10 October 2008

Autumn Hiking Excursions

I spent a lot of time hiking this week to make up for the lethargy of weeks past. The weather has been lousy here lately. Cloudy and rainy and cold up until this week. Earlier this week I went to Marienbrücke, which is behind Neuschwanstein. It's an iron bridge but it's really high and the wooden planks that line it all buckle. I'm not afraid of heights, but the flexible flooring made me a bit uneasy. Walking back, I guess I had a funny look on my face as I carefully selected my steps, because these guys gave me a knowing smile like they could tell I was wary.

I started walking up further, but ever since the Tegelberg I've been nervous about my knee. I need to get a walking stick or something, like a little old lady. Anyway, today I was going to try to walk to the Falkenstein ruin but I didn't quite make it. I knew there was a chance I would back out. It takes over an hour to walk to the trail near the Alatsee that leads to it, and then it's straight up. I didn't think the path would rise so quickly since the ruins are pretty far away, but it was rough. So after about 15 minutes I decided to turn around and do it another day. My legs were already worn out from the walk. In fact, they were still a little sore from the trek up to Marienbrücke. The whole walk took about 3 ½ hours today so that's not bad. Plus, I got to take some fall photos of the Alatsee.





View of Alpsee from Neuschwanstein

Marienbrücke (it's a long way down!)



Kobelweg (trail)




Alatsee




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ugh... I remember the hike up to Neuschwanstein. Not an easy trip. My (German) Dad always insisted we walk up-- he didn't want to pay for the kutschenvehker. (Since I've been back on my own, I've taken great joy in *riding* up... especially since I'm old & decrepit now.

Great pics, as always.

BTW, get one of the walking sticks/hiking staffs they have-- I've seen them everywhere over there, and it seems like the very serious hiker-types in germany can't live without 'em. :o)

*sigh*....such a beautiful place....

Unknown said...

Great shots... theme music: A Beautiful Place Out in the Country by Boards of Canada.