motorway and at about 5.30pm, in sunshine, started the
steep climb up to Badalm from beside the disused cable-car station. It's a
stiff and tiring climb at the end of a day (Russ would not have enjoyed it!),
but the friendly folk at Badalm confirmed that the Enzianhütte was open, and
pointed out the path. Another steep half-hour's climb brought us to the
Enzianhütte at 1894m, about 6.45pm, just after the rain started again. We ate,
drank beers, and then slept in the long, low-ceilinged dormitory up in the roof
space.
   
  Morning saw the hut shrouded in thick cloud, so we didn't hurry to get going,
and eventually left about 9.45am. Konrad and Christian were soon naked, but it
felt chilly and damp, so I stayed dressed, with waterproof on, till after we'd
passed the Zirogalm on our descent. The sun soon broke through, and contouring
along the slopes was quite straightforward, though it involved repeated brief
climbs and descents. We saw lots of small, glossy, black salamanders on the
path, including a couple of pairs attempting to mate (a slippery business).
After a steep climb to get round a crag, we descended to the Hühnerspielhütte,
where we stopped for an apfelschorle and beer. 
   
  The rest of the way down was partly on forestry tracks and partly on
footpaths through the forest. On one of these we stopped, heated some soup, and
lunched on the last of our provisions, with a fine view of a glacier across the
valley (Feuerstein?). Two small children, passing with their mothers, were much
more interested in the bubbling saucepan than in our nudity. We saw few people
that day, but most of them seemed to disapprove of our nakedness and averted
their gaze or failed to return our greeting. One couple carefully distracted
their three small children's attention until we had passed. However, one woman
we encountered near Vipiteno was unperturbed and said to Konrad, "Ah, I see
that Adam made you", which seemed a novel interpretation of the Creation myth!
   
  We dressed to pass through Flains, and were briefly naked again on the lane
down to Vipiteno, where Christian took the final group photo against the
background of the town below. We arrived about 3.20pm and, after a last beer in
the mediaeval town square, Konrad and Christian took the next train for Brenner
and Innsbruck, while I looked round the town, had a pizza, and took a later
train, with a more convenient connection for Munich.
   
  It was satisfying to have reached Vipiteno as planned, but I do feel that
starting the last day from Sattelalm would make it a really tough one, so going
on to Enzianhütte on the penultimate day was definitely the right decision. It
was nice to reach journey's end with enough energy left to enjoy the town and
be ready for the homeward journey.