Hiking to Die Eiskapelle. Bavaria, Germany. July 14, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Hiking the trail to Die Eiskapelle in the Bavarian Alps near Königssee
Between our two periods staying in Heidelberg, we took a train to Salzburg, Austria and then went back into Germany to stay at a farm-house in the Schönau am Königssee area for a week – a big farmhouse, large enough to accommodate a large contingent of my wife’s family, who had assembled from various points around the US and in Europe. This is a beautiful valley at the edge of the Bavaria alps, with fields and farms (and tourist accommodations) in the lowlands and towering peaks high above. On the first full day there, it seemed like the right thing to start out with a visit to Königssee, where we did, indeed, take the electric boats up the lake.
The boats land at a fairly developed area with large lawns, a beach, and places to eat and drink and buy souvenirs. We did a few of those things, but we also decide to take the popular hike up to Die Eiskapelle, a spot that seems to be on the edge of alpine country. This trail begins with a very civilized walk along a wide and gentle trail, but soon begins to climb a bit more steeply through mostly-hardwood forest. Finally it begins to follow the bed of a river that drains the valley above, and at the very end there seems to be no real trail. This last part was, no surprise, my favorite part! Here the feeling reminded me just a bit of off-trail travel high in the Sierra, and the route crossed rocks and bits of meadow between small trees as it approached a spot where the creek spilled out from beneath a permanent snowfield. This photograph was made not far from this area.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist whose subjects include the Pacific coast, redwood forests, central California oak/grasslands, the Sierra Nevada, California deserts, urban landscapes, night photography, and more.
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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.