The final chapter of Marching Like Fools is less about mountains climbed and more about questions asked. After six days on the Karnischer Höhenweg, four ex-soldiers — boots worn, knees frayed, banter intact — find themselves at the Gasthof Valentinalm, with only a museum, a farewell dinner, and a final taxi ride left to navigate.

Why listen to this episode?

Because endings matter. Because laughter and silence share the same space. Because this isn’t just about finishing a trail, but about what’s left behind when the trail is over.

This episode blends alpine history with present-day fragility: rifles and grenades in glass cases, snowfields vanishing from ridges, and the stubborn resilience of both wildflowers and walkers. There are jokes, of course — about strudel errors, MI6 suspicions, and the near impossibility of finding a yodeller in Austria. But there are also moments of raw truth, spoken and unspoken.

What’s inside:

Segment 1: Last Day Begins
The walking is done, but the logistics continue: museums, farewells, and the curious efficiency of Taxi Gratzer.

Segment 2: Museum at Kötschach
A forgotten war brought into sharp focus. Trenches, photographs, relics — and the unanswered question: what was the point?

Segment 3: War, Memory & Those Left Behind
A reflection not only on veterans and trauma, but on the silent endurance of partners and families who carried their own wars at home.

Segment 4: Climate & the Shifting Alps
Shrinking glaciers, fragile ridges, bark beetle infestations, and a landscape transforming before our eyes. Soldiers a century ago thought only of survival. A century from now, what will walkers say of us?

Segment 5: Flowers, Fresh Water & Mr Fluffy
Misidentified blooms, a continuous mountain spring, and the furry microphone that convinced a guesthouse owner we worked for MI6.

Segment 6: The Farewell Logistics
Cars, chapels, and a final extraction worthy of any ops planner.

Final Reflections: Brotherhood & Beyond
The Fools thought this would be their last great march. By the end, they knew it couldn’t be. Not yet. Next year, another.

Listen if you like:

• Endings that don’t quite end
• Honest reflections on war, trauma, and silence
• Laughter served alongside history
• Camaraderie forged in weather, miles, and mugs of tea
• Environmental truths spoken plainly

Avoid if you want:

• A neat conclusion tied up with ribbon
• A light-hearted travelogue with no shadows
• Silence without snoring

Final thoughts:

This is more than the closing of a walk. It’s a meditation on memory, fragility, friendship, and the planet itself. The Fools may have left the mountains, but the mountains — and the questions — remain.

Boots off. Beer poured. March complete. Until the next.

Day Six of Marching Like Fools is about decisions, detours, and the kind of mountain wisdom that comes not from daring, but from declining. From Wolayerseehütte to Valentinalm, the Fools trade cliff-clinging bravado for cautious progress, Jetboil brews, suspicious looks from a hut owner, and one catastrophic Apfelstrudel.

Why listen to this episode?
Because sometimes the funniest, truest stories aren’t about what you did — but what you didn’t. This is a tale of saying no to danger, yes to tea, and maybe (regrettably) to too much cream. It’s also about how exhaustion, humour, and decades-old trust still glue this group together as the miles start to tell.

This isn’t a glossy alpine postcard. It’s clouds, rain, wobbly chains, and the occasional upside-down hiker. It’s conversations with students, smokers, and optimists. And it’s the peculiar joy of carrying a microphone cover so hairy it earns you accusations of MI6 espionage.

If you’ve ever wanted to know what happens when four ex-soldiers skip a via ferrata, boil up tea on a mountainside, and then nearly collapse from pastry overdose — this is your episode.

What’s inside:

Segment 1: Recce & Decision
The infamous Sentiero Spinoti looms. Fixed cables, steep polished rock — and a forecast of rain. The narrator inspects, confides in “Mr Fluffy” (the deadcat mic), and calls it: “Not today.” Disappointment, yes. Relief, definitely.

Segment 2: Encounters Before Departure
Students from Graz, an Austrian smoker with enviable serenity, and a pair of cheerfully cloud-defeated sunrise chasers populate the breakfast scene. Even in drizzle, morale is oddly high.

Segment 3: Brew Stop & Military Mug Lore
Two Jetboils, one legendary steel mug older than most governments, and the ritual of tea. Proof that a brew stop is about more than hydration — it’s ceremony, therapy, and community in liquid form.

Segment 4: Descent & Rain
Forests, cattle, wildflowers, and finally the rain. Squelching boots replace cliff cables, with the narrator dangling from chains in ways both literal and undignified. A sensory pause by a river brings a rare, reflective calm.

Segment 5: Slower Steps & Weariness
At Valentinalm, showers beckon but exhaustion dominates. The group senses the walking phase is nearly done. Tomorrow promises history more than height — a pause they’re ready for.

Segment 6: Mr Fluffy & the MI6 Theory
The refuge owner eyes the recording kit and wonders aloud if MI6 has taken to mountaineering. Denials follow. The Fools’ cover remains intact.

Segment 7: The Apfelstrudel Incident
One over-enthusiastic strudel order later, and the narrator is felled by cream. Some indulgences are worth it. This one wasn’t.

Segment 8: Final Thoughts
The rain falls, the guesthouse is warm, and the Fools — damp, weary, and still foolish — move forward with fewer miles and deeper stories.

Listen if you like:

• Decisions that matter more than bravado
• The culture of brews, mugs, and soldierly ritual
• Conversations with strangers in mountain huts
• Humour in rain, chains, and culinary regret

Avoid if you want:

• Step-by-step via ferrata tutorials
• Influencer-style alpine glamour
• Stories without rain, mud, or foolishness

Final thoughts:
“Spinoti? Nein danke.” is an ode to caution, camaraderie, and cream gone wrong. It proves that sometimes the bravest move is to say no — and the funniest stories come from there.

Boots on. Jetboil ready. Pastry optional. Press play.

Day Five of Marching Like Fools swaps razor-thin ridges for navigational blunders, larch forests, phantom wolves, and a lakeside beer or three. From Porzehütte to Wolayerseehütte, it’s a day of wrong turns, right people, and the kind of military-bred trust that needs no explanation.

Why listen to this episode?
Because it’s not just about hiking. It’s about how detours can deliver the best bits, why beer tastes better above 2000m, and how some bonds survive decades without losing strength. It’s also about goats, suspicious farmers, and why showers in mountain huts are sometimes more about morale than hygiene.

This isn’t your average alpine travel podcast. You’ll get scenery, yes — but also barking dogs, beer devotionals, tactical breakfast raids, and a meditation on how open landscapes heal the mind in ways science is only just catching up with.

If you’ve ever wondered what happens when four ex-military men get lost on purpose (sort of), drink too much, and talk about wolves that may or may not exist — this is your episode.

What’s inside:

Segment 1: Breakfast Blitzkrieg
Doors open at 06:30 and the polite scramble begins — muesli, bread, and teaspoons vanish in minutes. A brief map debate, a calm mountain col, and the day’s off to a deceptively good start.

Segment 2: Larches, Bark Beetles & Big Dogs
Larch forests, thankfully free of Phytophthora, but alongside bark beetle damage to Norway spruce. Stone clearance cairns dot the meadows. Two massive goat dogs decide to test the Fools’ composure before being called off by their herder.

Segment 3: Getting Lost, Finding People
A river in the wrong place prompts a reluctant admission: wrong trail. The detour leads to encounters with a father-and-son duo (the son a trained but unemployed winemaker), a struggling Italian couple, and a beer pilgrim who climbs for a can and drinks it like communion.

Segment 4: Border Crossing & Wolf Warnings
At Passo Giromondo, there’s no fence, just new rock underfoot. A well-dressed “farmer” offers weather predictions and warns of wolves in the valley. Large pawprints later add intrigue, if not proof.

Segment 5: Climate & Conditions
Storms loom but hold off — for now. The Alps are no longer climate-stable: heavier rains, wilder storms, and seasons slipping into unpredictability.

Segment 6: Wolayerseehütte & the Spinoti Debate
The hut appears like a dream — or brewery. Pints flow, Teresa in traditional dress serves them, and the guardian shares mountaineering tales. Tomorrow’s route decision — via the exposed Sentiero Spinoti or a safer alternative — falls to the narrator.

Segment 7: Showers, Bonding & Beer-Fuelled Reflection
Peer pressure leads to a performative shower. As the sun fades, beer loosens thoughts on military trust — instant, absolute, and unlike anything civilian life builds — and the quiet, proven health benefits of open spaces.

Listen if you like:

• Outdoor storytelling with equal parts grit, humour, and detour
• Ex-military camaraderie and the unspoken pacts it creates
• Encounters with strangers, beer pilgrims, and possible wolves
• Reflections on climate change in the high Alps

Avoid if you want:

• Polished, influencer-friendly hiking stories
• Step-by-step trail guides
• Conversations without sarcasm, beer, or barking dogs

Final thoughts:
“Beer, Blisters, and the Border” is about more than miles covered — it’s about the people, the pauses, and the landscapes that change you. Detours are optional. The stories aren’t.

Pull on your boots. Order a pint. Press play.