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.