5 Day Mountain trek - the players

First, before starting on the trek details, how about dessert?  Today, I felt like something sweet.  I knew of a little cafe in Schruns that sells ice cream and thought that'd fit the bill, but just couldn't pass up the apple strudel with vanilla sauce.  Afterall, this is THE DESSERT in this part of the world.  And, yes, it was every bit as good as it was expected to be -- a big swath of the strudel floating in about a cup of nice thick warm vanilla sauce.  Good stuff!

The players:

Bernd, age 61, Wolfgang´s father.  He and I are the two oldest of the group.

Wolfgang, 29, nicknamed Wolke (clouds in English), he earned the name as a child.  One day he sat on the roadside curb looking up at the sky.  "What are you doing," he was asked.  "Looking at the clouds," he replied.  Thus he earned the name.  Newlywed husband of Patricia.

Patricia, 31, Deutsche born but Italian heritage.  Wonderfully smiling and laughter all the time.

Peter, 58, Oli´s father.  Great guy, speaks better English than he wants to.

Oli, 35/36, birthday during the trek.  My friend and inspiration for the Alps treks.  Married to Petra.  I stayed with Oli and Petra at their home for a week when foul weather canceled the last trek.

Christoph, 58, jurist (attorney) specializing in real estate law.  Bridget, his wife, is a former school teacher in France.  She has a wonderful command of English and several other languages.

Eva, 32?, Oli´s cousin (not "kissing cousin" they said upon my inquiry and defining the term!).  A great walker and talker.

Horst, 40ish, the biggest and strongest of the group.  Great card player.  Had had an industrial accident causing vertigo type symptoms.  On the 4th day of the trek, he returned to town because of fear of the dropoff on the trail.

Note: Petra & Bridget were not trek participants.

Two other usual participants were conspicuously absent.  Blackie, a banker; probably the best hiker of the bunch.  Harry, what a wonderful jolly guy - a driving instructor.  Blackie´s mother was seriously ill causing his need to stay home.  Harry is building a house, and couldn´t be absent from construction.