Bayern hike photo dump 3: Rottenbuch to Lechbruck

Sunday, 4/24.

Most hotels/pensions in Germany include breakfast with the cost of the room. Thus over breakfast, I enjoyed making eye contact with the vegetarian-friendly elk head that was mounted on the wall in the breakfast nook. I took a photo of it because back home in Steinebach, there's a moose potholder mounted above the dining room table. Stefan and I had brought it as a gift from Wisconsin, way back when we were in grad school. Family who shall remain anonymous removed it when the house was converted into an AirBnB, thinking it was somehow AirBnB inappropriate, but last year Stefan found it and put it back up, complete with the cigarette his mom had stuck in its mouth. So from the Rottenbuch Elch to the Steinebach Elch, greetings.

One more look at the Kloster on the way out of town. From the sundial smiley face in Rottenbuch to the sundial smiley face in Hechendorf, greetings.

A short way past Rottenbuch, I came across this bench and crucifix. The bench says Milch schmeckt natuerlich Gut (Milk tastes naturally Good), which somehow seemed incongruous beneath a bleeding Jesus.

Because the forecast was for rain all afternoon, I had adjusted my route the night before, planning a more direct way to the first goal of the day, the Wieskirche, a huge country church that's also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It didn't occur to me until I was route-tweaking that I'd be visiting on a Sunday morning. Indeed, the church website tells tourists to wait until 1pm to enter on Sundays. Having been to the Wieskirche before, I contemplated dropping it from my route entirely, assuming I wouldn't be able to go inside--but given how brilliantly blue and clear the skies finally were, I headed there anyway, walking quickly in order to arrive between services.

Note, in this cluster of trail signs, that Rottenbuch is either 3.8 or 2.4 kilometers away, depending on whether you go leftish or right.

More storks in Wildsteig...

The church in Wildsteig had some pretty serious grotto activity going on in back...

A large sign in Wildsteig provided information about the Jakobsweg (note the sunbeam trail symbol, which appears on several of the trail signs I've posted so far). The Jakobsweg runs through Germany in a variety of directions. A pilgrimage trail, it's Germany's answer to the Camino del Santiago; the assorted Jokobsweg trails also connect, via France, all the way to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. 

As I headed out of Wildsteig, signs indicated I was getting closer to Wies: just 3.2 km to go!

Sorry, make that 3.5...

After walking another kilometer or two, I now had just 3.7 km to go; or maybe 3 km, depending on whether I went right or right...

...or maybe 2.5...

Since I was still anticipating thunderstorms, I went off-plan and took the 2.5 km route. This route was intended for bicyclists; Jakobsweg hikers are routed along the 3.7 km = 3 km route.

The Wieskirche:

It turns out that if you arrive between services on a chilly Sunday morning in April, the week after Easter, the only people inside between services are musicians hanging out chatting after the first service and a few fellow tourists. 

Second goal of the day was the 12th-c. Kloster in Steingaden. From the Wieskirche, the path led through a bog. I stuck a hiking pole into the muck and didn't feel the bottom; I'm sure the fragile plants appreciate the boardwalk as much as humans do.

Trail angels Germany offer hiking poles and beverages. The writing on the Rothaus box asks people to put empty bottles back in the box instead of dumping them in the woods. 

A charming kid-made informational sign about cows and milk:

Germans take water management very seriously; it's common to see rivers bordered with bricks or rocks to control how the water flows. Here's a trough that channels one creek over another in Steingaden:

Kloster Steingaden:

The St. Johannes Kappelle next to the Kloster dates back to 1147: 

A sculpture outside of a funeral chapel in the graveyard suggests some pallbearers are happier/sadder than others:

I'm assuming the number 875 indicates the number of years Easter has been celebrated in the Welfenmuenster.

Around back, one wing of the Romanesque cloister remains un-Baroquified:

My final destination of the day was Lechbruck. Clouds were building up...

...but the rain didn't start...

...until just after I checked into the pension at 2pm. It's nice to be at a point where a 15-mile hike feels like a sensible distance.

Once the rain stopped, I headed out for a backpack-less walk up to the hilltop Catholic church. I've decided Baroque Bavarian churches are kind of like truffles. They all look pretty good on the outside...

...but some have way better filling than others. Rottenbuch: dark chocolate with Grand Marnier; Wieskirche: milk chocolate hazelnut; Steingaden: dark chocolate with whiskey; and Lechbruck's Mariä Heimsuchung (Visitation)...maple walnut.

From the hill, I spied a small chapel in a field one hill over, so I tromped up there as well. 

When I was a kid, my siblings and I used to play a roadtrip game called "Cat in the Window," where there was a long list of things you were supposed to look for, but you basically won the game if you saw a cat in a window. I think you also win if you're hiking all by yourself and you see a cat in a window, even if you aren't playing, because cats make the world a better place.  

Ta da!