The Day-trip Diaries - Part 4: Cliff, Cloud, & Cow Country

July 20th:

I had felt that it was high time (har!) to do another hike in the Alps. I had a pleasant train ride south to the town of Garmisch, gateway to the Alps.

Once in Garmisch I took the bus to the Olympic Ski Jump Stadium from the 1936 Winter Olympics.

Here my hike began...

I walked up the popular paved trail to the Partnachklamm. This is a narrow river gorge where a trail has been carved along the side allowing visitors to view the raging waters below and get dripped on by the falling droplets that form from condensation on the walls...

If it looks familiar, it's because this was my second visit to the Partnachklamm.

After exiting the gorge I found myself in a wide river valley. Several paths branched out from this point, all leading somewhere different. I found my path going straight ahead up a trail called the Kalbersteig. It was consistently steep for several kilometers...

It wound and switch-backed through thick woods, but occasionally I could look back behind me to some wonderful views of Garmisch and where I had come from...

After a few hours I came in sight of some of the big, bold, and beautiful peaks...

The Alpspitze...

After several hours I came around the bend to see the Schachenhaus perched high above the world. What is the Schachenhaus? You ask...

I'll tell you in a second, but first: Cows!

They were everywhere, these cows. Bells clanging away...

Oh yeah, and next to the Schachenhaus there was an Alpine Botanical Garden where they cultivated rare high-altitude plants from all over the world...

The Schachenhaus was a mountain getaway for Bavarian King Ludwig II (The Neuschwanstein guy). It looks relatively humble from the outside...

I took a tour of the inside and upon entry found it rather modest inside as well...

This room was a study with artwork depicting scenes from Wagner operas hanging from the walls (remember last week's blog post about Wagner?)...

The royal throne... Actually this was one of the relatively few indoor toilets of the 19th century...

Adjacent were the king's sleeping chambers...

Though the outside and the ground floor are modest affairs, the upstairs was a completely different story. I ascended a narrow spiral staircase and found myself in an oriental palace...

This room was completely unexpected in a modest cabin so far up in the mountains...

Ludwig would host quiet gatherings here...

We went back down the spiral staircase...

Here I am with the Schachenhaus and the small lodge and restaurant nearby...

A look to the west down the Reintal. This is the most popular path to the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, which is behind the mass of clouds in this picture...

At this point I had a decision to make. I was already quite exhausted from the steep, balmy ascent to the Schachenhaus, and I could have easily headed back down the mountain feeling satisfied with the day's hike, but a part of me was not content with only coming this far. I needed to be on top of these mountains, not just among them. It would be a bit of a strain but I decided to continue along the trail to the top of the ridge where I would have a commanding view of two countries and a great expanse of terrain.

So after eating a bit of my packed lunch and refilling my water at a spring, I started on the next part of the trail that would lead me higher, into the clouds. At first it was quite green and peaceful...

But as I ascended it became increasingly bare and rocky. Afternoon clouds were rolling in, and though they limited my view at times, they provided a most refreshing respite from the hot July sun that would have otherwise broiled me on the exposed trail.

I also had the trail nearly to myself and at times it really felt like I was in another world with clouds all around me and nothing but grass and rock sloping away into nothing on all sides except forward.

After a steep and strenuous few kilometers my destination was in sight! The Meilerhütte (hütte = hut)...

I finally reached the ridge and passed into Austria!

I was rewarded with a spectacular view of the Austrian Alps to the south...

The hut looked warm and cozy advertising hot soups for dinner, smoke coming from the chimney...

And a little room for the overnighting travelers to unburden themselves...

I nibbled on a few snacks and ate an orange. It was already past 5pm and I still had a good 9-mile hike back to Garmisch. A part of me, probably my feet, and later my knees, really really wanted to stay the night in the Meilerhütte. Alas, it was not meant to be. I put my boots back on, strapped on my backpack and crossed back into Deutschland...

I descended through the gray clouds back to the green ridge line...

I caught sight of the Schachenhaus again and could hear from below the confetti of cowbells tinkling like gregarious conversations in a crowded room...

I got back to the Schachenhaus....

And looked back to the cliffs and clouds where I had just been...

Outta control...

I continued my long descent down the mountain. The Kalbersteig about killed my knees. Sad but true.


The late afternoon provided a warm light on the green hills and meadows...

Finally I reached the Partnachklamm, now deserted in the early evening...

I got back to the Ski Stadium and saw the bus to the train station pulling away from the stop.

Nein!!!

The next bus wouldn't come for an hour, and so I decided to walk to the train station. My knees were not happy about this at all.

My camera, on the other hand, was very happy with the spectacular evening light reflecting off the stony mountains where I had just been...

I finally made it back to the train station with just enough time to catch my train back to Munich. I got home and slept incredibly that night.

I had hiked over 28km (17.34 miles) with an elevation gain of 1634 meters (+5,000 ft.) It was so worth it, and I felt good for pushing myself to reach the Austrian ridge line.

Here's a Google Earth map of the trail I hiked. Click and drag, baby!

View Schachenhaus Hike in a larger map

The end.

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