Visiting the Bavarian alps - Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Full screen gallery below
I love the mountains and would love to go more often, but life does not always let you go. Excuses I know, but it is what it is. Therefor the German or Bavarian Alps were always on my list to visits as it is only a relatively easy 9h drive. So when it came to settle for a destination this fall for some hiking, mountaineering and photography its anwser was easy, Scotland it is. Ha! No too much rain. Garmisch-Partenkirchen it was and boy did it not disappoint. Especially the climb to the top of the Alpspitze.
My trip was setup around 4 days in Garmisch with travel excluding from these days. So I had 4 full days to cover, which turned out to be the best. There is a lot to do in Garmisch but this quick break was the perfect mix between time away and the oppertunity to do some actual hiking. Like I said this was also a photography trip, but this time I think photography came second for the first time. Hiking and possibly my first via ferrata or klettersteig was the main goal.
Day 1 - Eibsee & Zugspitze
There is no vacation start with a good cold I guess, still feeling so-so after a week of sniffs and sneezes, this start was quite easy and a warmup for later. The Eibsee is a beautiful lake at the foot of the Zugspitze and an easy 8km walk. In the morning sun with the fall colours it really stood out to me. Maybe even too perfect as finding compositions was quite difficult weirdly enough.
The hike went from the shadow side to the sunny side of the lake quickly. That meant that I was able to get two perspectives. Cool, but also a challenge, especially photographing the Zugspitze against the bright sky. The really cool thing though were the “small islands” in the lake, which made for a good isolated subject.
Getting to the end of the trail going back to the starting point there were some nice compositions to be made of the outer areas of the lake. The Zugspitze was also more visible, but the pylons that carry the massive cable cart up where just as amazing or maybe even the ones that stole the show. I let you decide.
After completing the hike around the lake the next thing was to decide what to do next. Either go up hiking somewhere up the Zugspitze or go somewhere else. As I was not really that fit a hike would be good, but getting to the Zugspitze was out of the question. So the next best thing was to go up with the funicular (cable car) and do some exploring there.
The decision was easy! Up and up I went. Did you know that the Zugspitze, at 2,962 m above sea level, is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains and the highest mountain in Germany. The Zugspitze Cable Car is an aerial cableway connecting the valley station at Eibsee with the mountain station at the Zugspitze summit. It overcomes a height difference of 1,945 meters, the largest vertical difference of any aerial tramway in the world within a single section. That’s why the pylons are huge and standing tall in the landscape. See the photos!
Up at the Zugspitze it was quite interesting. You could go on the glacier (small, but still there) and wander round. Or just sit on the terrace and enjoy the view. Obviously I wandered a bit also adjusting to the altitude as well. Almost 3000m is quite high and oxygen or the lack of it start playing a role.
It was really nice to see the textures, mountains and even birds. The birds were mainly Alpine choughs that were looking for food or just relaxing in the sun. A common bird but still fun to see. After a hour or so out in the cold, but with the sun our quite oke, I headed back down.
Day 2 - Partnachklamm & Alpspitze
The plan was to go to the Höllentalklamm, but that was closed due to massive snowfall earlier in the year. Yes, heavy snowfall end of September. Who knew. That was really unfortunate as this trail goes through a cool gorge type of area and ending up traversing up the mountain ending up at the Alpspitze. So the plan now was to do the same, but than via the Partnachklamm, same but different. Especially the hike after the gorge.
The start was quite cool, going through the gorge and seeing the rocks, water and small walkways. The light vs dark areas together with the water makes it a very nice visit. It’s quite easy as well as this is suitable for kids as well. There is an entrance fee due to the maintenance that is carried out to keep this open. I guess the same is for the other gorge.
The hike was quite short, but fun! That is the only thing that probably makes the Höllentalklamm nicer as it’s longer but also the exit is way cooler. Can’t have it all I guess.
The hike continued and ended up after exiting the gorge and a up a small traverse I ended up at the first stop, which was quite early in the hike and I think the hut was still closed. However the view was quite beautiful with the sun coming out! This is the view you expect when hiking in the Alps, right?
Moving on, the rest of the hike was basically traversing the mountain upwards and along the ski/forest roads. Which is nice to do, but compared to the other hike a bit boring. Although quite a nice workout and obiviously in a beautiful place it left me a bit disappointed. Ending up not at the top at the Alpspitze, due to time / darkness risk I decided to stop my hike at Kreuzeck. With a view of Alpspitze and the surroundings the opportunity to take some photos was great and left me with some time to spare just to enjoy the views. Sometimes the destination is not the end goal but the journey along the way, right?
Day 3 - Short Loop from Alpspitze
Day 3 should have been something epic, however I saw that the via ferrata on the Alpspitze was now officially open due to the extreme good weather. That meant that the last day was summit day ;-). So this day would be an easy loop down, with a view into the Höllentalklamm route that was impossible to walk. I just wanted to see what I had missed.
The hike started at the top of the Alpspitze, or more accurate the station where the cable cart drops you off. This day was beautiful, with lots of sun and clear skies. This promised to be an epic day as the predictions for the next day where pretty much the same.
This hike was mainly descending to Kreuzeck, but with a nice short loop to one of the outer edge peaks (don’t know how it’s pronounced). Just a small peak of a (traverse) path that you can climb. It was quite cool, literally. The first part of the hike was in the shadow. The view where pretty cool basically and the hike towards the Höllentalklamm route with the view was quite cool as well. Shame that is it was closed.
The hike switched back to continue to the trail that ended up at Kreuzeck with views of the Alpspitze bahn (cable cart). The trail ended up crossing the tree line again, partly through some wooded area and getting back to the restaurant I was there the day before. Loved the Kaiserschmarrn and Gulashsuppe. These were really nice, but this ain’t a food blog.
Day 4 - Alpspitze via ferrata (klettersteig)
Today is the day! My first Via ferrata / klettersteig hike, climb, transverse whatever you want to call it. It was exciting to start doing it. In the area this Alpspitze klettersteig is know to be quite easy. Well for locals maybe, but please prepare yourself with enough water, food and equipment! Especially harness and helmet. Bot should be mandatory but only a helmet is. Many hiking website rate this as easy. Well maybe in the grand scheme of things of all via ferrata it is, but coming from hikes in the Alps (and some sketchy ones as well) this is a different league. Its doable, take you time, its not overly difficult, but don’t expect it to be a “harder” trail. Its something completely different.
Also the way up via the via ferrata is way “easier” than the way down. There is nothing much said about the descent, so be careful, as energy is low from the climb up and the descent is a bit sketchy here and there! Really!
So all disclaimer aside it is really a cool experience! So take care, be careful but enjoy this new part of alpinism. For me it started already at the cable cart station. The sun was shining and the temperature was quite nice! So an epic day it would be! The trail starts directly at the station and is visibly marked and easy to follow. The ferrata really starts after a short 15min walk. This way you go up the north side I guess and traverse up to the top and go down the south east side.
Getting the harness and helmet on the ascent started facing the first large vertical climb. The numbers in total are quite impressive when you first do something like this. The short list here summarized, please do your own research as well, this is not something to do on a whim, please!
Complete Hiking Circuit: Difficult
Elevation Gain/Loss: 593 meters
Minimum Elevation: 2031 meters
Maximum Elevation: 2628 meters
When to Hike: Summer, or early Fall. Clear days only.
Starting Point: Alpspitzbahn valley station | Google Maps
Trailhead: Alpspitzbahn mountain station
Distance: 4.5 km circuit
Time Needed: 4 hours
Via Ferrata Difficulty: Easy (A/B)
When reaching the halfway point (or almost) the views become even more spectacular, especially when you start to get to to the top, the last third is really cool to do, but also a challenge as its more traversing and climbing. I decided to take a rest here and something to eat as well before starting at the last third. That was a good decision as it gave me a break and some energy again.
After the break you can see the other people traversing the mountain in the distance in the photo above I did the same. Finishing it off with a loop around the “corner” and making the final climb up to the top. This was hard but doable as you need to take your time, no need to rush! In the end it was really cool to get to the top and seeing the view, but more so the feeling of completing something that was on my wish list for quite some time.
After spending some time at the top with other people now also summiting the top the atmosphere was quite relaxing and people seemed to enjoy the hike. The sun did slowly vanish so the temperature dropped a bit with some clouds rolling in, which in the end was nothing but still.
On the way down things were a lot sketchier that I thought. As I explained earlier. This hike as a whole is quite difficult! The first part of the descent is on loose gravel rocks and ends up in a sort of boulder area where you need to climb over these rocks / boulders and is not that easy. You can easily make a mistake which is not a thing you can recover from I guess. So be aware!
The last part of the hike is quite easy, but for me on my last legs after three days of hiking took me a while to get it done. Still seeing these photos and thinking back this was an epic hike! Really cool and the photos to prove it - not that it needs proving.
I am going to leave it here. These were a fantastic couple of days in this area. With great food and beer (obviously), great weather and a beautiful area! An absolute must visit if you ask me. The start of the Alps where many directly go to Switzerland or Austria or even Italy, but don’t discard Germany!
All photos taken with OM-System OM-1 and several lenses, mostly used lens was the OM-System 12-40F2.8 II. However my wide angle got used more and more these days as it was collecting dust the last months. Enjoy the photos below in fullscreen.
Click to view larger in a light box and navigate with mouse or arrow keys. Enjoy!
