2015 Trip Day 20
I would like to begin today's entry by announcing that any rumours you might have heard about me going for a walk in the mountains above Pertisau, that I may have come to a very slippery part, and that I may have fallen gracelessly (and painfully) on my backside is a complete and vicious lie.
Got that?
I didn't have to scrub my hands with freezing cold water in the toilets at the base of the Karwendelbahn to get mud off my fingers and out from under my nails. I certainly didn't have to trek back to my room through Pertisau with huge patches of mud clinging to the rear of my trousers. And I most definitely didn't have to change and then sit gingerly in my room for an hour or so in the hope that the pain would subside.
So now that we have clarified all of that, let's move on with what I did do today.
After several weeks of heavy clouds and snow even as low as 2/3 of the way down the Karwendel mountain, we have had much more warmth in the past few days, and today we had clear skies and gorgeous weather. Even the Karwendel mountain was clear of snow, as was the area around the Rofanseilbahn. As I'd been checking the forecast, I had already decided that this would be the day when I would go up in the cable cars and either walk or take the cars back down again.
I had a nice relaxed breakfast then got my things together and headed for the Karwendelbahn. Please keep in mind that, as I have a quite bad fear of heights, I am quite impressed with myself at having gone through this journey. (I may or may not have had a white-knuckled ride up and back, just fyi.) Once up there, I joined with others in watching someone attach a sail to themselves and jump over the edge. There were paragliders everywhere today!
Once up at the top, I decided that, rather than immediately catch the next gondola back down, I would walk the 30 mins or so to the Barenbadalm. (Better that than the walk back down to Pertisau, which is described on the map as being very difficult - and if the map says it's hard then I'm going to believe it!
I made my way almost all the way to the Barenbad alm but, for various reasons, I headed back to the Bergbahn before I got there. *ahem*
The trip back down to Pertisau would have been a lot nicer had not my fellow travellers in the gondola not decided to lunge from side to side almost constantly to see out the windows. I am proud that I neither shrieked nor hit them, but I was never so glad to be on solid ground again!
I had a brief break and then went to catch the boat to Seepspitz and from there the steam-train to Maurach. (I have purchased another Erlebniscard so I want to get my full value out of it!) After that I headed up to the Rofanseilbahn, which took me up to the mountains EBD called the Sonnalpe.
My plan had been a bit of a stroll, but clearly I was feeling lazy or something because instead I sat at the Gasthaus and had a drink and some hot chips. I had several people come to join my table (which looked out over the valley) and we had a lovely chat. There was also a large group of young people at another table, several of whom came from America and England, so I got to hear an interesting conversation about America's political situation and the upcoming election.
My late lunch over, I took some photos and then headed back down to the lakeside. I did some shopping and then got the bus back to the hotel for a nice early afternoon/evening.
Tomorrow I plan to visit the Sixenhof museum. My original plan had been to use that as a starting point to complete the other half of the lake walk, but, well, we'll see...
Got that?
I didn't have to scrub my hands with freezing cold water in the toilets at the base of the Karwendelbahn to get mud off my fingers and out from under my nails. I certainly didn't have to trek back to my room through Pertisau with huge patches of mud clinging to the rear of my trousers. And I most definitely didn't have to change and then sit gingerly in my room for an hour or so in the hope that the pain would subside.
So now that we have clarified all of that, let's move on with what I did do today.
After several weeks of heavy clouds and snow even as low as 2/3 of the way down the Karwendel mountain, we have had much more warmth in the past few days, and today we had clear skies and gorgeous weather. Even the Karwendel mountain was clear of snow, as was the area around the Rofanseilbahn. As I'd been checking the forecast, I had already decided that this would be the day when I would go up in the cable cars and either walk or take the cars back down again.
I had a nice relaxed breakfast then got my things together and headed for the Karwendelbahn. Please keep in mind that, as I have a quite bad fear of heights, I am quite impressed with myself at having gone through this journey. (I may or may not have had a white-knuckled ride up and back, just fyi.) Once up there, I joined with others in watching someone attach a sail to themselves and jump over the edge. There were paragliders everywhere today!
Once up at the top, I decided that, rather than immediately catch the next gondola back down, I would walk the 30 mins or so to the Barenbadalm. (Better that than the walk back down to Pertisau, which is described on the map as being very difficult - and if the map says it's hard then I'm going to believe it!
I made my way almost all the way to the Barenbad alm but, for various reasons, I headed back to the Bergbahn before I got there. *ahem*
The trip back down to Pertisau would have been a lot nicer had not my fellow travellers in the gondola not decided to lunge from side to side almost constantly to see out the windows. I am proud that I neither shrieked nor hit them, but I was never so glad to be on solid ground again!
I had a brief break and then went to catch the boat to Seepspitz and from there the steam-train to Maurach. (I have purchased another Erlebniscard so I want to get my full value out of it!) After that I headed up to the Rofanseilbahn, which took me up to the mountains EBD called the Sonnalpe.
My plan had been a bit of a stroll, but clearly I was feeling lazy or something because instead I sat at the Gasthaus and had a drink and some hot chips. I had several people come to join my table (which looked out over the valley) and we had a lovely chat. There was also a large group of young people at another table, several of whom came from America and England, so I got to hear an interesting conversation about America's political situation and the upcoming election.
My late lunch over, I took some photos and then headed back down to the lakeside. I did some shopping and then got the bus back to the hotel for a nice early afternoon/evening.
Tomorrow I plan to visit the Sixenhof museum. My original plan had been to use that as a starting point to complete the other half of the lake walk, but, well, we'll see...