Thursday 28th July Marquartstein to Ruhpolding

After yesterday's high wire acts and general fireworks today's walk was more heavy duty, more of a slog. The walk was much longer, involved two big climbs, and the weather had once again turned against us. Given the length of the walk, 34 kilometres, and the 1800 metre climb, it was absolutely essential that we didn't loose any time by missing the track.

We had an extra kilometre or so to walk before we found the track but after that it was a solid, steady uphill climb through trees until we were completely surrounded by a cold clinging mist.

Coffee at the Hochgernhaus Hutte was the first bit of relief and meeting the spitting image of Rodney from Only Fools and Horses the second. Given recent encounters with savage bovines Rodney's first hand knowledge of bulls was of interest, he kept bulls for beef down in the village. Less welcome was his view that we wouldn't make Ruhpolding before 8 in the evening and that the cliffs above us were very dangerous particularly when you couldn't see where your going. Rodney declined the invitation to give us a lift up the mountain on his tractor.

Top map man / Hochgern

Returning to the trail and the mist we got to the top of Hochgern about 30 minutes after leaving the hut. Chris studied the map carefully and concluded that we should take the direction opposite to my instincts at least and he was dead right. It was absolutely critical that we found the right path down and his navigation was on the nail.

Loosing 600 metres of altitude was a bit of a pain but at least we got out of the cloud and for a time the weather seemed to be improving. We actually had our sandwiches in the sunshine.

The second climb was not so high as the first but it was later in the day and energy had already been sapped. The route gave us the choice of climbing all the way to the top of Hochfelln or heading down from the pass just beneath. Presented with the invitation we declined it and shot of down the mountain.

Climbing up Hochfelln

After walking for five months it's easy for me to forget how big these walks are for new joiners. Huge descents at the end of a long day can be treacherous when your knackered and sure enough Chris missed the path and crumbled down like some large animal victim of a hunter's rifle. Fortunately the fall was not as bad as it looked and he was soon on his feet again non the worse.

As usual the final bit of the walk was on hard surfaces and arriving in Ruhpolding in the rain after six we dived into the first Gashof we could see. Big big walk but in the end nailed without too much drama.

Wednesday 27th of July Hohenaschau to Marquartstein

Report by visiting Chris Dickinson another cousin.

We feel lucky in Tatum's choice of hotel in Hohenaschau. A warm welcome by a helpful barman who wanted to practice his accomplished English on us followed by good meal. Compared to previous menus this one gave us a really extensive choice. We apologise for leaving the table before making adequate arrangements for the bill! An honest mistake Guv.

There seemed a long walk down a metalled road before rejoining the E4. However we eventually came to a parkplatz with good signed and a warning that our first summit was four and a half hours a way. It did bring a slight droop to my morale. Hayes is an accomplished walker as you would expect, he has a relentless step only varied by the gradient. I guess he can carry on all day without rest. Tatum is a gazelle who eats up anything over 45 degrees, being a cyclist with no weight helps. Your author is an old front row forward designed to carry heavy weights.

Pleasingly the start was demanding but steady and we ate up the metres. We distracted ourselves by talking on various subjects such as leadership and the battle of Waterloo! We passed a few other walkers, including a gentleman who could have a least given us 10 years moving at a very respectable pace who we were to meet later on the summit.

Following coffee and buttermilk at one of the many mountain huts on this side we continued up the steady slope, thankfully still less than 45 degrees. We soon stood below the summit reading the story of how the spectacular cross had been hauled to the summit many years ago. However this did herald the end of the kinder part of the route and we started on an interesting scramble to the summit. Of course this was Tatum's world and he bounded ahead like demented four legged mountain goat, while yours truly left a stream of perspiration along the last 150m. We did make the summit in at least an hour better than the time on the sign at the bottom. We were rewarded with some wonderful views and usefully an idea of the way ahead. Hayes sprung up a conversation with the elder walker we had seen earlier in the day. They swooped stories of Ben Nevis and the horrors of rubbish at altitude.

Scrambling up Grasjoch/Kampenwand

At the top of Grasjoch

Tatum came to gloat over our descent from the ridge down some fixed ropes. I stood back with respect and allowed Hayes to inspect the feasibility of the way down. Mad fool leapt down swinging off the metal daring me to follow, sadly I had little choice. You can see from the picture that it was all dramatic stuff. The deer (sic) cousin left for Blighty by different route, we wish him well and safe journey.

Scrambling down Grasjoch

We fought through the bushes along the pathway making it like a tunnel along the south side of the ridge until we climbed and topped at the ridge a few hundred metres away. There four or five paths met and ever believing in local information I asked a couple the way to tonight's destination. They were not local but from Berlin and had done the complete ascent last year, good enough for me! Sadly their memory was not as good as we hoped and we lost nearly 300m before we convinced ourselves of our mistake. My boots had to be dragged back up.

All the way back to the crest and we found a partially hidden track into the undergrowth that took us down the intended route. When we crossed the ridge again we say the very distinctive path we spied from Kampenwand and my heart picked up a joyous beat. On the way down we met many kind locals who wanted to talk about John's feat. We eventually caught up with the couple from Berlin, interestingly wife stopped to say how sorry they were to send us the wrong way earlier and the husband was so embarrassed that he had to walk on. Of course we were magnanimous and said there was no harm done, a different line to our discussion half an hour previously.

Looking back to Kampenwand

Sadly as we dropped down we entered trees and had to walk down steep forest tracks, the only excitement being the speeding bikes and the lycra covered riders. Nineteen kilometres and 1600m does not sound much but the rope descents provided sufficient excitement for this old cart horse.

Saturday 23rd of July Walchensee to Tutzinger Hutte

Despite a narrow bull run escape Roger and Sue decided to give walking the E4 another chance. Maybe encouraged by the arrival of another pair of legs, my cousin John Tatam, or maybe because they felt that things couldn't be as bad again, they once again loaded up their rucksacks and returned to the trail.

Within minutes of setting off it started to rain heavily, setting the pattern for the day. John revealed, on the 600 metre climb up Jocheralm, that he is a superfast walker but his ability to walk in the right direction had still to be tested. The first test came at Kotalm, about 20 minutes later, when the two Johns marched down a path in the wrong direction a mistake which cost us about 30 minutes. The man with the maps, Map Man Roger, didn't spot the mistake proving that no one is infallible.

For a time it looked like the weather might improve but within minutes of the waterproofs coming off it started to rain again and by the time we got to Staffelalm it was raining really heavily. The little hut was open and we all piled in, bought some tea and ate our sandwiches. This turned out to be the first and only piece of good luck we had all day.

Not raining

The young woman in the hut told us that we could to Tutzinger Hutte in a couple of hours, it was then 2 o'clock, so the target for the day, Brauneck, was still feasible. We made great progress despite really poor visibility and a very slippery path. After about 90 minutes, and a short steep climb, we started what we thought was the descent down to Tutzinger. After about 45 minutes, and after the path had turned into a forest road, we started to worry that we loosing too much height. Sure, according to the app on my IPhone we were now well below Tutzinger, and in the rain and the mist it was impossible, even with the maps to work out where we were.

Normal service resumed

All we could do was retrace our steps back up the hill and after another 50 minutes or so had got back to the point where we started to descend. Looking around we found another path heading up hill to the left and behind a tree a sign pointing us up to Tutzinger. After a steep slippery climb, when it actually stopped raining, we finally started the descent to hutte. Got there at six and decided it was best and safest to call it a day. The hut was pretty full but they managed to squeeze us in. Good food and a really pleasant evening.

Approaching Tutzinger

Bad weather is really spoiling this stretch of the walk and slowing me down. Have made navigational mistakes when the sun is shining but it's much more difficult in the rain. Maps of course help but unless you constantly track your position, take bearings - which feels unnecessary on a signed route - they only help so much. Only getting to Tutzinger makes tomorrow's walk a really big challenge.

Thursday 21st July Kenzenhutte to Hornlehutte

I have failed miserably as an E4 guide. After only two days I have managed to loose Roger and Sue. A percentage loss might be tolerable but a 100 per cent failure rate probably destroys any chance of developing an alternative career as a long distance walking guide.

My approach to navigation had already failed to impress Roger. We are at the opposite ends of the navigation spectrum. Roger is a detailed map man, comes armed with routes marked on maps, understands all the potential perils and the options for avoiding them. I'm more irresponsible and map-lite.

With Roger armed with more detailed information I progressively surrendered my E4 guiding responsibility happy to let the man with the maps take the decisions. Until the point I lost Roger and Sue this worked well.

Today was a big walk, about 27 kilometres and 1700 metres. There was a high level option, which might actually have involved less climb, but this involved crossing some fairly exposed stretches and it was felt that the longer route was safer.

After yesterday the weather at least had improved. Initially in fact it was perfect, fresh and clear, and we had some great views as we left the Kenzenhutte and climbed up over our first ridge,the Backenalmsattel.

Kenzenhutte

Going down the valley to Linderhof was not so pleasant. The vegetation was high and wet and we should have put out leggings on but instead got soaked. More challenging was crossing a ford in full flood. I helpfully took the photographs but Roger and Sue unsportingly refused to fall over in the torrent.

Boots off

Linderhof was full of tourists visiting the palace. We had the prospect of a 700 metre climb up to August-Schuster-Haus so didn't hang about any longer than it took to drink a cup of coffee and eat a Mars bar. Liked the statue in front of the palace more than the palace.

Outside the Linderhof

The walk up to the August-Schuster-Haus was if anything tougher than we expected and we didn't get there until two. Great bowls of soup enjoyed in an amazing location restored flagging spirits.

August-Schuster-Haus

We got down to Unterammergua really quickly but still had to make our third climb of the day, another 600 metres up to Hornlehutte. It was now raining and Roger and Sue were running on empty.

The way up was pretty straightforward and after initially declining the invitation from Roger and Sue for me to press on to the top and I decided to do just that. About a 100 metres of climb from the summit I had to run a gauntlet of cows who for some reason were neither eating grass or chewing the cud, and who were a bit spooky about something. The thought did cross my mind that Roger and Sue, without my rural heritage, might find their behaviour a little more than interesting but I'm afraid I just pressed on already tasting the beer in the hut.

I arrived at 6, ordered my beer and waited. At 6.30 I went back down the trail to look for them, did at lot of shouting but no sign of anyone. Must admit I was getting worried. No reception on the phone and in any event Roger had broken his phone and I didn't have Sue's number. At 7.15 went to the top of the summit behind the hut. Had a voicemail from a friend in London saying that Roger and Sue, confronted by aggressive cows had decided to walk back down to Unterammergua. Got a text later confirming that they were safe and that we would meet up tomorrow night. Going to be an interesting postmortem on this one, already a dispute about the sex of one of the animals and the absence of bull fighting expertise in the party.

Monday 18th July Unterjoch to Fussen

Big news today is that I met up with Roger and Sue, friends from London, and they're going to be walking with me for the next few days. They walked up from Fussen to Falkenstein and I met them there for lunch. Really great to see familiar faces.

I know it's not my fault but can't help feeling slightly guilty that I haven't been able to arrange better weather for them. Today was cold, damp, and of course the views were restricted. Outlook for the next few days is not brilliant.

Their arrival also means new shoes and socks, for the time being at least the smell of damp dogs has been banished.

After the climbs of the last three days today was a much easier walk. Turned out that my gasthof was about 15 minutes outside of Unterjoch so the day started with a short walk along the side of a stream to the village. Unterjoch by the way looks nice and has lots of places in it to stay; must be some sort of winter resort.

Unterjoch

After a gentle uphill climb to Scheidbachalpe, the route takes you down to a river which you follow through a valley all the way to Pfronten/Ried. A very easy walk and changing into and out of waterproofs was the only challenge.

Vils

Pfronten is a polycentric settlement and deciding which centre to choose was a challenge. After a couple of false starts I found the right one, found a sign with a map, and I was on the E4 up to Falkenstein. After such a gentle day the climb up to Falkenstein was savage, not helped by a phone call from Roger half way up when my phone buried deep in my waterproofs. Anyway meeting them in the restuarant at the top was a real reward.

Falkenstein

Nice walk down to Fussen mainly through trees. The border between Germany and Austria is very convoluted around here and we were constantly crossing from one country to the other and changing footpath signing systems as we did. Lovely lake just before we got to
Fussen.

With Sue

27 kilometre walk and a guess a climb of about of 600 metres but with more descent. Roger seems to think he walked about 26 kilometres up to Falkenstein and back (with 1500 metres of climb) but my guide (which I now have), says 20 - I think I'll keep quiet about this - don't want to discourage him.

Fussen is a picture postcard town and it's two fairy tale castles are a huge tourist attraction. Roger and Sue went round them yesterday and were not impressed with the crowd herding techniques. Good news as far as I'm concerned, have an excuse to give the tour a miss. Resting up today and then two nights in mountain huts.

Sunday 17th of July Sonthofen to Unterjoch

It sounds a bit like a schoolboy excuse but I do have German guide to the Maximillianweg I just don't have it with me. Couldn't find a shop with a local map yesterday and couldn't get on the internet to research the route last night. There were lots of E4 signs taking me to Sonthofen but none taking me through it. I somehow had to sniff my way to the E4.

From a schematic at the hotel I knew that the route went high up on the north side of the valley running east out of Sonthofen and that it had to cross the only bridge over the river in the same valley. So the first thing I did was find the river and then, walking alongside it, find the bridge. Sure enough at the bridge, at Binswagen, there were lots of footpath signs although none mentioned the E4 or Unterjoch. Worse still heading through Binswagen I couldn't work out which paths to follow.

Decided to follow the road up the side of the valley on the basis that the footpath would have to cross it at some point and, after 20 minutes, just as I was about to give up on this strategy I got to Walten, found the route and, better still a map. Took a picture of map and used that to navigate my way to Unterjoch.

Desperate navigation measures

Not a long walk but quite a tough one involving a steady 900 metre climb up to the highest point at the Tiefenbacher Eck and the weather, which was nice and sunny at the start, was obviously getting worse. Messing about in Sontofen meant that it was getting onto 10 before I was really on the route. So by the time I could see back across the valley to yesterday's walk it was already getting cloudy.

Back to Sonthofen

Saw signs firstly to Breiten and then Bildstockle and followed them. The signs were not exactly thick on the ground and at one point had walked at least 500 metres without anything confirming I was on the right route. Went past a lovely church in miniature just before Breiten.

Mini church

Bildstockle turns out to be a giant cross. On the map the path goes from solid red to a line of red dashes and sure enough on the ground the convention changes as well. Initially an E4 sign points you to Tiefenbacher Eck but then I had blue poles, blue blobs on trees and occasional blue cross to follow. You could also make out the path although after you got to Tiefenbacher Eck itself, which encouragingly had an E4 sign, the path became very indistinct. Worse still the blue dashes then decided to distribute themselves either side of an electric fence which I discovered was live. The weather was getting worse.

Eventually got to a sign, with red and white markings, pointing me to Unterjoch. Great joy. An hour later, at about 2, was in the very nice and very reasonably priced Gasthof am Buchl. It was raining heavily by 2.30.

By the way I should get the guide book, new socks and new shoes tomorrow. Just like the last two times I replaced my shoes the sole of the right shoe cracked once it knew it was no longer needed.

Friday 15th of July Lingenau to Staufnerhaus

Because I'm two days ahead of schedule I'm putting in a couple of short days, today and tomorrow, and staying at the Staufnerhaus, a hut run by the German Alpine Association. It's very much like the refuges I stayed in while crossing the Pyrenees and along the Jura Howenweg but because it's now in the walking season and on a Friday it's full. I'm sleeping in the dormitory, at the end of a giant bunk bed which sleeps thirteen people on each level. The end spot is a prime one but maybe the management have heard about the imminent arrival of a smelly Englishman. Fortunately footwear is not allowed in the sleeping area.

The really good thing about staying here is that I start a spectacular ridge walk tomorrow almost from the doorstep. The hut is at 1600 metres and after climbing a couple of hundred metres to a peak called Hochgrat and, if the weather is good, could get to enjoy a twelve kilometre ridge walk, including a little climb up to another peak called Rindalphorn, before dropping down to Sonthofen. Walking 5 and half hours today and climbing in total about 1200 metres I've basically done all the hard work for two days of walking.

I don't have a GPS trail on my IPod for the German or Austrian stretch of the E4. While I'm pretty sure I could have got across Switzerland just using the signs it's a lot harder here. Even with a map it's confusing and around any sort of settlement the density of routes is so great that you constantly have to check against the map to see where you are. I think the local trails have yellow markings and the national trails red ones but there seems to be a lot of national trails. So I'm currently walking on the northern variant of the E4, the alternative to the tougher slower southern Alpine variant. I'm also on the local higher variant of the northern variant of the E4, which at the moment is also the Alpenweg 04 and the Maximillianweg. I'm also from time to time sharing the route with the Via Alpina, another set of long distance trails. No wander it can get a bit complicated on the ground.

Anyway I got here, it's not raining although it's not very warm either.

The next village along the valley from Lingenau is Hittisau but instead of going along the valley the route takes you up it's side through the trees before dropping down again. Nice view down to Lingenau.

Lingenau

Hittisau is another place with lots accommodation and I guess I could have stayed there yesterday if I was trying to get to Sonthofen today.

Hittisau

The walk then takes you up the lovely Lecknerta Valley, past the Leckner See, and here you can either stick with the lower E4 variant in the valley or head up the side to the ridge and Staufnerhaus for a walk along the top.

Leckner See

On the way up to the Stuafnerhaus you cross the border into Germany marked with a scruffy sign.



Arrived at the hut at about 2.30. Accommodation to Austrian Alpine Club Members (like me) costs 8 euros which means that tonight is the first time I've been within budget since leaving France.

Staufnerhaus

PS

There are definitely people staying the night up here on the mountain who are not walkers, have come up the chair lift to have a special night sleeping in a dormitory, takes all sorts.

PPS

Interesting night in the dorm. I will try and describe it for those people who have never done it.

Your sleeping with a mixed group of people, men, women, children, different ages, different physical shapes, all confined to a fairly small space. A lot of people are in walking groups and know each other so there is a lot of noisy whispering until things settle down. There is little point in going to bed early, unless your an amazingly sound sleeper, as the last people to come up, although they try to be quite, will, alcohol fuelled, still wake you up.

You should try not to look but a mixed group of people going to bed is not a pretty site. Huge lager cultivated bellies, rolls of sagging white flesh, spindly legs - stuff of imminent nightmares.

And then the noise of sleep, snoring, farting, grunting and shuffling. If you want to get back to nature then share a room with thirty other people.

Thought I never would but actually had a good night's sleep. Sleep to about 5, awoke just as it was starting to get light, and listened to the symphony. Not like the dawn chorus, more base tones.

Thursday 14th July Bregenz to Lingenau

If you read yesterday's diary entry you will know that I wasn't exactly looking forward to today's walk. Well as usual I survived and after going without anything to eat last night I more than made amends tonight.

It did rain all night and was raining this morning but the weather gradually got better as the day went on. Not exactly sunny but only occasional showers. The ground and grass however were very wet and with the shoes I'm wearing you might as well put your foot in a bucket of water as walk through wet grass as your feet will get instantly soaked either way.

Today's first drama was that I couldn't find my hat. This is a sentimental blow as that hat has come a long way and would definitely have taken centre stage in a limited range of walking memorabilia. Not sure where I could have left it but yesterday it was smelling and I know that on several occasions I ripped it off my head as I became aware of the fact. Suspect it's feelings were hurt and on one of these occasions it decided to make itself scarce.

After leaving Bregenz the walk takes you towards Wolfurt. Went right into Wolfurt to get some money and food and was disappointed not to see any of the amazing posters which had been outside the Wolford Outlet shop yesterday.

After Wolfurt the route leaves the suburbs and climbs up a fairly step ridge before heading down to the town of Albershwende. The top of the ridge gave views back over Lake Constance, but although the steady rain had stopped at this point the weather prevented you seeing much.

Perhaps the most dramatic sights were the waterfalls from the small mountain streams which, after all this rain, were very noisy.

Albershwende is quite a big town, huge church, had accommodation and lots of places to eat. Was tempted to stop as I wasn't sure whether the place I had got booked this evening did evening meals. Instead I found a nice bench just beyond town, had two bananas and four Snickers. The Snickers were in a multi-pack and having lost my hat I was worried that loose Snickers might also go astray.

The Austrian signing system is essentially the same as the Swiss, although they use a lighter shade of yellow. As in Switzerland you often get multiple choice as there can be more than one way to get to the same place. I definitely went the long way to Lingenau heading downhill and along the side of the Bregenzerach (which flows back to Bregenz and along the side of which I had walked first thing this morning). This was actually a nice walk made even better by a whole series of installations. My favourite was the pencil but there were lots to choose from.

Bregenzerach

Dropped my pencil

Got to Lingenau at about 4. Very reassuring sign proving that I am on the E4 (and the E5 and the 04, the long-distance Alpine trail). The Gasthof Walderhof Christine booked for me was brilliant, huge portions of food and everyone very friendly and helpful.

Good if I knew what they meant

Wednesday July 13th Rhieneck to Bregenz

Being playing chess against my IPad and frankly it's a lot better than me. The fact that it doesn't need time to think is so unnerving, it just seems to pile on the problems and every time you solve one you seem to create two more.

That's what's been happening with the walk today. What was supposed to be a short and fairly dull sort of walk across a feature called the Rheindelta turned out to be a real pain and the day just got worse.

It's really raining, the worst day's weather so far by far, even worse than the day I came down from Canigou, or the day in the Gorge d'Ardeche. Was drizzling when I set of from Rhieneck and then it started to really pour down and rained all the way to Bregenz. Stopped for a few minutes just as I was arriving and then started again. Heavy rain interspersed with heavier thunder rain. Weather forcast is not good for at least three days.

The rain really started as I crossed the border. There is a dedicated covered bridge for the walk and the cycle trail and the border is marked in the middle. I hung around under cover for a bit hoping that the rain would ease. A light came on the video camera at the end of the bridge which felt a bit sinister so when the thunder rain eased to heavy rain I moved off.

The border

Border bridge

The trail basically followed the "coastline" and then cut inland to cross a huge drain which has clearly been built to reclaim the delta. Crossing the drain at Fusbach you're then invited to follow the coast around again but I declined the invitation and took the direct route through the suburb of Hard (I kid you not, there is another smaller suburb called Rain). It was a miserable walk redeemed only by the amazing posters for the Wolford outlet shop.

Bregenz by the way is quite a big place. Last time I came here it was by train and it's a lot bigger on foot. It has an amazing outdoor opera house which features huge sets that are floated on the lake. The rain actually stopped for a few minutes, long enough to let me have a look at the current offering - it's a production of Andre Chenier.

Open air opera house

Having tried two hotels, including the Ibis, and found them fully booked I started to worry. I went to Tourist Information and after a search on their system they were able to confirm that things were pretty choker. They started exploring options in the suburbs (including Hard but not Rain) and I started to worry that I could be making life difficult for myself for tomorrow. I suggested they try looking for a two person room and sure enough there was a place. I think the young lady who was doing the search was getting a bit fed up at this point so I didn't press too hard on the details, also my damp hat was smelling which made me feel a bit self conscious.

I then did one sensible thing but failed to do two others. I went and bought a map from a bookshop. My request for a map caused a lot of interest and in particular they tried to find a reference to the E4 long-distance walk on the Internet. My blog came up and I was able to show them what I was doing, they were very impressed.

The two things I failed to do was buy some food and get some more cash. The Gasthof I'm staying at doesn't do food, is way out of town, doesn't accept cards and doesn't have Internet. The slight upside is that I hadn't got around to eating my lunch and there was enough to stop me starving. The Gasthof also turned out to be way out of town in the right direction.

So what to do about tomorrow. Haven't booked anything and after today's experience that might not be sensible. The weather forcast for tomorrow is just as bad. If I was in a nice place the obvious thing would be to hunker down, but I'm not, I'm staying in a dump.

Without access to the internet, booking is a bit of a challenge so I sent Christine a text, fortunately she was about and she sorted it all out. I have a place in a Gasthof in Lingenau. Looks like I'm walking tomorrow.

As well as getting humiliated at chess by my IPad I'm using it to catch up on my reading. I've just re-read Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. Given the books ending, and the sound of rain hammering against the sky-light in the room I'm staying in, I'm glad I'm currently on higher ground.