Tag Archives: königsee

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Travel

Bavarian Door

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Bavarian Door
Inscriptions and hardware on the of a small building in a Bavarian forest.

Bavarian Door. © Copyright 2021 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Inscriptions and hardware on the of a small building in a Bavarian forest.

Some years back when we visited Europe we managed to meet up with a big group of extended family members near Berchtesgaden, Bavaria, where we rented a big farm house (or so it seemed to us) for a week. In addition to doing all the usual family stuff, we visited a number of nearby sights, from some in Bavaria to the not-too-distance city of Salzburg, Austria.

Königsee, part of the Berchtesgaden National Park was very close by, so we took that famous electric boats up the lake to the landing at Kirsche St. Bartholoma. It was a nice day so we decided to take a hike to the Eiskapelle, a place at the base of a gigantic ice chute coming from the upper reaches of Watzmann, the highest peak in the neighborhood. Along the way we passed this small building, which I think may be a chapel of some sort, and I was intrigued by the rustic metal fittings, the many carvings, and the color.

G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books, Amazon, and directly from G Dan Mitchell.

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Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park

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Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park
The Bavarian Alps rise above Königsee in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Bavarian Alps, Berchtesgaden National Park. Königsee, Bavaria, Germany. July 14, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

The Bavarian Alps rise above Königsee in Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Over the course of a summer week in 2013 we had a lot of opportunities to gaze at these Bavarian Alps. We spent a week with family in the Berchtesgaden area, staying in a big farm-house with views across a bucolic valley and into the mountains as they rose to the summit of the Watzmann, the second-highest peak in Germany. We did the “tourist thing” and rode the electric boats up the Königsee Lake between high ridges, and on one memorable day we visited Jennerbahn, took the tram to the top, and spent the rest of the day descending alpine valleys on foot — with a mid-hike stop for snacks and a beer!

During our stay I think I got a sense of how these mountains are different from my “home range” of the Sierra Nevada — though I would need a much longer stay and more hiking to get to know them well. Because they are built from different sorts of rock, the shapes of the peaks are often quite different. The tall rugged peaks also rise almost directly from relative lowlands — for example, a short hike took us from the lake to the base of a huge cliff at Die Eiskapelle, a place that felt thoroughly alpine. In the Sierra we have kept vast stretches of the range relatively wild, isolated from human structures to the point that one can imagine that he/she is in a fully wild place. In the alps there are huts, and you can stop for a beer in the middle of an afternoon hike! The ridges and valley in this photograph rise from the shoreline of the Königsee.

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.

Photographs: Germany, Photographs: Nature

Forested Cliffs, Königsee

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Forested Cliffs, Königsee
Steep, tree-covered cliffs along the shore of the Königsee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

Forested Cliffs, Königsee. Berchtesgaden National Park, Bavaria, Germany. July 14, 2013. © Copyright 2013 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Steep, tree-covered cliffs along the shore of the Königsee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany

I 2013 we spent a magical week in the Berchtesgaden area of Bavaria, right next to the Berchtesgaden National Park and a short drive from Salzburg, Austria. This was part of a longer trip that began in London and also included an additional week in the Heidelberg, Germany area. We met up with members of Patty’s family, and this big extended family group stayed at a big, rambling farm-house in Bavaria, from which the backyard view from the outdoor table where we often ate included a chunk of the Bavaria Alps culminating in the summit of the Watzmann, the second-tallest peak in Germany.

The Königsee was a short distance away. In a loose way, Königsee feels just a little like a Yosemite Valley with a Lake filling it. The lake sits in a long, narrow valley surrounded by much higher mountains — though these mountains have a more alpine appearance than those visible from the floor of Yosemite Valley. It also includes some of the “touristy” features of Yosemite — the lake itself is most certainly no longer a wilderness. One of the most popular of those features is the system providing boat rides up the length of the lake. (In deference to the purity of the lake water, these boats are powered by electricity.) The boat ride is quite something, beginning at a place that truly is “touristy,” but soon passing through this narrow section of the lower lake between steep, tree-covered cliffs, before the terrain opens up revealing longer views further up the lake.

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.
Blog | About | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | 500px.com | LinkedIn | Email

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.