Beyond the Maximiliansweg Day 8: Königssee to Röthbachfall

Day 8: Wednesday July 20

Our original plan, way back in April, was that Stefan would join me and Leslie in Berchtesgaden for a "yay us!" ferry ride on the Königssee, after he wrapped up his bicycling tour around Mt. Blanc with friends. His broken femur put the kibosh on the bike ride, but he still took a train to Berchtesgaden to meet us.

Or to meet me. Leslie decided a quick day trip to Austria was more appealing than a few--ok, several--more miles of hiking. I jokingly suggested she could go on the epitome of touristy trips, The Original Sound of Music Tour, and that's what she did! (We had also discussed possibly visiting Hitler's hangout, the Eagle's Nest, built for the SS elite, now a historic site held by a charitable trust, but the restaurant and Biergarten on top just seemed so grossly inappropriate, given, you know, the atrocities committed by those SS elite during the Holocaust, that we had no desire to go.) Austria was off limits for me because my Fiktionsbescheinigung wouldn't allow me to re-enter Germany, plus I'm always up for a few--ok, several--more miles of hiking. So off Leslie went to see Salzburg, and off I went for another quick wander around town until Stefan's increasingly delayed train arrived. 

The Stiftskirche St. Peter und Johannes der Täufer was crowded for a service involving kids, so I avoided going in...

...but a hop, skip, and a jump away, St. Andreas was empty:

Note the ornate woodwork adorning the organ loft:

It's trompe l'oeil:

When the time came, I headed toward the bus/train depot to meet Stefan. Near the station, the rail line parallels the bright blue silty Ache:

The 9-Euro ticket was fabulous for us, but it was also fabulous for over 30 million other train riders, which meant trains were often overcrowded and running late. Stefan's train was late coming into Freilassing, so he missed his connection to Berchtesgaden. He managed to catch a bus, but the buses were also overcrowded, so instead of trying to join him on his bus when it came through Berchtesgaden, I hopped on a different bus--one that still had some standing room left for passengers--to meet him at the scenic tourist-magnet, Königssee.

We took a ferry down the lake...

...past Sankt Bartholomä (where one can disembark, but we chose not to, because a hike awaited)...

...to Salet, where we hiked into the Berchtesgaden National Park, up and around the Obersee (see map at bottom)...

..and then up to Röthbachfall, Germany's tallest vertical-drop water fall. Alas, during drought conditions on a blazing hot day, the waterfall was flowing at barely a trickle. Can you see it?

Maybe you can see the waterfall in this cow video? With a heat wave, drought, and wildfires affecting much of Europe this summer, the dry waterfall was a stark reminder that climate change demands a dedicated, intentional, international response. 

Our train out of Berchtesgaden was delayed, so we missed our connection in Freilassing, where the next train was delayed again and again. For reasons unknown, there was a heavy police presence at the station. The posse was inspecting trains coming from Salzburg and carting the occasional person off. Our 3.5-hour trip eventually turned into 5.5 (and poor Stefan had already spent 4 hours on trains and buses that morning). We were glad when we finally arrived back in Steinebach at 11pm.

Ta da! 5.25 miles out of the day's 9--an actual "rest day," aside from the trains and buses.