© Steiermark Tourismus; Foto: ikarus.cc
Geißstall Forest
From the Leopoldsteiner See lake the trail leads east via the Seeau to the forester's houses. From here the trail turns west to then stray in a northerly direction and cross the stream to lead back west. This is where the unspoilt Geißstall Forest begins: you slowly press deeper into the natural beech forest.
With an increasing slope gradient, the trees display increasingly greater snow bend - the trunks bend upwards like a sabre due to the pressure of snow when they are young. The trees retain this form for their entire lives.
As soon as the snow has melted, snow roses come into bloom as one of the first flowers of spring. At this time of year the silvery trunks of the beeches sparkle in the sunlight and the clear blue sky shines in the background, as the beeches do not yet have leaves.
The further we climb up, the more primal the forest becomes - no trees have been felled here for a long time. Old, mighty beeches stand on the slope and let feelings of awe stir in us. Some particularly old giants fall, are colonised by mushrooms and allow new life to begin on the forest floor with young beeches - that is the natural cycle.
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