15 October 2009

Hopfensee + Alatsee Revisited


Sunday my friend Chris (who was visiting from the states) and I took a hike up to Salober Alm, an hour's hike above the Alatsee. Then we attempted to hike to the Falkenstein ruins, which are about two hours further. The trail started out nice enough, but quickly became engulfed in leaves as we left the Alm (grassy mountain hill) and entered the forest. The trail became more and more difficult to navigate, until finally we got to a point where it seemed to end. We'd just seen a sign confirming the trail about fifteen minutes before, but we were stuck. Chris really wanted to just wing it and find our way somehow. After some trepidation, I agreed. We noted our spot and plodded on. Like I said, there was no trail so we tried the best we could to traverse the hills, which were covered with slippery, dried leaves. There were a couple of points where I protested, but we continued, even though the ominous, yet beautiful sight of the countryside loomed distant in the bare spots of the foliage. In other words, we were damn high up. I really didn't want to become "the girl" and make a stink, but at a certain point I looked down and started to panic. Sure, we could slide down on the leaves, but what lay below? Would we reach a spot where we couldn't move anymore? Chris insisted that we wouldn't, but after awhile I just had to fight my point. So we went back.
No doubt, I'm disappointed that we didn't get to see the ruins at Falkenstein. And sure, I wonder if we would've made it down okay. If we did, it would've been a memorable achievement. I just wasn't willing to take that risk.

Alatsee (yes, again!):


Chris and the Alatsee:



Last week, I took a ride out to Hopfensee to climb up to the ruins again. The last time I went, the weather wasn't that nice so my photos were substandard. Not this time!



The Säuling from a different perspective than my balcony for once:




We had our first snowfall of the year Tuesday night. What a nice sight to wake up to:

I love a pink sky:


That's all for now.

25 September 2009

Alpseerundweg

Yesterday was the first day of the quarter, so what did I do? I went for a bike ride and a hike! It was such a nice day, I couldn't resist. Plus, my assignments weren't even posted yet so I didn't feel too guilty. And finally, the weather was really bad during most of my time off, so I had to enjoy it while I could!

I decided to finally take a walk around the Alpsee. I've been there many times before, but I'd never walked the Alpseerundweg. It took me about an hour and it was well worth it. It's one of the largest, cleanest, deepest, and most beautiful lakes in the area, and that's saying a lot. When I first moved here, I was told that it's rated as being clean enough to drink.

The Lech river looked spectacular yesterday. Check out how clean it is. Just beautiful:




At the start of the trail around the Alpsee (you can see Neuschwanstein in the background):










Monument for the king's mother:













From my semi-daily bike ride last week:







People riding bikes on the new part of the Autobahn just before it opened:

The Weißensee at sunset:



The next few photos were from an excursion I took with my new friend Tristan and a couch surfer named Simona.

Near Pinswang, Austria:


At the Urisee in Austria:

Simona:

The rules of the lake, which were quite ludicrous:


On the ride back from our excursion:

Some really beautiful butterflies in front of my building:



A beautiful morning (from my balcony):


And a beautiful night: