The Schlegeis reservoir

The Schlegeisspeicher lies about thirty kilometres south of Mayrhofen at the very end of the Zamser Grund, and the colour is the reason people drive up: glacier meltwater turns it a hard turquoise that looks wrong in photographs and is entirely real. A curved concrete dam holds the northern end, and the water runs south towards the Hochfeiler and the glaciers on the Italian border.

The view most people know is not from the dam but from the path towards the Olpererhütte, which climbs the western slope from the car park in about an hour and a half and looks straight down the length of the lake. There is a suspension footbridge on that path that has become the standard frame; it is narrow, it moves, and it is very busy from mid-morning in summer.

The dam and the shoreline path need no climbing at all and still give the colour, the wall and the mountains. Morning is clearest — afternoon cloud on the glaciers is the rule rather than the exception.

The Schlegeis Alpenstraße above Ginzling is a toll road with narrow single-lane tunnels and it is seasonal, usually open from late May or June to October and closed and unploughed in winter. Buses run in season. Check the current opening, toll and bus times before you set out.