Hiking in the Alps

Posted by Chelsie on Aug 24, 2012 | 3 comments

This morning we woke up around 8:00 a.m. and headed down to the hotel’s breakfast. While it was fabulous compared to most other hotel breakfasts, it didn’t hold a candle to the spread in Salzburg. We are so spoiled now :) We stocked up on protein and carbs because our plan for our last full day in Europe was to do some hiking in the Alps. On the way out of town, we picked up some pre-made salami sandwiches from a local bakery since there wouldn’t be any food options where we were going. We followed a local map to the trailhead which promised Alpine lakes and incredible castle views. The trail started out with about 300 steps up a steep mountain. All along the way were lovely stops with small churches that depicted Catholic paintings of the stations of the cross. At the very top of the summit, there was a large crucifix and a platform that afforded us what were arguably the best views anywhere around. Facing Northwest we could see all of Füssen and the surrounding countryside and facing Southeast there were incredible views of the alpine lake Schwansee and two Bavarian fairy tale castles–Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. We apparently timed it just right because we reached the platform at exactly 11:00 when the church bells in Füssen were ringing out and echoing beautifully all across the valley.

After enjoying the views for quite some time, we headed down the backside of the mountain to the pristine alpine lake Schwansee which was almost untouched by humans. We did pass a few other hikers, but for the most part it was just us and the forest. We continued on toward the castles and eventually reached another lake called Alpsee which was the most brilliant turquoise color you could ever imagine. There was a small shack on the lake where they were renting rowboats so we decided to rent one so we could eat our sandwiches out on the lake. This was Andrew’s first time rowing a rowboat and I have to say, he did a great job. Unfortunately for us, as soon as it was time to return the boat, a windstorm kicked up blowing the exact opposite direction that we were trying to row. We made it exactly back on time though thanks to Andrew’s hard work with the oars. Every so often we would hear the echo of someone playing a horn on the lake. We later found out that it was some older German guy with no pants on (see the picture below). Haha!

On our way back to the trailhead of another, less strenuous hike back to town, we walked right by Hohenscwangau, the smaller of the two Bavarian fairy tale castles. Unfortunately, the bigger one which was the inspiration for Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, had scaffolding on most of the outside of it due to repairs. It was okay though as we spent an entire day enjoying the amazingly beautiful Bavarian Alps. All in all we hiked about 6.5 miles with a total elevation change of 2,800 feet and although it was quite strenuous at times, we enjoyed every minute of it. It was a beautiful way to spend our last day here in Bavaria.

When we got back to the hotel we were quite tired, but decided that we would pick up a few last-minute souvenirs in Füssen before heading to the same Italian restarant we had dinner at last night. Since we enjoyed it so much yesterday, we figured it would be a great way to spend our last night here. We ate some more delicious food (pictures below) and wandered the town one more time before heading in to pack our things for tomorrow’s journey home.

Of all the trips we have taken, this one seems the longest (in a good way). Andrew and I both really needed to get away and enjoy some time together as our day-to-day lives with work and school can be quite hectic at times. It was an amazing journey and we’re so glad that you we’re able to share some of the memories with us back home. I doubt we will have time to post anything tomorrow as we will be up at 4:30 a.m. to catch flights from Munich to London and then London to LAX, but I will try to post one final time once we get home. If all goes well, we will be landing at dinnertime on Saturday evening.

Cheers,

Chelsie & Andrew

Our hiking path for today