Hike up to the Zugspitze

06/30/2023

Today was the day to climb Germany's highest mountain on foot. Farina has now arrived from Munich, nice that we are running together. We started climbing at 6:40 in sunny weather. We went up to the Ehrwalder Alm. The first 400 meters of altitude were done. From here we climbed towards the Knorrhütte. Along the way, we had a great view of the surrounding mountains. At particularly beautiful spots, we took a little break. There was no need to rush. 😉 Before reaching the Knorrhütte, we passed the border crossing into Germany. We started in Austria. A gate with a small fence and colorful flags.

A slightly longer break at the hut at around 11:30.

Refreshed, we started towards the summit. Another 3 hours and 1000 more meters of altitude awaited us. From here, it was only uphill. We often had to cross slushy snow fields. Wet socks included.

From Sonnalpin, the last stop before the summit, we could already see that it would be really tough from here on. It went very steeply up through gravel. The last part was a secured path. Unfortunately, there was still quite a bit of snow here, so we had to navigate some narrow spots without safety equipment. Farina had the additional difficulty of carrying the two poles. In such places, I don't look down and can't speak either. Full concentration. 😀 We reached the top around 15:30. We skipped the golden summit cross. It was too stupid for us to stand in a queue. It can only be reached via a ladder and the descent can only be done that way as well.

Up here, the good view was gone, as the clouds had moved in all around.

We went down to Ehrwald by cable car and then took the bus to the Ehrwalder Alm valley station, where Rudi was waiting.

According to Farina's phone, we burned 2000 calories. We replenished them at the nearby Brent Alm.

We spent another night in the parking lot. No one bothered us. Officially, it is not allowed to stay there.