Saturday 13 September 2025 - The Bichlbacher and Tuftl Alms

On a fine morning, Sue and I caught the same bus as Gill and George for the short ride to Lähn.

This was Collett's route H4. After warming up by way of a gentle stroll beside the railway, our path lurched into a steep forested hillside. The gradient wasn't too assertive and we soon reached an open meadow. Gill and George were walking at our pace and we had the pleasure of their company for the entire walk.

Most unusually, from time to time I found myself ahead!

Views opened out as we rose above the valley,  with good views across the valley to Almkopf where we had been a couple of days ago.

Arriving at the Bichlbacher Alm, we were greeted by rabbits and chickens and were pleased to find it open, though the coffee was horribly overpriced and not that nice. We were the only customers. The season must be ending.

After more well graded ascent through forest, we arrived at a steep meadow that eventually leveled out near a colony of curious marmots.

The views back to the valley from which we had risen were wonderful.

Nearby on the steep meadow, shepherds were gathering livestock in preparation for its return to winter quarters in the valley. Sheep, cattle and horses were involved.

There was much activity on the steep meadows to the right in the next picture, and from near here we could hear birdsong from crested tits, wrens, and more.

On reaching Grüner Ups, Sue posed by the cross and an executive decision was made not to climb a few hundred metres more to reach the 2340 metre summit of Daniel. 

The Zugspitze massif lurked majestically in the background. 

The path descended now for virtually the rest of the day. 

There were meadows full of seed heads of Woolly Thistles. 

Tuftl Alm was reached, above which a small chapel contained a few memorials.

There was a good view of the Alm from the chapel.

We spent the best part of an hour here. The hut was closed but some bottled drinks had been left out, with an honesty box stuffed with money. We took advantage of this and enjoyed our lunch on a table outside the hut.

Eventually we pottered off to a nearby viewing platform.

The views were superb. A raven floated overhead.

The forecast rain held off as we descended steeply through woodland to Ehrwald.

Norway Spruce dominated the forest, though some oak and other varieties were present.

George went ahead to deal with urgent business whilst Sue and Gill lingered over attempts to photograph butterflies, etc. (See contemporaneous 'flower' posting for details.)

That was a really lovely walk in the best of company. Here's the route - 14km with over 800 metres ascent.

Friday 12 September 2025 - Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the Partnachklamm Gorge

With the weather forecast not great, and clouds fairly low, we chose to get the bus to Garmisch-Partenkirchen so as to explore the Partnachklamm Gorge.

This is route E7 on Collett's list, and runs beside the river from near the station. Sue is pictured above where we joined the riverside path.

We soon found ourselves passing lots of carefully labelled rocks, some on pedestals and other larger rocks in stand alone positions. Fascinating for geologists.

Alistair and Angie, and Kate and Fiona were also representing Collett's on this outing.

A tourist trap cantered past.

A stadium that housed some of the 1936 Winter Olympics events was passed. They have a new ski jump and are preparing for a slot in the 2026 Olympics that are to be spread over several locations in a wide area.

The Gorge beckoned. It got off to a poor start as we passed a derelict former restaurant.

After an entrance gate where the fee of €10 got us in, things certainly looked up. In fact we looked up in amazement to high bridges, and down to the roaring torrent in a deep cleft, with lots of waterfalls down the sides and tunnels for us to walk through. 

At the end of all the excitement a steep path led up to the bridges and a mountain hut where the others paused for refreshments. 

Sue and I continued down via the high path, eventually reaching the exit and a nearby covered area with an information board about the replacement of a key bridge after it was destroyed by a falling beech tree in the storms of 2022.

On the way down we observed a variety of interesting rock formations.

Tourists could be seen far below, making their way between tunnels on the path through the gorge. 

The path flattened and turned to tarmac, passing on the way some strange sculptures. 

We decided to visit the older of the two towns whose municipal authorities were brought together by Hitler in 1935. That's Partenkirchen. A short tour of the town that dates from before 15AD yielded the following images.

We returned to the Garmisch side of town via the town hall that was forced on the two towns (Garmisch dates merely from C15) by Hitler.

We had a bit of time to play with (shopping/squaredle) before meeting up with the other four at the bus stop for the 4pm bus back to Ehrwald. A 30 minute ride then five minutes on a number 1 bus after we had amusingly (stupidly) installed ourselves on a number 5 bus...

Here's our walking route - 14km with about 250 metres ascent.