Half Maximiliansweg Day 5: Bergen to Inzell

Day 5: Sunday, July 17

Following our 12-mile off-route "rest day," I stayed up way too late exploring alternative routes for Day 5. The original plan was to take the Seilbahn up to Hochfelln, to rejoin the Maximiliansweg after ditching it on Day 4. But at this point, pretty much every muscle in Leslie's legs was complaining, and I was nursing some burgeoning plantar fasciitis in my right heel. I also still had some lingering uneasiness about the unexpected T3-rated trail section on Kampenwand and was reluctant to get all the way up to Hochfelln only to encounter another exposed trail. Finally, the urge to have a connected point-to-point hike rather than a gap between Bergen and Hochfelln was strong. 

After waffling about the route all through breakfast, I phoned Stefan and asked if he'd still respect me if we skipped Hochfelln and took a direct route from Bergen to Inzell instead. "Oh, Hochfelln," he said, "That's a known peak." Meaning people know it by name and by profile. A known peak! But he said he'd still respect me for connecting 80 miles via a lower route. He noted that acrophobia (fear of heights) isn't the same as being nicht schwindelfrei (not free from giddiness) on trails that are ausgesetzt (exposed), and suggested I try that vocabulary out on the locals to ask if the trail from Hochfelln to Inzell had any exposed stretches.

Thus it was that we asked both the cleaning woman who knocked on our door, and then the bakery owners, when we paid for our room, whether they knew if the Hochfelln part of the Maximiliansweg had stretches that were ausgesetzt, because we were nicht schwindelfrei--and learned that not only were the trails on Hochfelln more or less fine for those with exposurephobia, but also that no one at the pension had ever heard of the Maximiliansweg, at least by that name.

Having determined we could handle Hochfelln, our decision-making process no longer needed to include saving face. We yielded to the pull of a connected point-to-point route and the concerns of sore legs and feet. Just to be 100% certain, we walked to the lift station, where we found a large, maskless, cigarette-smoking crowd of tourists waiting for the 9:30 gondola. Decision made.

Our new route took us through fields and woods up to yet another pilgrimage church, Maria Eck...

Grottos are a thing in Chiemgau...

..and then south through verdant valley...

...to Ruhpolding, where our route rejoined the Maximiliansweg. 

Stefan had advised us in advance not to say RUH-pol-ding or Ruh-POL-ding, but Ruh-pol-DING, so we wouldn't stand out as tourists, but we never had opportunity to mention the name to anyone while we were there. 

We ate lunch at a swanky but oddly furnished hotel, where wending one's way to the restroom was like entering a Star Trek holodeck. Afterward, Leslie, who was DONE WALKING, caught a bus to Inzell, while I hiked the rest of the way. Thanks again, 9-Euro ticket!  

Descending the last bit of hill before Inzell

For all of the mountains that surrounded it, Inzell was surprisingly flat--like a small bit of central Illinois plopped down on the edge of the Alps. I have no photos to prove this, of course, because I was too busy being shocked by the flatness, but the map below gives a sense of it. Also shocking were the wide, oddly US-suburban-style streets and sidewalks, the first indication, as I entered town, that Inzell is very young by German standards (incorporated 1818). 

Ta da! 14 miles.