A mountain!
For various reasons I haven’t been out climbing at all this year, apart from lovely hike in the Lomonds (which I can see from the end of the street) in January.
It was great to get a real climb done at the end of June. Wank, just on the eastern edge of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The Bavarian Alps.
Easily accessible as it’s autobahn almost all the way. Munich is a potential problem to pass through, but we’d chosen a very quiet Sunday during school holidays. About 2.5 hours in each direction, at a steady 100mph on the autobahn.
Unfortunately we’d also chosen the hottest day of the year so far. 31°c in the middle of the day.
You have to watch the weather forecast in the days leading up to a planned climb, so we knew what to expect, and began our hike at 8.30am. That meant a 5.30am departure. Ouch! It was all worth it.
Beautiful scenery. An excellent lunch (with beer) at the Hütte on the summit.
I’m hoping to get back to the Alps in August, and to manage a couple of Scottish hills before then.
© iain taylor, 2014