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.