You Go Nate!

SATURDAY IN THE ALPS

It's been really crummy weather almost the whole month of June so far. Nevertheless last Saturday a few of us young adults decided to go on a hike in the Alps and hope for the best. Our destination: the mountains above the Ettal Monastery. We took the morning train to a nearby town and hiked a short way up to the valley where this monastery and its surrounding village are located. After entering the city we were joined by a very friendly black cat. This cat followed us quite a ways, and even chased a dog off for us.

Soon we came to the monastery and had a look around.

Even though it was quite cloudy, they were cool clouds.

The inside of the monastery was interesting.

We got a little bit of blue sky as we started our hike...

We had some great views as we hiked up the trail.

....Including the monastery below.

I CATCHED A THE LIZARD!!!!!1

The slugs were out en force... or as the Germans call them "naked snails"

Soon we came to the rocky summit where chains led the way up the steep jagged stone.

We didn't go up all the way, but high enough for a good view from which to eat our lunch.

We then headed back and it started to rain at the end of our trail.

We got back to Ettal and decided to hitchhike back to the town where we could take the train back to Munich. We met a nice American lady who agreed to give us a lift. After getting in the car, however, she said she could take us all the way to Munich if we'd like. So she did and we got home in record time. It was a fun day and a good hike.

This week I'm teaching another intensive course and I have high hopes that the weather will improve soon!

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