Lost on the Alpspitze, Fun at Weiskirche, and Zugspitze Tragedy

Lost on the Alpspitze

Yesterday was an amazing clear day in Garmish-Partenkirchen, so I was determined to make the most of it. I'm pretty sure wasting a day without rain in Bavaria is actually a punishable offense. After morning errands and a quick lunch, Will, Mia, Tori, Dixie (the dog) and I all got ready for an easy walk on the Alpspitze. The Alpspitze is the second highest mountain in the area, standing at 2600 meters. We took the cable car up to the top and visited the AlpspiX, which is two walkways that extend off the edge of a cliff and look down the Alpspitze. It is very nerve racking, you find yourself fighting with the nearest tourist, hiker or nun for a piece of the railing. The 42-foot-long X sways when the wind blows and has a grated bottom so you can see straight down about 100 meters. Despite being a little unsettling, the X has an amazing view of Garmish and of the surrounding mountains.

Our plan was to take the Hochalm cable car down and then walk about a kilometer over to the Kreuzeckbahn. I thought the Hochalm was a short walk downhill from the Alpspitze, when really it was right beside the Alpspitze. We were very skeptical as we were walking down the hill, I have done this before and nothing look familiar. We soldiered on, thinking we would run into the Hochalm any second. This hike was pretty steep and rocky, I was nervous about falling with Victoria on my back. I was pretty sure we had gone a different route when we came through a passageway and saw an entire face of the Alpspitze. This huge mountain was towering above us, we could see ridges and caves and there is still some fairly fresh snow. 




We were still skeptical of how our hike was going, until we saw a sure fire sign of wrong we were. We turned a corner and saw the Hochalmhutte, the one we were supposed to ride to. It was 3:40 and we still had the kilometer that we were originally planning to walk. We started really moving quick, I was getting tired and sore from carrying Tori but thankfully we made it in time. I am actually glad we got a little lost and took a longer walk, I just wish we had been a little more prepared. We had 1 liter of water and a banana for the 4 of us. This is fine for a 20 minute, 1 K stroll; not so good for the approximately 10 K we did in 2 hours. But alls well that ends well, I really enjoyed the longer walk and am very, very glad we made it in time and didn't have to hike all the way down the mountain.

Fun at Weiskirche

Weiskirch means white church and the lovely literal Germans hit it right on the money. Today we visited this white church on top of a hilly meadow for a quick tourist stop. Mia and I picked up Megan from school, baby in tow, and made the curvy drive through several small Bavarian towns. We arrived and it was pleasantly not crowded. I have visited this church before but the bright colors and extreme decorations were still surprising. Today's visit had an extra special treat: a harpist was preforming when we arrived. She played several songs, and the music resonated through the old church beautifully. After the harpist finished, we looked around at the amazing paintings. There are surprises everywhere. The paintings had a different more mystical feeling than the extremely lifelike ones we saw in Rome.
 

According to my best touring friend, aka the creator of the back door tourism philosophy Rick Steve's, the Wieskirche is Germany's best Rococo-style church. I just think the colors are pretty. I can't imagine going to an actual service in that church, I would be constantly distracted by all the painted scenes on the ceiling. I think the best part of the day was the fun we had in the car. Tori was well behaved and Mia, Megan and I had fun chatting and laughing about silly things. Baby poop and  funny German pronunciation were the hilarious focus.

Zugspitze Tragedy 

Well it isn't really a tragedy, just a huge bummer. I really wanted to climb the Zugspitze while I was here this trip. In my mind all the hikes we have been doing so far have been preparation for the Zugspitze. We talked to Martha McSally, who has done a several great things in her life including climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. She has climbed the Zugspitze twice this month and she gave us great instructions and gear. We were ready, we thought we made reservations, but they hut didn't check the online reservations and the phone number wasn't working until the evening. It was really frustrating, but I guess it just isn't in the cards. Maybe that is an adventure for later in life, but as a replacement when my family moves to Colorado we have pledged to climb Pikes Peak.

Maybe by then Tori will be up to climbing with us.