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Published on Leave a comment on Kemptener Hütte – Kreuzeck – Raueck

On a nice weekend at the end of September we decide to take the train to Oberstdorf and do some easy hiking. We start walking to Spielmansau. From there we go up to the Kemptener Hut. The way to Spielmansau felt very very long and was a bit boring. But the rest of the path to the Kemptner Hut offered a great view around.

When we arrived at the hut we had something to drink and decided to walk up a nice looking summit which was not too far away. After a one hour walk we were on top of the Muttlerkopf. We enjoyed the sunshine and the view down to the hut and to the Großen Krottenkopf. When we came back to the hut it was really full with people! There must have been more that 300 people this evening! We enjoyed some great food outside and decided to go to bed early.

The next morning we were up early and started walking towards Kreuzeck. After we gained some height we had a great view to the Kemptner Hut. There was already some snow on our path. The way to Kreuzeck and finally to Raueck offers a wonderful view around - you can see the whole Allgäuer Hauptkamm with the Heilbronner Weg, Mindelheimer Klettertsteig, Hindelanger Klettersteig and also the Hochvogel.

We walked down from Rauheck to Käsealp. This way is really slippery and difficult to descend. From Käsealp we walked to the Oytalhaus where we enjoyed a drink and cake and ice cream 🙂 Then we continued towards Oberstdorf where we took the train back home. A tour which offers the best view around the Allgäu!

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We stayed at the Biberhof camping site in Biberwier and started our trip early the next morning. We drove by car to Arzkasten where we parked the car.

We walked through a forest up to the Lehenberghaus. Then we were a bit confused, should we follow the signs to 'Wankspitze'? Acutally we wanted to go up the via ferrata to the summit of the Wankspitze. Then down to the Coburger Hut and up the via ferrata Tajakante.

After looking at our map we realized that the Wankspitz via ferrata goes the other way round, you have to walk up in the direction of the Coburger Hut and then you can climb up the Wankspitze from the other side. That would mean we have to walk the same way twice when we want to go to the Coburger Hut afterwards. Therefore we decided to descent the via ferrata.

From the Lehenberghaus we walked up to a place called Lacke. This is a really nice place with a great view in the valley below. From there we continued to walk up the Wankspitze. A very nice summit. You have a great view from top of it.

We did the via ferrata in the descent. It was not difficult, but to do it in the ascent is more fun I think. You have to be aware of falling rocks the whole time in this via ferrata. This is a bit annoying.

Before we finished the route we met some people without helmet! This is very dangerous.When we finished the via ferrata we realized that it would not be possible to do the via ferrata Tajakante on the same day. It was already quite late. So we decided to walk up the so called Hölle (hell in English) which is a way up with many many pebbles. One step forward leads to two steps backwards or so 😛

After the so called Höllenreise we could see the Hinterer Tajakopf. The walk up there was really nice - down to the Drachensee and the Coburger Hut. And to the other side to the Vorderer Tajakopf with the via ferrata and the Zugspitze.

After some food and rest at the summit we had to walk all the way back to Arzkasten to our car. Quite a long way! All in all the tour took about 11 to 12 hours.

A long trip but with this beautiful weather really great! 🙂

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Published on Leave a comment on Beautiful Bachalpsee

This day we were a bit exhausted from the last hiking tours. So we decided to take the bus from Grindelwald to Bussalp. It was very expensive! But it saved us a few metres... At Bussalp we left the bus and started to walk in the direction of the Bachalpsee. The way took us longer than we thought. But you have a great view of all the huge mountains which are on the other side of the valley. We have not yet seen it from this perspective before and it is amazing - Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau, Schreckhorn, Finsteraarhon, Wetterhorn, ... all the glaciers - a great view!

When we arrive at the Bachalpsee we have a picknick and lay down in the sunshine. After two hours or so we walk to the next bus station and take the bus back down to Grindelwald.

Published on Leave a comment on Via Ferrata Rotstock and Eigertrail

On a wonderful sunny morning we take the train from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg. From Kleine Scheidegg we walk up to the station Eigergletscher. The view around is fantastic. It looks a bit like a model railway.

At Eigergletscher we start to walk the Eigertrail for around 20 minutes. Then we come to a crossing were we turn left and walk up to the beginning of the Rotstock via ferrata. The via ferrata is quite easy, we can enjoy it and have a great view around. The Rostock is a very nice summit, enough space for many people. We lay down and enjoy the sunshine. After one hour or so we walk back down to the station Eigergletscher.

Now we want to walk the whole Eigertrail until Alpiglen. It is a really nice path. We can see the way to the Eiger North Face and think about the people who climbed up there. On the trail we meet many cows and just in time we arrive at Alpiglen. There we take the train back to Grindelwald.

Published on Leave a comment on Our first mountain higher than 4000m – summit of the Mönch

In 2011 we wanted to go up a mountain that is higher than 4000m. Therefore we sent an e-mail to the Swiss mountaineering school GrindelwaldSports and asked which one would be suitalbe. They suggested that we could go up the Mönch which is 4107m high. We trusted them and so in August we travelled to Grindelwald to go up this mountain. To acclimatize we did a tour to the Gleckstein Hut. When we went back to Grindewald the day before we wanted to go up the Mönch it was rainy and cloudy. But the weather forecast was promising. So after a hot shower at the hostel we re-packed our bags and took the Jungfraujochbahn from Grindelwald to Kleine Scheidegg and from Kleine Scheidegg to the Jungfraujoch. The train was full with Asian people who took photos all the time! We stopped at Eigergletscher and Eismeer to have a look down the Eiger north face. Unfortunately it was so cloudy that we  could see nothing. It is a bit scary to know that this train goes through such a mountain.

We leave the train at a  tunnel and walk a long time until we are out again. When we leave the tunnel it was very foggy, you could only see the next three metres. We started to walk to the Mönchsjochhütte. At this moment we did not feel that the air was thinner. We felt quite well. After around 45 minutes we arrived at the hut. This was a special one! We have never been on a hut at this height before! The people were all very friendly and the owner of the hut, a woman called Heidi, greeted us when we came in. Now it was snowing outside.. and still very foggy. But inside the hut it was very warm and comfortable. We had something to drink and waited for dinner... Meanwhile a very strong headache started to begin.. and the longer we sat the the worse it became.. When it was time for food we were not hungry! We could not believe it, we had not eaten a lot this day. Then there was a lot food and we could not eat it. Combined with a lot of water it was possbile to eat a bit.. Nevertheless the chocolate pudding was the highlight of the dinner and it was easy to eat - at least now we had something in our stomaches. We continued to drink lots of apple juice and water. On our table sat a British guide and his customer and some people from Switzerland. We had a short chat. They wanted to do the Eiger! And wanted to the Mönch at first and then go up to the Mittelegihut. It seemed as if we were the only people at the hut who had not before been on such high mountains.

We slept ok... the air was quite thin and Carsten woke up every few hours... and I had to go to the toilet for three times because I drunk so much before (the toilet was outside and I think it was around 0 degrees or below..). The next morning the sun was shining and it was the bluest sky we had ever seen! We had breakfast and went outside to enjoy the great view! Only snow, mountains, sunshine and blue sky! What a great day to go up the Mönch! We met our guide at a Swiss flag not far away from the hut. His name was Martin and he was really nice. We immediately started to go up - and it went quite well! We could ascend at a good pace and passed some other people. We had a break after around the half of the ascend and enjoyed the view around! We could see the Aletschgletscher and all the surrounding moutains! What an amazing view! We continued to walk up - sometimes you had to walk on the snow and ice and other times you had to climb up rock. That made the ascend very diversified and interesting. Around 200 metres before the summit a very narrow and steep ridge begins. I think this was the most difficult part of the climb! And not for the body, but for the mind! On both sides it goes down for more than 500 metres and there is only a path as wide as one shoe.. But without looking down too often it was doable 😉 So after only one hour and forty minutes we reached the summit of the Mönch! What a good feeling! We had a short break and the guide explained all the surrounding summits. Because there were many people coming up we decided to go down immediately. We took one last photo and then Carsten had to go in front and lead us down. We felt good and went quickly down. When we were back on the normal path to the Mönchsjochhütte and someone could see us coming down he clapped his hands 🙂 What a good feeling to have done it! We really enjoyed this tour but we were also very happy to be down again. We said good-bye to Martin and went back to the Mönchsjochhütte to have something to drink and eat. Again we were not really hungry but we tried to eat some Gulaschsoup. After that we decided to go down to Grindwald, so we took the train and arrived safely back at the hostel were we cooked an amazing dinner and had a good glas of wine 🙂 This was our first, but definitely not our last mountain above 4000 metres.

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