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Published: September 6th 2010
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A wooden bridge...
one of the few places Ian actually slowed down!! So when Ian said “Let’s go walk in the mountains” what he actually meant, but failed to explain was ....... “Let’s go walk UP a mountain”!?
The Sunday before last, Ian had wanted to make the most of the summer while it lasted and was keen to take a walk around Fellhorn, one of our bigger winter ski resorts. We woke up early to ensure we had a full days walking ahead of us and by 8.30am we were in the car driving towards Fellhorn. By 9.30am we had parked up, popped into the toilets and where about to set off. This is when it all became clear that Ian had intended to walk UP the mountain …. and not catch the cable car up as I had expected with a gentle stroll around the summit.
We had actually decided to include the mountain walk with the yearly event “Alphornblasen im Allgäu” which was celebrating its 52 years on the mountain. Now this meant that we had a tight deadline to keep as the main performance was due to begin at 12.00 (at the very summit).
At the bottom of the mountain (after it had finally been explained
that we would be walking all the way up the mountain) we checked out the first footpath sign. Now quite helpfully (or not) the sign pointed us in the “general” direction (German footpath signs are not particulary accurate) and it also gave us a time of 3 hours and 30 mins to climb the mountain. Okay … so this was going to make us late for kick off at midday … humph!?
While Ian wasn’t overly keen to experience the hundreds of Alphorns being expertly played in the mountains, this had given him a challenge …. we had to beat the 3 hours and 30 mins suggested walking time.
Off he set … at some pace might I add?
For those of you that had recently joined Ian and I on various afternoon walks you will remember that Ian always likes to walk approximately 50 yards in front of me, never actually with me ….. it’s gets a little lonesome at times!??? This is exactly what he did for the entire mountain hike. Determined to slowly overtake anyone he saw in front of us enroute. Luckily there weren’t too many people that had decided to walk the
Fellhorn cablecart
This is how I could have got up the mountain!??? same route that day!!
We did manage to keep the pace up, even when it was really steep and a river was flowing down the pathway (which incidentally was about the entire first half of the route as it had rained the day before). Even when the path almost disappeared and all you had for grip was old tree roots helpfully disguised as steps ….. even when it got muddy and slippery and not particularly pleasant. The ONLY time Ian’s pace slowed down was when we had to cross two wooden bridges (I say bridges … but I actually mean planks of wood), that were very wet and very slippery.
I was eventually allowed a 5 min break for a quick breather and a muesli bar at the half way point when he had realised that we had climbed the first section in record time. But I wasn’t allowed to stop for long as there were people in front that we had to catch up with and overtake!?
We continued up the path and then headed slightly off course across a grassed over area (quite clearly not THE path) but a shortcut none-the-less. However, the short cut
was about ten times steeper than the path itself. Still, off we charged ….. I was allowed a few short breaks here as it was particularly steep and we were almost at the top … but Ian didn’t stop with me!!!!!
So eventually I had walked up Fellhorn in what must have been record time …. it didn’t take me the 3.5 hrs it had recommended, but 1hr 40 mins!!!!!!!! I’m not quite sure how long it took Ian as when I finally made it up to the top he had done a quick tour of the area, checked out where to get beer and where to get the all important food source - the sausage (a must have at any German event)!!!????
It was tough walking up hill but I did feel fairly good about doing it in such a short time, without many breaks and without whinging too much ….. although Ian wouldn’t have heard me whinging anyway as he was way infront.
However, when we’d finally made it to the summit it was well worth the sight that met us. A couple hundred of people (who had all taken the cable car incidently), lots
of seats, lots of beer and food and then at midday lots of the famous Allgäu Alphorns with a couple of female singers thrown in for good measure. In fact, I would have liked more singing as it really did remind me of “The Sound of Music”.
The location was wonderful, fairly magical, every now and then a cloud would come past and we would be sat in it for 5mins waiting for it to pass and for the sun to shine again.
I took many photos as it’s really one of those things I would like to remember …. I’ll attach a few for you all to see.
After spending a couple of hours recovering, having lunch and listening to the music, we eventually decided to take the more gentle route back down the mountain. We picked up the path, walked around the lake, stopped at a Hutte (pub) for a cheeky “Bier” and enjoyed the gentle walk back down.
All in all it was a lovely day …. however, I think we both suffered the next morning when it was time to get out of bed and start walking again!!!
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MUMS
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Crickey !!! I got worn out just reading about this wonderful day,just as well you are both fighting fit.Must have been a sight to behold.Well done .