Friday 8th May - Zugspitze and Eibsee

The cables for the car leading to the top of the Zugspitze, (red arrow).  Note: Just one pylon!

We have had the most fantastic day! 

If you are in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, you have to go to the top of the Zugspitze - it's Germany's highest mountain at 2962m, and you can see into Austria whilst you're up there.  It's expensive - €69 each, but normally you start at the station in Garmisch,  take the cog wheel train literally through the mountain in a tunnel to a glacier near the top, and then a cable car from the glacier to the actual top.  You then take different, much longer, steeper cable car down to Eibsee, and then a train back to Garmisch.

Sadly - due maintenance - that experience is not available whilst we're here, so Peter and I did the only thing that is available - the cable car from Eibsee to the top and then back down again.  I was really disappointed when I first found out that so much stuff was closed due to maintenance but I've accepted my lot and today we set off to reach the top of Germany.

Using our passes again, we caught a bus from outside the camp site to Eibsee.  It was a bit late when it arrived, and a bit full. Standing room only, and as it followed the route to the cable car station, it just kept adding passengers.  I felt like I was on the London Underground.

At Eibsee, we made straight for the cable car. Our timing was perfect,  we only waited just a couple of minutes before we were in a car going up.  The cable car has room for 100 passengers and it was full.  It takes 10 minutes to climb 2000 meters and weirdly there is only one pylon supporting the cable between the top and the bottom.  Engineering is amazing! 

Once out of the car, you walk up three more sets of stairs inside the visitor centre before you are out onto the open platform at the top of the mountain.  There are no words. Photographs and film just cannot do it justice.  The views are so massive, they overwhelm the senses.

On one side is Austria and the Upper Alpine range - formidable, impenetrable looking peaks covered in ice and snow extending beyond the horizon.

On the other is Germany and the Bavarian Alps - friendlier and gentler, covered in trees and greenery, just asking to be explored.

The golden cross on the actual summit of the Zugspitze can only really be accessed by experienced climbers at this time of the year.  The path is on a ridge, covered in a thick layer of snow and involves climbing a ladder amongst other things.  My head was going "No! No! No!" just looking at it. 

An unexpected treat whilst we were up there were the Alpine Choughs.  They flitted around the viewing platforms and the surrounding cliffs, unafraid of people, even taking chips from a child's hand.  I found out that they mate for life, and was lucky enough to catch a pair grooming each other.  

There was 5G up there too.  Not surprising when you see the antennae. There was  a massive amount of weather monitoring equipment too.

We watched a paraglider fly down, and climbers come up.  And we watched as the clouds moved in to cover the peaks - including us. 

Time for lunch then. There are plenty of places inside and outside to buy a drink, a snack or a full meal.  We went for a full meal in the restaurant inside.

We spent a little more time out on the platform after lunch, but the clouds were really closing in. Downstairs we looked around the exhibition.  The work involved in creating the tunnel for the cogwheel train was extraordinary, and watching a timelapse video of how the platforms and buildings at the top of the mountain have changed was also amazing.  They built cranes up there - there were two at one point!

Finally it was time to go down.  It was about 3 pm, and since the sun was shining again, decided to go and have a look at the Eibsee.  It was so lovely and warm in the sun, we sat on the shore for some time, just enjoying the scene. It really is a beautiful lake. 

Our day had been so good so far, I didn't want to go home, so we decided to try a pedal boat out onto the water.  Neither of us had been out on one before, so we thought it would be fun.  I tried to practice  German on the cashier, but he told me I didn't need to - he was Australian.  

After a bit of time trying to work out the awkward steering we settled into a very enjoyable sail? paddle? around the lake.  The water was so clear, huge fish could be seen.  It really was gorgeous. Another added bonus were several pairs of Great-crested Grebe who were completely unfazed us. 

Peter pedalling.  I'm not in the photo, cos I was gurning against the sun every picture I took. 

We had an hour on the water before it was time to get the bus.  Back at the van, we sat outside in the sun reflecting on a fantastic experience.  We'll not forget today for a while.

Wednesday 6th May - Partnachklamm.

Today's task was to get to the Partnach Gorge by bus, and take a walk through the gorge and beyond.  We knew from the website that the entrance was a good 25 minute walk from the nearest car park/bus stop which was the Olympic Ski Stadium.  Google maps is very good for public transport directions, and I had faith, - Peter was not so sure.   So the first adventure of the day was getting to the stadium.

And it all went fine.  Peter's fears were soon soothed by Google's instructions and the information screen inside the bus.  We managed to get off and change where required and arrived at the stadium around 40 mins later.  

The walk to the gorge seemed quite a long way, but the scenery was pretty special, and that made up for it. When we got there, our guest card (the one that we were given for free bus journeys), got us a discount on the entrance fee too, €9 instead of €10.

I knew what to expect, but Peter didn't.  The gorge is narrow and dramatic.  A level, fenced off path has been created with tunnels cut through the rock, allowing the public to walk along the gorge and be safe at all times.  I wonder who had the foresight to do that?  I'm glad they did, as it was absolutely amazing!  It almost made me forgive the cable car misinformation.  The photographs can't do it justice.

First steps into the gorge, note the bridge above

Looking up

Still looking up

We came out the other end to an open area alongside the river and sat down to enjoy lunch.  We met an American couple who chatted about the royal family and stuff, then we had a choice to go back the way we came, or work out a different route.  With info from the  American couple's family and Maps.me, we decided to climb the many sets of steps up the side of the gorge and follow the path back to the bridges that we'd seen from below, and from there back to the ski stadium.  

Scary looking bridge over a washed out part of the gorge side

I'm not normally one to enjoy walking in the woods, but this time I did. It didn't matter that there were constant showers. I loved the rock formations, the peace the views of the mountains.... everything. 

Looking down on the gorge from the bridge seen earlier

I also enjoyed the icecream we treated ourselves to once we'd got back to the entrance.

Due to bus timings, we confused ourselves slightly, because really we had an hour to wait, but we got back fine, treated ourselves to some fresh salad in Aldi and settled in.

We're having a domestic day tomorrow, weather wise it's not the best, so I'll be doing things like getting the washing done and  Peter will sort out online students etc.   At home the local elections are underway, so we'll be looking out for the results the day after.  There should also be a repair to the sewage system on the street outside my house, I've been complaining about it since July last year, let's hope they get it sorted. 

The day after that - The Zugspitze!  Although a lot of the cable cars are closed down at the moment, the one to the top of the Zugspitze is still running.  We'll work out the buses and trains (free) to Eibsee, and then go up.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Tuesday 5th May - First night in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

I had initially thought we might visit King Ludwig's Castle whilst on our way from the Black Forest to Garmisch-P.  Working out timings, tickets etc, we decided against it because of the 4 1/2 hour drive.  Instead, we made it a leisurely morning, leaving the site about 11.

Lake Titisee - mirror flat before the boat rides start.  Excellent view from this site. (Expensive tho')

Really pleased to see this Black Redstart perch in front of our van this morning. 

We planned to visit a supermarket on the way and found a Lidl right next to our route.  It had fresh milk (rather than the UHT stuff we'd found at the last place), which made Peter reeeeeally happy.   We also needed a place to stop and have lunch, and since we were driving alongside the Bodensee, where better?   The north shore of the Obersee Bodensee is in Germany, the south shore is in Switzerland.  

The shores of the Bodensee - this side Germany, Switzerland across the lake. 

As we approached our destination, the landscape changed. The Alps started to rise around us, and we began to be excited by the possibilities. 

I wasn't sure about our site when I'd looked down on it using Google maps.  I'd picked a "comfort" pitch to make sure we had plenty of room.  The pitch is massive and we are very pleased.  Not much grass about, but like the last site the showers are awesome, as are the pitch facilities.  And the view!

Drago on pitch at the Camping Resort Zugspitz

Very happy.

The view from our van, I think that is the Grosse Riffelwandspitze (which translates to Large Ridgewall Peak) that we can see. The Zugspitze, which is 190m higher, is behind it. 

Added bonus - we get to use the local buses and the train from Garmisch-P to Eibsee for free.  How cool is that?

😢But that night....... As we were planning on how to get to the Cogwheel train and cable cars that are all over the surrounding area I discovered that the ones I most wanted to use were closed for maintenance.  I was really angry at the website for not making that information more obvious. It wasn't on the website front page, or at the point where you bought tickets, and I actually found out by accident when I saw that one of the stations is closed.  I was so disappointed. I'd planned using those cable cars around the Zugspitze, and had become really excited at the thought.  It will take me a while to get over it.

So tomorrow we are going to have a look at the Partnachklamm (Partnach Gorge). We've worked out how to get there by bus and the weather forecast is OK, just a few showers expected.  The start of our mountain tour begins.