{"id":13954,"date":"2016-05-12T20:11:11","date_gmt":"2016-05-12T20:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/?p=13954"},"modified":"2016-05-13T07:41:09","modified_gmt":"2016-05-13T07:41:09","slug":"alpine-walking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesojournseries.com\/bavaria\/alpine-walking\/","title":{"rendered":"Alpine Walking"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Wild Bee Orchids\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I have been going through old posts, removing the odd broken link, optimising picture sizes from way back when my last template wouldn’t let me feature large photographs, and because of this generally reminiscing about our early days here. \u00a0A Walk in the Woods<\/a> reminded me of one of our first proper walks in the Bavarian countryside deep in the heart of our first winter, and how different it all felt being surrounded by the foothills of the Alps (complete with alpine cows and Heidi Houses!) compared to the pancake flatness of Denmark that we had become so used to (I still miss the sea though!)…<\/p>\n

To some extent, the amazing outdoors is something we take for granted here now almost 5 years on, and a little like the beach in Denmark, I am sure it will be something we miss one day…<\/p>\n

Thanks to the dreaded lurgy<\/a> that hung around most of last week, we weren’t able to get up to all that much whilst \u00a0my Mum was here, but by the weekend people were well on the mend, and the weather was glorious, so we cobbled together a tiny picnic and headed to the foothills again, this time just outside of Lenggries for a much longer walk than our winter “Walk in the Woods”, in the lush Spring meadows.<\/p>\n

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This particular walk has to be one of my favourites, at just under 8km in total it’s long enough to feel like you have done a little exercise, but not long enough to feature any “my legs are tired” or “are we nearly there yet?” complaints from the Small People. \u00a0It also doesn’t involve any strenuous hill climbing (which is probably why it’s my favourite after my uphill\u00a0Eagle’s Nest experience<\/a>!)…<\/p>\n

We came here last April when the baby was still bump, imagining \u00a0him as we walked, wondering whether he would be “pink or blue”, and debating the wild and wonderful name suggestions his siblings came up with (be grateful you weren’t called Ludwig after the Bavarian King little one won’t you?), so it was lovely and rather surreal to be able to bring him on this very walk now at the same time of year – retracing our steps as five instead of four (six including Granny, but you know what I mean!)…<\/p>\n

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This hike starts next to a boarding school in M\u00fchlbach<\/span>\u00a0(that could be straight out of an Enid Blyton novel) before cutting through the tiny alpine farming hamlet of Lasseln (look out for the honey house – that’s what you call a REAL beehive!) and then turning right at the first fork in the road. \u00a0Then it’s up past two small farms and out onto the winding path through buttercup meadows.<\/p>\n

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You would be forgiven for thinking there was something wrong with the grass here in parts, like Mother Nature had gone a bit filter crazy, but she hasn’t – this is the colour of new grass when mountain snow has departed all but the highest peaks.<\/p>\n

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Strange brezen eating folk…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Too much fresh air for some – and yes he is asleep with his eyes open (ignore my double chin!!)!…<\/em><\/p>\n

From here it’s downhill alongside the river. \u00a0Whilst one of our group had fallen asleep by this point, we ambled on, separating mildly fighting children and confiscating\u00a0that<\/em> bloody stick<\/a>! \u00a0 A few distraction techniques came in handy including bridge building over small crystal clear streams, wild-flower spotting, pointing out eagles, and in the absence of sticks for some of our party – searching for elusive snakes (there are apparently 6 kinds here, two of them poisonous. \u00a0I have yet to see one of them!)…<\/p>\n

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The wobble your sibling into the water bridge…\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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Before too long we turned right again following the sign for Holz (if you haven’t guessed this walk is one big loop!) through another smaller section of forest and out into yet more buttercup meadows when, before we realised it, a solitary house had turned into a hamlet and we found ourselves back in\u00a0M\u00fchlbach again – and into the welcoming arms of the local Gasthaus, the embrace of an ice-cold local bier, and a big plate of whatever we felt like as we deserved it.<\/p>\n

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Homeward stretch\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

If you plan to visit Bavaria at any point and fancy a spot of alpine hiking yourselves, you could do worse than order a copy of Walking in the Bavarian Alps<\/a> (by Grant Bourne and Sabine Korner Bourne). \u00a0 \u00a0I initially bought it after getting lost a little too frequently, and probably being pushed one extremely hilly walk too far. \u00a0 \u00a0It comes with us on every alpine walk now! \u00a0You can find this particular walk on page 175!<\/p>\n

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