July 20th - Weekend of exploration
July 20, 2015
Hey there and Happy Monday!!! What I can say but WOW!!! and what an interesting trip over the weekend. While it's been hot as hell this past week in Stuttgart, I figured I'd head south and hit the Alps and try to find some cooler weather. Well, I was partially successful. Found a town called Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. It's located in the foothills of Mt. Zugspitze, and was beautiful with mountains surrounding it on all sides. The town was a bit busier than a lot of the small towns I've been to here. Found a hotel, minus air conditioning but it was cheaper than the others I had checked into. So, hotel found, a cold shower to cool off and then went out for dinner and found a steakhouse where I had a great steak. Found a casino that seemed to be having a party. I say seemed because from all the casinos I've found over here have no energy and no fun games. Had blackjack but again, there was no life at the table and I didn't feel like sitting down. A few drinks later, I left and headed back to my hotel where I promptly crashed after another cold shower. Was woken up at 5 am by a crowd of people running through the hotel, screaming at the top of their lungs and lasted for a few minutes. I yelled to shut up!!! and they did after a moment. Then after falling back asleep, I was woken up with a baby crying next door. For 40 minutes it screamed and cried until it finally quieted down and sleep came again until my alarm went off.
My early day started by heading to Mt. Zugspitze and boarding an aerial tram and riding nearly 3000 meters up the mountain face. On the trip up, the views of Lake Isbee were amazing and so were the other mountains and forests. After about a 15 minute trip, got to the top and walked out into weather that was 25 degrees cooler and boy did it feel good. There was still snow and ice up there nd the view was for miles. After grabbing lunch at the top, decided to head back down and got some more incredible views and pictures.
Afterwards, started heading back "home" and saw Highline 179 which is a nearly 400 foot suspended bridge that crosses the highway and connects 2 mountains. I was looking straight up at the bridge from the ground and was amazed and decided I had to do it. So I started hiking up a trail that had about 15 degree incline and it was the longest 25 minutes of my life until I finally got to the peak where there was a castle ruin called Ehrenberg and the entrance to the bridge.
The beginning of the ridge was the worst part because the whole thing was swaying and swinging under my feet and caused me to lose my balance so I had to grab the handrail. After walking along for about 50 feet, I let go and started walking "normally" along the bridge while the wind blew it and swayed it a few feet. It was an intense experience and I'm glad that I did it. I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a lot of pictures while the wind howling. It was very cool and a once in a lifetime trip.
Back on the mountain, I did some exploring of the castle and it was pretty cool. It was build back in the 1200's and is still standing, as is a lot of castles here are, even if they are ruins. Got some very cool pics from this and will also post them.
So finally got back after hours and a traffic jam that stopped for an hour. It was a pain but I finally got back befor etoo late.
So until the next adventure this weekend...
Bill out
My early day started by heading to Mt. Zugspitze and boarding an aerial tram and riding nearly 3000 meters up the mountain face. On the trip up, the views of Lake Isbee were amazing and so were the other mountains and forests. After about a 15 minute trip, got to the top and walked out into weather that was 25 degrees cooler and boy did it feel good. There was still snow and ice up there nd the view was for miles. After grabbing lunch at the top, decided to head back down and got some more incredible views and pictures.
Afterwards, started heading back "home" and saw Highline 179 which is a nearly 400 foot suspended bridge that crosses the highway and connects 2 mountains. I was looking straight up at the bridge from the ground and was amazed and decided I had to do it. So I started hiking up a trail that had about 15 degree incline and it was the longest 25 minutes of my life until I finally got to the peak where there was a castle ruin called Ehrenberg and the entrance to the bridge.
The beginning of the ridge was the worst part because the whole thing was swaying and swinging under my feet and caused me to lose my balance so I had to grab the handrail. After walking along for about 50 feet, I let go and started walking "normally" along the bridge while the wind blew it and swayed it a few feet. It was an intense experience and I'm glad that I did it. I stopped in the middle of the bridge and took a lot of pictures while the wind howling. It was very cool and a once in a lifetime trip.
Back on the mountain, I did some exploring of the castle and it was pretty cool. It was build back in the 1200's and is still standing, as is a lot of castles here are, even if they are ruins. Got some very cool pics from this and will also post them.
So finally got back after hours and a traffic jam that stopped for an hour. It was a pain but I finally got back befor etoo late.
So until the next adventure this weekend...
Bill out
Posted by Bill Bickford.