2024 Sept 9 2024 Monday

Fussen to Ehrwald, Austria

Today was the Day 1 for walking the Macs Adventure billed as “Across the Alps: Bavaria to South Tyrol.” The plan was to retrace hiking from Fussen to Hohenschwangau, but we had already experienced that [very difficult] hike and chose to ride the bus instead of hiking. After raining since Sunday afternoon, everything was waterlogged and we were decked out in full rain gear.

8:43 am to 4:25 pm. 9.28 miles, steps 21,990 +1350 feet. Starting temperature 55 degrees with rain.

Richard’s Relive video is here: https://www.relive.cc/view/vdvm14MRNxv

The Alpensee by Hohenschwangau is cloud-covered when we began our hike on its shores.
Walking along the Alpensee, bridges are constructed where the path is closest to the lake. We only saw a couple of people on the path, and they were heading off for a swim.
As we began the trek up from the Alpensee, the trail has some challenges. Now we are following the Lech River Trail towards Reutte. We are seeing more walkers traveling the Lech River trail but almost all walkers are coming north to Fussen.
The rocky path is more treacherous because of the recent rains.
Henrietta and Geoff from Perth Australia are walking the Lech River Trail towards Fussen. We compared the future sites each of us would see—how long it might take to get to Fussen, and where we might be able to find something to eat.
We’re in Austria after traversing the mountain beyond the Alpensee. The trail now is undulating as it takes us away from the highways. We are heading for the Reutte Bahnhof where we hope to catch a bus to Ehrwald.
The parish church in Ehrwald had a mix of classical art and modern art. Murals both outside on a wall and inside on the ceiling were surprisingly modern.
The Ehrwald parish church ceiling.
The Stern Hotel in Ehrwald—our home for the evening. We were lucky enough to have a room with a balcony so we could observe the mountains and keep our room cool.
Sunset from our hotel balcony. It’s obvious that weather is moving in again.
We found a wonderful restaurant across the street for dinner. As Dan has previously commented, it gets tiring deciding what to order for dinner each night. The menu was only in German, so we were struggling to figure out our entree. I asked the waiter to tell me what he felt was the best in the menu. He only hesitated a moment, but said he couldn’t tell me what it was in English. No problem—I told him I trusted him. When my plate arrived, I knew it was pig’s knuckle (something I would usually avoid), but it was delicious and a very filling meal. The waiter was pleased that I liked his recommendation.

6 Responses

  1. Can’t wait for you to get home and have to experience the rigors of cooking and preparing food again. Only then will you have a “real” appreciation of all these delicious looking meals you are sending us pictures of. Wendy and I are “very” envious! The mountains are looking very beautiful. Enjoy.
    Dan and Wendy

    1. We do appreciate the meals and have had some outstanding food. We do try to have easy meals periodically with bread, wine and cheese in our room. Can’t stuff ourselves too much! Yes, the mountains are beautiful.

  2. Yes, you have indeed found modern art. These castles sound as though they may not have had torture chambers. Too modern. But the Alps, well how old are they?

    1. I have yet to see a torture chamber in a castle. In fact, at Schwangau Castle there was a huge mural of a battle scene in the dining room, but there was no blood shown. It was an 1800s renovation of a castle mentioned in the 1200s. We’ve seen many more churches than castles but hope to see a bit more variety soon.