Blog Posts in Category: Walking

We were keen to get out for a walk prior to Becky making the long drive back to the UK in order to get the van home for a winter break and a new coat of paint. However, as Becky had the long drive we didn’t want the day to be too long so that there was no additional fatigue to add into the mix. We decided to head up the Blomberg and Zwiesel, which we actually climbed from the other side on my pre assignment trip back in July 2020. However this time we went up from the other side, which turned out to be a really lovely circuit with plenty of time on the ridge and out of the forrest. It really is amazing that this is only an hour from our door, certainly better than a stroll in the mendips! There was a strong föhn wind forecast, which meant that we prepared for a windy day out. However where we were there was hardly any wind, which meant we were definitely overdressed and certainly had too many layers in our packs. However there was certainly wind about. Read the full article…

With another day of afternoon storms we decided to make the most of the forecast morning sun by getting up early and heading for a peak which was close to Munich, and almost out of the mountains in order to try and catch the best of the weather. We ended up deciding on the Kampenwand, as we could have a good day out with a reasonable amount of ascent, knew there would be wonderful views and that we could save our knees by getting the gondola back down. The ascent was initially up wide forest tracks, which meant that we made good progress, but in order to traverse under the impressive cliffs of the Zwölferturm we took the smaller path which ascended towards the Zwölferturm’s cliffs from the north. While the path was pretty steep up through the woods, it was certainly worth it for the initial views out towards Chiemsee over Erlbergkopf, and to see the impressive cliffs from up close. As the skies were still clear we didn’t hang around once we got up to the Steinlingalm, but instead headed straight up to the Kampenwand. This meant that. Read the full article…

With the temperatures set to be above 30°C for at least the third day in a row we had to make the decision about hiding from the heat and not making the most of the weekend, or accepting the unrelenting heat and heading out for a hot walk. We decided to head out for a walk, but starting fairly early. We left Munich at 6:30, which we thought would be early enough to guarantee a space in the car park, but we were wrong as it seemed numerous people had the same idea, thankfully we got the last space in a location very near to the car park! Due to the heat there was some additional criteria for the route compared to normal: Not too long Not too much ascent Finishing at a lake Ascent in the shade We managed to find a route which fulfilled all of these criteria in the Chiemgau, as the ascent was either in the woods, or up the north side of the mountain, and due to the bus route down the valley we could make the walk a linear route finishing at a bathing. Read the full article…

With the weather looking better in the afternoon, Rob and I decided to stay a bit more local and head to the Hochplatte in the Ammergauer Alpen. We left the car park at 2pm, having taken the spaces from people who had presumably already finished for the day. This late start had the advantage that we were out in the better weather, and also that when we were on the summit we had the mountain to ourselves, however it had the distinct disadvantage that we were walking up the very steep ascent in the worst of the afternoon heat. The after a relatively gentle warm up for the first 10 minutes we came across an interesting “bridge” over the river. This involved balancing on logs, and then over a dodgy looking ladder. Thankfully neither of us got wet, but we did both clock the deep pools for a post walk cool off. The rest of the ascent was fairly straightforwards, if very hot in the sun. Very hot we soon arrived at the Weitalpjoch where the view over the Ammergauer Alpen really opened up, and it was certainly a fantastic. Read the full article…

With an easing of restrictions we were able to head somewhere with more than two households in the car, which was a very nice change. After some changes in the group size, and a few changes in objective, we settled on the Entschenkopf. We chose the route as it was relatively low for the Allgäu, which hopefully meant that it would be snow free, but the route looked like an excellent ridge and there was even a lake on the descent to cool off in. After getting to the car park just in time to get one of the last few parking spaces, we headed off up the Gaisalpbach, which was a beautiful gorge full of waterfalls and walkways. Unfortunately as we left the gorge the woods started thin out and we increasingly spent more time ascending in the sun, which was very hot! We were soon at the top off the tree line, and the start of the ascent up to the Entschenkopf ridge. This was very hot, but the views were beautiful, if very hazy. There was also a large assortment of beautiful alpine flowers, which framed the. Read the full article…