Stage 12 - The Maximilianweg, the E4 through Bavaria

At Bregenz, at the eastern end of Lake Constance and a day into Austria, the E4 splits.  There are two options, the Nordalpenweg 01 and the Nordalpenweg 04.  Both head east and both finish in Vienna.    I was keen to save time so decided to get through Austria by combining the routes, travelling firstly along the 04 and then, in eastern Austria, crossing over to the 01.  This approached saved me about 10 days.

Part of the saving results from the fact that the 04 is an easier walk than the 01.  It's still Alpine but involves less climbing and you cover more distance each day.  After a couple of days in Austria it crosses into Bavaria and, until you get to Salzburg, involves walking along a route called the Maximiliansweg following a journey undertaken in 1858 by King Maximilian II the then king of Bavaria.  The 04 is an Austrian long distance footpath which, for much its route, takes you into Germany.

Linderhof

When Maximilian undertook the trip he was visiting some of the most beautiful locations in the Bavarian Alps. Starting at Lindau (not on the E4), the route visits Bregenz, Fussen (where his son Ludwig II built the Neuschwanstein Castle), Linderhof (site of another amazing palace built by his son) and Bertesgaden. For much of the time you're walking along or close to the very northern edge of the alps with long views down into Germany.

Friday 29th of July Ruhpolding to Bad Reichenhall

After yesterday's huge walk I had managed to convince myself that today's would be easier. It was shorter (slighty) and there was a lot less climb. The only hint of misplaced optimism were the timings in the guide which pointed to yet another ten hour marathon.

Stayed at a nice Gasthof in Ruhpolding, cheap, clean and a substantial amount of typical Bavarian food - food that is wholesome but not that exciting. The landlady was really nice, very motherly, and actually invited us to make sandwiches at breakfast.

Had our first heavy shower of the day in Ruhpolding town centre. Ruhpolding, as we discovered, had loads of accommodation and was not a place where you would need to worry about advance booking.

The first 10 kilometres of walking to Inzell was a bit dull, easy, and perhaps put us in a slightly over-confident state of mind for the day. At Inzell we had the first indication that the Man with the Maps, the Colonel, was not on top navigational form and that a five day operation might be a day too many.

Gentle walking to Inzell

The real climbing started just after Inzell (after a small disagreement with a local as to the right route) with a path ascending steeply up 900 metres up to Kohleralm. Got there at about 2.30 and stopped to eat the sandwiches we made at the Gasthof.

St Nikolaus

Kohleralm

The weather was now threatening and although the signs were clear enough the information on timings was very confusing. We then started a contour path heading east which in the end took nearly four hours to complete. Not complaining and on a better day the views would have been amazing but the going was tough and progress slow.

Approaching Reichenhaller Haus 

At about four o'clock we got to the Reichenhaller Haus and within a space of 200 metres saw signs that suggested that Bad Riechenhall could be reached in 2, 3 and 4 hours. Just past the Haus we had to take a decision as to whether to continue with the high route or drop down. I said stay high but soon started to doubt my judgement as the rain started to pour down, the path went from high to higher, and the route became increasingly exposed. The last thing Chris wanted to do after 8 hours walking was climb but he stuck with it without complaining despite the fact that the path was getting just a bit dangerous. At last things became less treacherous and we started the mega and often slippery descent down to Bad Riechenhall.

Just before the descent

Bad Reichenhall is quite a big place and although we had a Gasthof booking we had no real idea where it was. After a beer in a bar and instructions we were walking along the street to the Bahnhof with Chris thinking were we travelling in one direction and me the other. The misunderstanding was not resolved by a large street map leaving Chris believing we should turn left and me believing we should turn right. Two local men joined in the debate and although they backed my argument they took so long to reach a conclusion that little confidence was generated.

We headed of in the direction suggested but still couldn't find the street. Eventually we asked a couple of well dressed Germans the way and they suggested that the Colonel had been right all along and sent us the 500 metres or so back to the Bahnhof. Despite the fact that it was now well past eight Chris was jubilant and his victory dance was a bit embarrassing in front of our new cosmopolitan friends.

Back at the Bahnhof, and confronted with the barrier of the railway lines, the confidence of Colonel Chris started to ebb forcing him to seek fresh instructions in a nearby liquor store. Just then the two well dressed Germans reappeared having come all the way to the station to find us, apologise for giving us the wrong directions, and to then escort us all the way back to the Gasthof in the direction originally suggested by yours truly. Chris took the disappointment of being wrong very well perhaps helped by the fact that I only reminded him of his mistake a dozen times.

Anyway alls well that ends well. The Gasthof was excellent, very old fashioned and chaotic, but great fun. Dinner and two huge beers in a local bar finished an interesting and enjoyable day.

Tuesday 26th July Nusdorf am Inn to Hohenaschau

Guest blog: John Tatam

Today showed what Bavaria can offer - sunny weather, varied terrain, big climbs and descents, green green vistas, wonderful mountain huts, beer, very bad food ... and all completely German- we have not seen any other English people in 4 days.

Having carried out some delicate blister surgery (John on Chris) - well-at least that is what they claimed to be doing when I went into their room - we all set off renewed and reinvigorated after a long tough previous day (though shocked and saddened by the news about Roger's metatarsal (2nd)).

According to John's guide we had a straight forward, if long, climb up and then a descent. As ever it turned out a little differently with two sub peaks before our summit - Hochries, at 1568 m. As with yesterday there were lots of people at the top who had arrived by cable car though the compensation was the availability of beer and noodle soup.

Looking back to Wendelstein

We then had a long walk down to c, a charming village dominated by a schloss in the middle.

Hohenaschau

Conversation had begun promisingly with critiques of Thatcherism, an analysis of the impact of the failure of German unification in 1848, the calibre of recruits to the British army, the difference between the focus of men's and women's gaze when first entering a room of strangers and why Chris had been engaged four times (all of which John had learned about from his podcasts - except the last one obviously) but increasingly John and Chris became fixated by farming and, in particular, in breeding in rural Lincolnshire - topics on which, in fairness, they spoke with considerably more authority than the earlier ones (except the one about Chris, obviously). This did at least mean that I felt freed from the constraint of trudging along at their pace.

We have been told that from tomorrow the weather will begin to deteriorate again with rain returning on Thursday Friday and Saturday. I return to sunny London.

John's facility with languages has, if anything, been overplayed. I wish him luck in Hungary.

Monday 25th of July Staffelalm to Nusdorf am Inn

After yesterday's disappointment it felt really important to get the walk back on track and I had agreed with John that irrespective of the weather we were going to try and walk to Nusdorf am Inn. The stage however was a particularly challenging one, long and with a lot of climb, and we had a new team member, Chris Dickinson, who would have to walk 11 hours on his first day.

Things started really well. It wasn't raining and we were walking before 8 o'clock. It was soon clear that Chris with his army background and navigation skills was going to help us through the maze of routes and really bad German footpath signing. By 10.45 we had climbed over Kegelspitz and were in Fischbachau.

To be honest we didn't really need to go to the top of Wendelstein to stick to the E4. The Maximiliansweg goes to the top but not the E4 and this diversion added another 350 metres. Wendelstein is over 1800 metres and the climb up from Fischbachau well over 1000 metres but given the dry weather it seemed a shame to miss the summit. I enjoyed the climb and after the mess of the last few days it was a good confidence booster. Saw lots of deer on the way up.

Wendelstein

Wendelstein has a train and a cable car going up to it so after a quiet walk up the top was all hustle, bustle and crowded viewing platforms. Although the weather was far from perfect the views were still impressive.

Just a bit cloudy

The descent was a real 1400 metre knee cruncher but actually went surprisingly well. Had not had much contact with Chris for the past 30 years or so and the three of us had lots of experiences to share and the conversation was the perfect distraction from the discomfort of the climb down.

Dropping down from Wendelstein

Inevitably the worst bit of the walk came when we hit the hard surfaces at the bottom of the mountain and the final 5 kilometres into Nusdorf. Fearing blisters we stopped for a beer and didn't complete the walk until just before 7. Including stops we had been on our feet for 11 hours, covered 35 kilometres and climbed over 1800 metres. Definitely the toughest day so far in Germany but it confirmed that with half decent weather and good navigation the demanding schedule I've set myself is feasible.

Sunday 24th July Tutzinger to Schliersee

Bad bad day. The first day I feel I have really failed to complete a section of the walk.

Because we only got to Tutzinger we needed a following wind to make Schliersee - it was a head wind instead. Roger and Sue were only scheduled to do the first part of today's walk and decided last night to make a leisurely descent. John and I were walking by 7.30 but the weather was absolutely terrible.

Arrived at Brauneck by 9.30 but we were cold and our foot ware was wet through. Walking to Schliersee on a good day from Brauneck would be a challenge, attempting it today felt dangerous.

Decided to stop at the hutte and work out our options and within minutes had been adopted by a friendly German couple. They were walking the Maximillianweg in the other direction but had decided to that was not safe to go on. Worked out with them the best way to get to Schliersee and in the end they came down on the lift with us to Lenggries, took us to the station and helped us buy tickets.

I was really cold and it wasn't until I got on the train and felt some warmth coming back into me that I realised how cold I had got.

Checking my emails on the train I suddenly realised that today was the day that another cousin, Chris Dickinson, was joining me. My sense of time is completely shot and for some reason I thought he was joining me on Wednesday the day John finished. Changing trains to Schliersee we then bumped into Chris and made the final part of the journey together. What an amazing piece of timing, I only wish I had planned it.

So a nice bit of good fortune in an otherwise miserable day. I'm very disappointed about missing a twenty kilometre stretch of the E4 but bashing on in the rain was risking injury and illness. There wasn't really a sensible choice.

Postscript: John Tatam

When I arrived on Friday it was clear that John had not been around people for some time. While I could cope with communication limited to the odd grunt and occasional squeak I found the personal habits and hygiene rather more disturbing - I had unwisely decided to share a room with him on the first night.

I am not quite sure where we have been over the last two days as it has been raining constantly and visibility has rarely been more than 4 or 5 metres. This morning I put on wet socks wet shoes and wet waterproofs and headed out into the pouring rain and mist trudging up the mountain.

However there are many reasons to be cheerful:

- on two occasions the clouds cleared and suddenly we realised we were not in a Gormerly mist room (was it Gormerly?) but in the middle of spectacular mountains
- the six day forecast - while Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday are predicting rain, Tuesday may only have drizzle and some sunny intervals!2
- I have more or less kept up with John despite considerable age and infirmity ( no doubt he will claim he slowed down)
- friendly Germans ( oh yes!)
- good company - Sue, Roger and Chris
- kaiserschmarrn (twice)
- and 5 straight contracts at nomination whist...

Friday 22nd July Hornlehutte to Walchensee.

On my own today as my bovine challenged friends came a different way to Walchensee. After yesterday's marathon today's walk was much easier and although it was 27 kilometres long involved very little climb. Left Hornlehutte at 8 and was at Walchensee by 3.

Hornlehutte was perhaps a little more primitive than Kensenhutte where I stayed the night before. Just a dormitory, no family rooms and no showers. Good food though and as I was the only person there was able to spread out and get cleaned up.

The first part of today's walk involved a walk along the top with great views down to Unterammergua and the mountains beyond, which at the beginning of the day you could see. The ground however was very wet and the cattle have really churning it up.

Hochschergen

The next part was a very steep 1,000 metre descent through trees down to Grafenaschau. Was grateful for the trees as they provided some cover from the rain but it was treacherous and I did manage to fall over a couple of time.

The most boring part of the walk was from Grafenaschau to Eschenlohe. A flat 7 kilometres on roads across what must have been the bottom of an old lake. Two cars stopped to ask me the way and both were disappointed with the response. It's amazing how often people in cars stop to ask a man plodding across the countryside with a large bag on his back local directions.

The last stage of the walk, along a valley from Eschenlohe to Walchensee was the nicest. There are E4 options here, one which takes you over a hill and one which sticks to the valley. The valley for the most part has a river running along the bottom and at some points this cuts a really steep gorge. The location of the accommodation meant taking the valley bottom route.

Eschenlaine

Walchensee of course is another large lake, going to see lots or large lakes over the next couple of weeks, and hopefully I'll get to see one when the suns out and it's not cold and drizzly. The rumour is that the weather will get better in a couple of days.

Walchensee

Have been joined by my cousin John Tatam today so there should be four of us tackling tomorrow's walk. After yesterday's failure as an E4 guide I have a chance to redeem myself or fail on an even bigger scale. Seeing Roger and Sue later on this evening and will get an update on the what happened with the great cattle ambush.

Wednesday 20th July Fussen to Kenzenhutte

Fussen is a really interesting place, certainly enough to do on a day awafrom the trail, but all I did on my rest day was buy a new hat. I'm a Philistine, I feel bad, but no doubt I'll get over it. By the way I bought, at hugely expense a gortex hat, Given the damage I did to my forehead on the one sunny day I didn't wear a hat I think it's a good investment. The only question, after today's walk, is when am I going to get to see the sun again.

Today was the first full walk with Roger and Sue and the weather was really bad. They are new to alpine walking and the mountain's towering over Fussen are a bit challenging and there was some initial discussion about taking a cable car to the top. In the end they bravely decided they wanted to walk with me although we didn't take the "Alpine Gefahr!" option, which we think means "watch out this is scary".

Given the rain, which started early in the morning, we did cheat a bit and caught a bus out of town to foot of the cable car. This knocked off some through town walking and perhaps saved us about a kilometre. We started walking at 8.45, the sign said we had a three and half hour climb to the restaurant at the top of the cable car, but going nice and steadily we actually made it by 11.15. 900 metres of climb in two and half hours, not bad when you've just arrived from the UK.

If the weather had been better we would have enjoyed amazing views of Fussen's famous castles, as it was we did get a bit of a taster.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Having done so well to get to the top quickly it was a real blow to find the restaurant shut (the weather was too bad for the cable car). No option but to press on. There are two E4 options at this point, a high scary option and a easier more direct option. There is also a third Maximillianweg option which is an intermediary to the other two. All three routes take you to the Kenzenhutte, and given the weather we went for the direct route.

Even the direct route on a better day would have been stunning. A narro path high up on the side of a steep valley followed by a really sharp drop through a gorge and then a walk along a forest trail through tall pines. Trouble was feet were soaked, I was cold, and it was hard to appreciate even what might have been in a driving cold rain.

In the rain coming down from the Tegelberghaus

My favourite bit of the walk was the last hour. The path went through at a wide flat valley with a lake at the bottom. Occasionally clouds lifted enough to provide just a glimpse of huge towering cliffs we surrounded by. There were waterfalls in every direction. The final little sting in tail was a walk along the edge of one of these crashing torrents, a slip at which point would certainly have finished things nicely.

Waterfall up to Kenzenhutte

Got to Kenzenhutte at about 2.30 and have grabbed the table next to the fire. Hats, socks and gloves are currently drying out nicely and for me at least the memory of freezing feet is starting to fade.

First Impressions from Sue.
Choosing July to join John was based on a mistaken assumption that it would be warm and sunny - how stupid was that! Tucked up by the fire and I feel like we're on a skiing holiday. Highlight of the first day for me was the early part of the descent with some quite steep grassy drops to one side onto a tree lined valley. Found a prime spot for lunch - huddled up in a tiny hut/observation point a bench just big enough with the rain tipping down outside.

Saturday 16th of July Staufnerhaus to Sonthofen

For once got my timing right. Walked along a brilliant ridge in perfect weather and with absolutely great views. Today was definitely a contender for the best walk so far. Had originally planned to go from Lingenau to Gunzesried, and as it turns out that would have been a really tough 11 hour walk and I would also have been doing it yesterday when the weather wasn't nearly as good as today.

I thought I had done all the hard work yesterday but today was a tougher walk. Didn't have my GPS on but I expect that it involved at least 1500 metres of climb and even more descent. It was a ridge walk but there were five significant climbs along it as well as some smaller ones. Basically it's a sandstone ridge, with rock very similar to the conglomerate I came across at Monserrat. It forms the northern flank of Alps and and after it everything drops away very steeply into vast expanse of Germany. To the south there is a valley and then the much high Lechtal Alps.

Got away at about 7.30 with first climb up the Hochgrat right outside the door of the hut. It was perfect morning and the views were just great and it actually stayed clear all day with none of usual heat haze gathering to obscure everything. Was able to see much of the route I walked with Christine last year in particular the scary ridge on the Hoher Freschen which we climbed just as the sun was setting on the first day. It's the mountain in the middle distance and the ridge running up the front is clearly visible.

Hoher Freschen in the middle distance

Not sure which were my favourite views, the views south across the valley to the higher Alps or the views east and west along the ridge

Lechtal Alps

East along the Ridge

Just to prove I was really there a self portrait at the top of Rindalphorn. No hat today and my huge forehead got a bit burnt.

Rindalphorn

As the walk progress it got busier and every sort of walker was out. Really nice to see so many young people walking, lots of women, and a bit scary, lots of people carrying babies on those backpack things. Did it myself when Hannah was a baby but it now looks a bit mad. I didn't actually see anyone carrying a baby up the ladder on the optional last peak.

Fire escape

Got down to Gunzesried at about 2, had something to eat and decided to walk down to Sonthofen to make tomorrow's walk a bit shorter (the weather is apparently changing again). Wanted to buy a map but couldn't even find the town centre and spent the last 90 minutes or so trying to work out where the E4 leaves heading east. Think I have but will do a bit more research later on the Internet. Staying in a nice not too expensive Gasthof on the east side of Sonthofen.