Day 32 – Königssee to Camping Simonhof (nr Taubensee)

Daily Distance – 20km (prob a bit less, but I went off trail today, so it’s difficult to say)
Daily Ascent – ~700m
Daily Descent – ~200m
Total Distance – 510km
Distance Remaining – 503km

Half distance! I think my maths has been off in previous days, so this has snuck up on me somewhat earlier than anticipated. A nice surprise for a day when I thought the big news was that I am finally camping on an official campsite. Given how long I required to pitch my tent, this has come none too soon. For the purposes of impressing people with my grizzled hiker skills, I can only hope that they assumed the process was as difficult as I made it look.

Today I am back walking alone. The other two guys hiked on yesterday while I was resting, although to different end points, so everyone is a little fragmented at the moment. However, it is quite possible that I will catch up the next time somebody takes a day off for rest or logistical reasons. It is at any rate, a nice change. I find myself paying less attention to the trail and world around me when hiking in the company of other people. Not that today’s walk was particularly noteworthy, consisting of an off-route road walk from my hotel in order to rejoin the trail and some forest paths, but the point remains. Tomorrow will see me climb a steep 700m back into the mountain terrain in the morning, before dropping down a galling 1,100m in the afternoon. Some days my efforts seem more pointless than others.

I was glad for a short day today, finishing at 13:30 with a tea break thrown in. Switching shoe brand mid-hike is always a gamble and my lower legs were a little unhappy with the change this morning. The heel-toe drop is much greater on my new shoes, and even though I have worn this make/model in the past, it would seem my muscles needed time to readjust. Either that, or I had simply overindulged at the breakfast buffet. Probably both.