Wadlstrumpf

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.

Not the Maximiliansweg Day 4: Marquartstein to Bergen

Day 4: Saturday July 16

This was a planned rest day. Had we stuck with the Maximiliansweg, we would have needed to climb over a mile elevation gain across 12 miles to Hochfelln (a mountain peak), arriving by 4:45pm in order to take the gondola down to Bergen for our overnight stay. It just sounded like way to much to accomplish, without a backup place to stay atop the mountain if we missed the last lift down. So instead we walked a leisurely 8 miles on bike paths in the valley, reaching our accommodation in Bergen by lunchtime. We decided to spend the afternoon visiting the nearby Chiemsee, the largest lake in Bavaria, which we had been seeing views of from the mountains since our first day of hiking.

Bayern, Bayern!

It was another minimal-photography day.

After arriving in Bergen, we enjoyed lunch at the bakery adjacent to our pension, then walked a mile+ to the train station in Bernhaupten to catch a train to Prien. In Prien, we walked another mile+ to the ferry docks, at which point Leslie noted with consternation that we had walked an awful lot already for a "rest day." We took a ferry to the smaller of the lake's two islands, the Fraueninsel (the Herreninsel will have to wait until next time), and, with a bazillion or so other tourists, walked around the island (which didn't take long--it's very small). We ate dinner at a restaurant in Prien, where Leslie lost and found a beloved item, after which we headed back to Bergen by train and foot. Thanks again, Deutsche Bahn 9-Euro ticket!

Approaching the Fraueninsel

Ta da! 8.1 miles (plus at least another 4 getting to, from, and around Prien).

Maximiliansweg Day 3: SonnenAlm to Marquartstein

Day 3: Friday July 15

This is the day when we began to doubt the story that we were following the king's footsteps.

Dawn was gorgeous in all directions...

SonnenAlm

The SonnenAlm wasn't directly on the Maximiliansweg, but we reconnected with the namesake trail after a mile or so.

Then fog rolled in:

We turned off the main road onto the trail to Marquartstein, which was in the same direction as the Kampenwand, a wall of pointy peaks:

After several switchbacks, we arrived at the saddle where we discovered that Leslie has the same life-preserving fear of heights as me.

Sure, Maximilian II might have hiked up here, but we have doubts that he and his entourage crossed over this spot. There was enough fog that, peering over the steep edge of the saddle, we couldn't see down to the trail on the other side.

As we contemplated what to do, a family of three approached. I asked auf deutsch if they had opinions about the trail for those with Hoehenangst. The dad encouraged us to turn around: "You look well prepared," he said, pointing to our boots and hiking poles, "but if you have a fear of heights, you should turn around now, while you still can, because there are spots ahead where you cannot. We have enough accidents around here as it is." So we headed back down as the papa and mama pulled out a rope and prepared to belay their 5-year-old daughter down to the trail on the other side.

Happily, because we were in Germany, there were multiple other options for hiking down to Marquartstein. Our detour added a few extra miles to our intended distance, but was beautiful and quite manageable for the acrophobes. The fog stayed with us most of the day.

Moo

Zygaena transalpina

Eurasian white admiral

Apparently moths were the last things I deemed photo-worthy that day. After making our way down the mountain, we eventually emerged from woods into a field a few miles outside of Marquartstein. We passed through a bustling Biergarten/playground that was clearly a popular place for families to hang out on a Friday afternoon, then continued downhill until, at last, with the sun finally shining, we arrived at our charming hotel in Pettendorf, just north of Marquartstein.

Ta da! 10.72 miles.

Maximiliansweg Day 2: Hochrieshuette to SonnenAlm

Day 2: Thursday July 14

The goal of the day was to hike down from Hochries to Aschau, then up Kampenwand to the SonnenAlm.

Another view from the Hochrieshuette--the field where paragliders launch

Heading down from the hut, we greeted our first cows of the day:

Looking back past the cows up to the hut:

Then it was down down down through the woods...

...with an eventual view of the Chiemsee (which we also saw much of the previous day from Hochries) in the background, with Aschau below the trail:

We learned that the elk in the woods above Aschau speak ~~Boarisch~~ ~~Bairisch~~ ~~Bayrisch~~ Bayerisch and don't like noisy surprises at dawn and dusk:

The town of Aschau presumably grew around the castle on the hill, Hohenaschau, which was first built in the 12th century. We paused in Aschau for lunch, after which Leslie and I parted ways for a few hours. While I hiked up to the SonnenAlm, she visited the castle, then took the gondola lift up.