Day 44 – Lenggries to Herzogstand Summit

Daily Distance – 32km (inc. 6km cable car)
Daily Ascent – 1950m (exc. cable car)
Daily Descent – 1650m
Total Distance – 740km
Distance Remaining – 279km

Having just stepped into a cable car, how many empty wine bottles to see collected in the staff area is too many? Not a question that received due consideration when planning today’s schedule of events. Given that I am alive to write this entry, perhaps the staff of the Lenggries cable car valley station are simply fastidious recyclers, rather than drinkers the kind of which rarely exist outside the mead halls of epic Norse poetry.

Without the heroic deeds of this brave company, battling bravely through presumed epic hangovers (they could also just have been very Bavarian, sometimes it’s hard to tell with the accent), today would not have been possible. Even with the assistance, I didn’t reach my destination until almost 20:00. Speaking of epic deeds, the greatest achievement of today was not coming within a hair’s breadth of breaking the 2000m ascent barrier while covering the greatest daily distance on tour so far. It was not even breaking the record for most breaks to collect and filter water and yet still failing to maintain a healthy level of hydration. No, the single greatest achievement of today has been reaching my chosen wild camp spot for the night, the summit of Herzogstand mountain, and refraining from stamping my foot with hands on hips like an indignant schoolgirl and shouting “Was zum Teufel machen sie alle hier denn?!” (What the devil are you all doing here?!). Unbeknownst to me, my chosen bivouac spot, a cute little pavilion, is a favourite hangout for people wanting to watch the sun rise and set. Having met four people descending during my ascent, I was sure it would be deserted and I could have a relaxing evening. And other than the eight people still there, I was entirely correct! Most galling was that, far from being salt rimed hikers in need of a lay down, these sun watchers had come prepared. Snacks were broken out, drinks opened and even camera tripods erected. A summit party was not the expected end to today, even a party where everyone goes to bed at 22:00 in anticipation of a pre-sunrise wake-up.

While I would have preferred some peace rather than enforced company after a tough day, I can’t deny that the sunset was beautiful. It is unfortunate that my German ability regresses terribly when exhausted after a long day of hiking. After a twelve hour walking day where every item of clothing reached saturation point with my own sweat, this is particularly acute. Unfortunate really, as this really exacerbates the typical expat feeling of being something of an outsider who is unable to properly participate in social situations.

Still, I will take the positive that just listening to and understanding the conversations of native speakers is still very good practice and a good enough achievement for some days.