Elena & Fabrice's Web

Hiking in the Bavarian Alps

This is a list of our walks and hiking in the Bavarian alps. We are mere amateurs but plan on developing our skills, with objectives of mastering the Zugspitze and other high points of the german Prealps.

Itineraries

via Wamberg, Graseck and the Partnachklamm

On 16 October (2011).

In Yellow on the map. See the itirinary from http://www.gapa.de.

This was our first try, we loosely followed an itinerary of the gapa website. Going off-track a bit, we crossed the Eiserne Brücke, literally discovering the Partnachklamm (since we didn't know of it). This became obvious from this point onward we would return endlessly to GaPa.

Ski jumping ramps.	Maybe the most typical view and recurring image.
The Partnachklamm from the Eiserne Brücke.

	Wamberg	Id.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen	Id.

around Mount Wank

On 21 October (2011), with Alejandro Gonzalez-Tudela and Alexander Poddubny.

In Cyan on the map. See the itirinary from http://www.gapa.de.

Via Esterbergalm and Gamshütte, another gapa itinerary. This one was more ambitious, 15km. Alejandro even came with two pairs of trousers. We made a lengthy stop at the Esterbergalm where we had an assortment of pressack (tr). This route offers a lot of different panorama—especially as we started at the top of the Wank with a cable-car—which is one of the particularity of the Prealps: sharp and white mountains sitting on a flat and green valley.

En route for the top of the Wank.	Alexander, Elena & Alejandro.	Alejandro & Fabrice.
	Winter kissing Autumn.	In the hands of GaPa.de.

Arriving to the Esterbergalm.

mating the Tegelberg

On 1 November (2011).

In Red on the map.

This was the first hiking designed entirely on our own, with the assistance of our GPS device. This was a marvellous walk which brought us off the crowded trails for part of the road. It was not very long (10km) but was our toughest hiking to date, with about a thousand meters ascension (and down again). We say mating the Tegelberg as—not following a pre-designed road, but going through our own itinerary with the aid of our GPS device for the first time—we were not fully convinced of the feasibility of the whole expedition. We kept in mind all the time we might have to return through whatever we had walked through so far. However we managed to go till the end and the tension of whether we would make it turned it into a genuine adventure.

At the feet of Neuschwanstein.	Marienbrücke.
The woods of Tegelberg in Autumn.	With Schwangau sitting between the Alpsee (on the left) and Schwansee (on the right).	Schloss Neuschwanstein.
	A trail high in the sky.	Near the top.
Treading on the flank of a sleeping monster.	Autumnal palette.
At the top, the Tegelberghaus.	Descending on the skying-side.

Herzogstand, Martinskopf and Heimgarten over the Walchensee

On 6 November (2011).

In Blue on the map.

With Alejandro Gonzalez-Tudela, through the Herzogstand and the Heimgarten (with a loop by a local maximum, the Martinskopf).

It was our second self-made itinerary with our GPS device but this one turned out to be very touristic, with a lot of people treading on the mountain ridge. However, not being part of the regularly advertised routes in mainstream touristic destinations, it was exclusively internal tourism, which makes it less nerve-racking. A strange character at the top, half crazy, half polyglot, even asked us how we came to know about this place. He had started the conversation asking for something which, as words were materializing in his broken Spanish, became chocolate, prompting me to notice that we had saved one piece for Alejandro which he hadn't eaten... to the sudden and complete embarrassment of our friend who had understood right away that the other fellow was using this euphemism for drugs, I was thus inviting Alejandro to spare some with him.

It is a very nice walk which has two features of extraordinary interest:

You really walk on the rim of the mountain over a long distance, with two breathtaking views: on the mountainous Alps on one side and on the flat valley on the other one.
There is a scenic view of the Blueland. It's absurdly beautiful, everything is blue, the sky, the mountains, the clouds, the lakes. Even the green looks blue.

The Blueland. Everything is blue.	Alejandro and Elena.	Fabrice and Elena, on top of the Martinskopf. Behind us is the mountain's rim on which we are to balance ourselves.
Now on top of the Herzogstand.	The lake is Walchensee, with its little Sassau island.	The ridge crossing to the Heimgarten.
Greeting the Kochelsee.
The ridge never gets much thinner than that. I think everybody can go.
	At the top of Heimgarten.	The ridge from the other side.

Blomberg from Hinterstallau

In Pink on the map. See the gpx file for this trail.

On 13, November (2011), with Alejandro Gonzalez Tudela (AGT), Alejandro Manjavacas Arevalo (AMA) and Vase & Dance Jovanov.

In the beginning of the prealps, not too violent a climb although I had programmed various "shortcuts" (a word our team came to fear) through smaller tracks crossing the woods at a much steeper angle and on sometimes not readily identified trails. Alejandro MA who is an expert hiker reassured everybody with his spotting of panels, marks on threes, spots on stones of various colours, which, as he explained, were telling us about the length. Still most of the crew preferred to follow the gentle wide road which, however, was also much longer. We managed to reprogram on the fly and could still achieve our two goals: pass by the local Biergarten and reach the top of the Blomberg. All the way down was through the woods which was a pleasant . The most notable of this walk, other than being the one with the largest number of participants, was the contrast between the foggy foot of the mountain and the sunny top.

In the Blomberg forest.		At the Blomberghaus.
En route for the top.	Almost there.	Here we are: Alejandro MA, Danse & Vase, Alejandro GT and Elena.
A thick coating of clouds over the valley. Above: sun and greenery.	AGT, Fabrice, AMA.
A cross crossing a cross.	Considering alternative routes.	On the way down.
Carefully down.	The wood in its last days of autumn.	Mourning in symphony.
Back in the misty fog.	A walk in Bad Tölz.	A coffee and good bye.

Murnauer Moors

On 20 November (2011).

There are moors in Bavaria. We love moors, so of course we programmed them as part of our hiking in the Prealps, where they belong, unravelling their typical carpet of reddish moos as a footstep for the mountains. We had in particular a moving view of the Herzogstand, now familiar from our previous hiking. The moor area is large but most walks circle it around, and unless you venture off track, you won't see but wetlands, which are nice, but the moors are what make this area really special. It is difficult to capture their magic atmosphere in pictures, where they appear as dull brownish wild grass. You have to be there, to feel their smell, their wet perspiration, their spongy texture. Our walk was only a small fraction in this eerie décor. The rest was shared between a variety of panorama, a sample of which is featured below. Noteworthy was the contrast between woods covered by a thick layer of crimson foliage and others, also with their naked trees, but vacuum-cleaned of their dead leaves.

The swamps of Murnau,	or when water hides in the grass to hunt the sky.	Perfect reflection on the lakes.
with Alps in the background.	Wetlands condensation...	and finally, the Moors...
with their unique carpet of moos, a tapestry of lichen.	The Murnau wetland area is noted for its rich, diverse and outstanding vegetation,	like these hairy petals of light.
Almost a Cornish atmosphere,	but with the Alps all around.	The main obstacle we had to go over.
Autumn in a wood bordering the moors.	Another wood on our way back where someone removed the leaves!	Bavarian scenery.
Clouds scattering on the mountains.	In Murnau,	with a friend.

Tegernsee

On 27 November (2011).

Another walk nearby a lake, the Tegernsee, a real beauty with a genuine sense of Alpine atmosphere, unlike the Starnbergsee which is usually advocated as the unique Bavarian scenery. The Starnbergsee is however too big and mountains are too far to make it something more than a swimming attraction for the Müncheners, who get an S-bahn line down to there. The smaller lakes closer to the Alps provide the real magic combination. The Tegernsee is one of them. The walk in the mountains is perfect as it alternates between wild woods with gigantic broken trees, and clear areas that provide changing views of the lake and the Alps. The Riederstein with its chapel bursting out of the woods is also a striking sight.

In the woods.
First glimpse of the lake.	The other side of the Prealps, towards Chiemsee.
a local.
At the top.	With the Tegernsee in background.
	Traces left by the never-stopping wind.	Back in the woods.
The Riederstein,	as seen from Rottach (or Rottach-Egern).	This is Rottach.

Riederstein in the fog

On 10 December (2011), with Tom Taylor.

Tom is a keen outdoor enthusiast, so when he came to visit us to solve some rate equations, a week-end expedition in the Alps was high in our agenda. Sadly, weather forecast was poor, so we ruled out a long hiking at the last minute and decided for a short walk in some place we already knew. We returned to the Tegernsee, our last Alpine trip, to reach the Riderstein, which we only had seen from below. We spent much time in a local Bavarian restaurant waiting for the rain to calm down, which it did right when we decided to give up. Fog kept concealing most of the mountains around the lake but past the first layer, the little church standing alone on her rocky outcrop revealed herself at once. When we finally reached it, it snowed, and it stopped just as we started to go back again.

The woods in the snow, looking so different, even when they try to retain their seasonal colours.	A very foggy day.	The Riedersteinkapelle, hiding herself from the city, was however perfectly visible from the moutain.
Is the rest of the ascension possible?	One of the 14 icons of the passion as you walk your way up.	At the top.
The Alps are drapped in clouds, the cities have disappeared,	the woods are fading away.	Back in the fog.

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