Biking and Hiking in Bavaria

I guess I’m finding it difficult to write these days. Too much going on? Not a lot of ambition to sit and put things down into words? Not sure, but whatever the case it’s been 10 days since my last post. Hard to believe, actually, and as I think back to my time in Bavaria - almost two full weeks - it seems to have gone by with a snap of the fingers.

I’m currently sitting in the breakfast room of my hotel - the Hotel Krone Tirol - in the tiny village of Lechaschau, Austria, just having finished off a bowl of yogurt, fruit and granola and watching as other guests flit around the room and stand at the coffee machine waiting for their morning brew. It’s a very pleasant place, and the breakfast is outstanding. Seeing that it comes with the cost of the room, and seeing that I spend my days hiking and sweating and panting in the mountains, I’ve been absolutely loading up my belly with bread, cheese, eggs, meat and yogurt to consume my money’s worth and to load up on calories for the day. Don’t tell the staff, but I’ve also been stashing a couple of meat and cheese rolls in my bag for the day’s hike later.

Today is my last full day in Lechaschau after arriving here on Sunday. I’ve been hiking each of the last three days and plan to do the same again today. But, I’ll leave that for a future post as I need to catch up on my time in Bavaria. Seeing that the sun is shining and the mountains are calling, I’ll probably keep this post brief and stick to the highlights. I also have some video of one of my Bavaria hikes, so I’ll let my past digital self do the talking for that day…

Cycling in Bavaria - in case you haven’t read this already - is one of my pure joys. I just absolutely love it like I don’t love many other things in this world. I use an app called Komoot on my phone to build my routes - which is super easy because the app is awesome - I strap my phone to my bike, and I just take off. The app guides me so I rarely take a wrong turn, and Bavaria - no matter the route - never disappoints. Rides usually include rolling hills, mountain views, forest paths, open farmland, quaint villages, lakes and often a biergarten or two thrown in for good measure. During my last week in Bavaria I did two longer rides. One was a figure eight loop that takes me south of Wangen and east of Lake Starnberg. It’s a go-to route of mine that I’ve done many times before, but this time I was pleasantly surprised by a new addition on the route - a food truck of sorts selling bakery items and coffee. Of course I had to stop.

The other ride was a loop north from Starnberg to Gauting, then south and west to Kloster Andechs, a monastery set on a hill, famous not just for its history and natural beauty, but also because the monks have been making and selling beer here since 1455. No lie. They have a huge terrace restaurant with views across the valley and a smaller, intimate biergarten tucked under the trees. The restaurant was mad busy, so I retreated to the biergarten instead for a couple of beers, a huge pretzel and some obatzda - a spread consisting of soft cheese, butter, paprika and other spices. I tried striking up a conversation with the folks sitting next to me at my picnic table, but when I asked the guy if he spoke English he replied with a laugh, “Nein. Ich spreche bayerisch.” (No. I speak Bavarian.) Funny.

The two rides were great, but my itch for cycling wasn’t completely scratched. Hoping on my return to Bavaria in September I’ll be able to hit the road again a couple more times.

Then there was the walking and the mountain hiking. I did a lot of shorter walks - and runs - in Wangen, near the Schmidts. One was a walk to Schaftlarn and the same monastery restaurant I had eaten at with Helena just days earlier. The great thing about that walk was that I was able to easily catch a bus back to Wangen after my meal, therefore not needing to walk back. Another walk was a morning forest walk with Alex in which he marched me along his favorite paths, through farm fields and into the dark forests near Wangen. We even stumbled upon a large area of blackberry bushes and stopped for several minutes to fill my hat with berries, food for breakfast later.

Two mountain hikes capped my time in Bavaria. One was with the Schmidts in which we drove to Garmisch in southern Germany and rode up on the Alpspitzbahn cable car before enjoying the views, savoring a morning weissbier, and then slowly descending the mountain. It was a tremendous hike, and the views were incredible. Super fun hanging with the Schmidts and being able to enjoy this hike - under the beautiful blue alpine skies - together. Part-way down the mountain there was a hut. Of course there was. There always is. So, we had to stop for another beer and a little lunch. I had pea soup with sausage, and we all split a charcuterie board and some apple strudel for dessert. Yum. The remainder of the hike was truly incredible, as we wound our way into a gorge and along a rushing river. The hike often diverted us into the rock wall, through narrow, head-scraping tunnels, dripping with water from the ground above. We crossed bridges, dipped in and out of tunnels, enjoyed the cool spray and showers of water all around us, took pictures by waterfalls and occasionally remembered to look up at the lush, green vegetation covering the sheer, tall cliffs all around us. Absolutely spectacular.

I’ll end this post with my hike near Lenggries, Germany, in the Brauneck peak hiking area. I’ll let the videos below do the talking, but needless to say, on the gorgeous mountain, I got myself into way more of a challenging hike than I expected. All in all, the beauty and outdoor adventure options in Bavaria seem to know no limits. I could hike and bike here forever.