The first two days crossing the Alps from Germany through Austria to Italy, involved a warm up hike on the German side to later go up the next day and cross the first border towards the Austrian side of the Alps.
In the first of these posts about crossing the Alps I posted the overall route I would be following, as well as a list of the gear I was going to take. In these posts I’ll be splitting the trail into two posts covering each one two days, and a third one covering the last three days.
First day: arrival to Gmund and warm-up hike to Bad Wiessee
I took a train from Hamburg to München where a connection to a regional train would ultimately take me to Gmund am Tegernsee. It didn’t go without complications because Deutsche Bahn changed the departure of this regional train from München station to München Ost station. If it ever happens to you, it’s important to highlight that you can take the S-Bahn train which will take you from one to the other in a couple of minutes. In any case, I arrived on time and took the regional train to the small town of Gmund and immediately started this journey crossing the Alps.
| Gmund – Bad Wiessee / (Kreuth) | ▲ 180 m ▼ 180 m | 14,1 km |
The first day of this journey was a light warm up hike from Gmund along the shores of the Tegernsee ending up in Bad Wiesee. We should clarify something: the “see” in Tegernsee means “lake”. The confusing part is that the lake is called Tegernsee and there’s a small town to the east of the lake also called Tegernsee.
Distinction made, let’s talk about the lake: the Tegernsee is a beautiful lake originated by glacial activity during the last Ice Age. It stretches about 6.5 km in length and has these green clear waters that make for the full charming alpine scenery. The town of Tegernsee, was historically home to a Benedictine monastery founded in the 8th century and later became a popular retreat for the royalty of Bavaria.
Different activities can be conducted along the lake, like swimming, kayaking, sailing, and of course hiking, probably to the Neureuth, the closest mountain. The Neureuth hike is one of the most classic short trails in Bavaria. It’s about 1.5 hours up from Tegernsee town and offers panoramic views over the whole lake. A great option if you want to add a small summit to your lakeside walk. But really, just enjoying a great sunset is enough here.
The distance of this hike was moderate, 14 km, and there was very little elevation, 180 meters—still higher than the highest mountain in the state of Hamburg, the Hasselbrack, with scarce 116 meters.
The start was already rough: shortly after starting the hike at Gmund, it started raining a lot like they were throwing buckets of water. In a moment my rain jacket completely wet but inside I thankfully remained dry. Gotta thank the Odlo Zeroweight Dual Dry Waterproof jacket I was wearing. I was surprised about it because I bought it to run in the rain of Hamburg which is not immediately torrential from one second to the other like in Bavaria, but more like a light everlasting drizzle. The other thing I was happy is that the Rab Veil XP 30L remained completely waterproof and dry inside. This was another thing I got to run but now that I finished the whole Alps crossing with it, gotta say that this incredible backpack was perfect for these changing weather conditions. I think I should do a separate article only about this backpack because there’s so much to say about it.
I was able to hike for 10 km but the incredible amount of rain made it unsafe to be on the mountain forest for long (slippery, growing rivers, falling branches) so I had to descend. Still, I managed to greet the first cows and enjoy a bit the scenery of this area. I initially took quick cover for a while on a shed full of cow dong during the most intense part of the storm. I finally descended the mountain to the town of Tegernsee where a bus took me towards Bad Wiessee. There, I finally rested under a roof at the lovely Hotel Bellevue. It’s very cozy and the staff is very friendly and the rooms are great. In addition, it has a restaurant, so it was great to eat without having to go out in the storm. So after getting my boots and pants to dry I went down to early dinner at 17:30. After that and since the storm was over, I walked along the west shore of the beautiful Tegernsee.
Second day: crossing the border into Austria
The morning came fast at 6:30. I got ready, with the boots still wet from the previous day since I had no choice. I only had barefoot shoes and you can’t really hike far with those. Or maybe yes, but I wasn’t going to try that day. At 8:00 and after a hearty breakfast at the hotel we took a shuttle to Kreuth, the last location before the border with Austria.
| Kreuth – Achenkirch | ▲ 830 m ▼ 790 m | 17,2 km |
I started a long hike with a remarkable elevation and along the way, crossed to Austria. You have to thank the Schengen agreement of the European Union because there’s no customs or immigration to do here. Just one step ahead on the Blaubergkamm, beneath the watch of the Halserspitze, and you’re on another country. The route up the Blauberg ridge is well marked. It’s a steady climb of around elevation gain and then some going down. Hiking poles are helpful on this stretch, and here’s where different hikers differ. Some hikers uses their poles going up and down. In my case, I find myself lighter and faster going up without them. I do, however, use them while descending, so my knees don’t have to do all the work supporting my body and backpack.
If the day before was rainy and moderately cold, this day was insanely hot. Thankfully, a great portion of the mountain on the German side went through a forest, so there was shade, although it was still hot and humid. I hiked to the Blaubergalm, where a necessary pause was made, in order to have a Brotzeit, which is a table of charcuterie and cheese plus bread. Plus a Radler, which is beer with lemon soda, quite refreshing in the heat. The Blaubergalm is a classic hut in this area, and here’s a couple of tips: it’s cash-only, so make sure to bring euros. Also, they will not give you water for free but sell it to you—if you have a water bottle.
Once I started descending, the heat was intense on the Austrian side, with no dense forest to cover you from the scorching sun. Thankfully, the water I carried in my 650 ml Nalgene water bottle, and the two 500 ml soft flasks (which are conveniently carried in the Rab Veil XP 30 L in poaches in the should straps) were more than enough for this. Worth mentioning that the water in the Nalgene bottle had an electrolite pack from Hydraid dissolved. This is important because plain water alone can’t replace the minerals you lose through heavy sweating, and over a long hike this can lead to cramps, fatigue, or even dizziness. With electrolytes, every sip helps maintain balance and energy, and focus on the trail.
Here and there some funny cows were greeting us hikers as we went by, including one that attempted to lick anyone who walked near her. Eventually I reached a forest, and then down the Achental I got to a bus station where I took the bus 4080 that quickly took me to the north of Achenkirch.
This time I’m not going to name the hotel because it was absolutely terrible. I didn’t eat anything that day because the reviews of the hotel’s restaurant were disastrous. The breakfast wasn’t good enough so I don’t want to imagine the dinner. There’s more: in the morning when I wanted to go have breakfast, the door couldn’t be opened. I had to slam the keylock area until it loosened and I could open it.
Oh well, the peaks still towered above us, the trails stretched forward, and just the fact that I would be waking up another day in the Alps was more than enough to be happy. After all, in the whole context, an amusingly terrible hotel is just another funny story just as getting poured on by the rain in Bayern, or licked by a cow as you enter Austria. It’s the mishaps that make the story colorful.
In fact, keeping a flexible resilient mindset that can laugh in the adversity is probably the most important tip for a multi-day long-distance hike like the Alpenüberquerung: weather, accommodation, heat, cold, and even your own energy can vary a lot from day to day. If you treat the inconveniences as just another color of the palette that you use to paint your story, you’ll surely enjoy this adventure so much more.
And the mountains? The mountains stay in your heart.
Read the second part of the Alps Crossing, days 3 and 4, from Achensee to Hochfügen
