 1 Monday 28 June, 2010 Today's adventure was to visit Zugspitze. At 2,962 metres above sea level, it is the highest peak of the Wetterstein Mountains as well as the highest mountain in Germany. As a by-the-way, that bloody Tom-Tom got us lost again. |
 2 Monday 28 June, 2010 Our tickets for the cable car cost a staggering €49 each. As it turned out, it was worth every penny. |
 3 Monday 28 June, 2010 When we reached the top, I took this quick shot looking back down to the cable car station below. Then I was gently shooed away to follow the rest of the alighting passengers. |
 4 Monday 28 June, 2010 Our first sight is of the highest Christian cross in Germany on top of crumbly looking limestone. Bloody amazing! Here is the highest point on the highest mountain in Germany and it was once at the bottom of the ocean. |
 5 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Zugspitze belongs to the Wetterstein range of the Northern Limestone Alps. The entire mountain range is made of sedimentary rocks whereas sedimentary rocks form only 5% of the earth's crust. |
 6 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Alps arose from the collision of the African and European tectonic plates. The Alpine Tethys Ocean, which was formerly in between these continents, disappeared. |
 7 Monday 28 June, 2010 This area is called the Zugspitzplatt, a high karst plateau with numerous caves. Karst topography is a geologic formation shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble bedrock. |
 8 Monday 28 June, 2010 This is the Summit Station Bayerische Zugspitzbahn. There is also a Gipfelstation Tiroler Zugspitzbahn from Tyrol, Austria nearby but neither advertises the availability of the other. |
 9 Monday 28 June, 2010 There are two glaciers in the Zugspitzplatt, the Southern and Northern Schneeferners. Schnee means snow. |
 10 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Northern Schneeferner is the largest glacier in Germany; its ice sheet is about 52 metres thick at its deepest point. It lies at an average elevation of 2,640 m and is higher than the other German glaciers: the Höllentalferner, Watzmann Glacier and Blaueis. |
 11 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Northern Schneeferner is mainly fed by snow falling directly onto its surface and from snow sliding from nearby peaks. The velocity of the glacier is only about 25 to 30 cm per year in its central section. |
 12 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Southern Schneeferner once covered the entire southwestern part of the Zugspitzplatt. By 2006 only an area of some 8 ha was left and its ice sheet was an average thickness of less than 5 m. |
 13 Monday 28 June, 2010 At the end of the 20th century the Southern Schneeferner glacier had split into southeastern and northwestern parts, which later divided into a large sheet of ice and several smaller fields. These remnants can no longer be described as a glacier and they may melt completely within a few years. |
 14 Monday 28 June, 2010 Many things here proclaimed their fame as "Germany's highest . . . ", even Germany's highest sausage. This is Germany's highest beergarden. |
 15 Monday 28 June, 2010 Tourist stuff. Made in China? |
 16 Monday 28 June, 2010 This lake is the Eibsee at an elevation of 973 m. Eibsee is an alpine lake with fantastic water clarity. |
 17 Monday 28 June, 2010 These are the mountains of the Waxenstein group in northwestern Wettersteingebirge . They tower over Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the city at their base. |
 18 Monday 28 June, 2010 To the right of Eibsee is Grainau where our car is parked. |
 19 Monday 28 June, 2010 Looking north into Germany from the lookout at the top near the Bayern Zugspitzebahn station. |
 20 Monday 28 June, 2010 There was once a border checkpoint here at the summit but since Germany and Austria are now both part of the Schengen zone, the border crossing is no longer needed. This is quite the opposite to the sad relationship existing between Canada and the USA. |
 21 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Schengen Area comprises the territories of twenty-five European countries that have implemented the Schengen Agreement signed in the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, in 1985. |
 22 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Schengen Area operates very much like a single state for international travel with border controls for those travelling in and out of the area, but with no internal border controls. |
 23 Monday 28 June, 2010 I found it quite unnerving to be at the same level as the clouds without an aeroplane around me. |
 24 Monday 28 June, 2010 Not much snow left here now. |
 25 Monday 28 June, 2010 Below the Waxenstein Range are the twin towns of Garmish-Partenkirchen. This whole area is called the G-P Ski Resort. We watched some of the downhill ski racing on TV when we returned to Australia and it made us want to go back - real bad. |
 26 Monday 28 June, 2010 In the lower centre of the picture is a zig-zag walking trail; there are three normal hiking routes to the summit. |
 27 Monday 28 June, 2010 Looking south into Tyrol, Austria with Sydney a little farther south. The Brenner Pass runs along the border between Italy and Austria and is one of the few passes in the area. Italy is about 100 kms away from us. |
 28 Monday 28 June, 2010 We are now in Austria at the Tiroler Zugspitzbahn looking across at the Bayern Zugspitzbahn. The platform near the Zugspitzbahn gave me the creeps as I approached it to take the photos of Garmish and the Waxenstein group. |
 29 Monday 28 June, 2010 The sky really is this blue at this altitude. The aircraft are very high. |
 30 Monday 28 June, 2010 This is the little town of Ehrwald in Tyrol Austria, population 2600. |
 31 Monday 28 June, 2010 Jenni in the free state of Bavaria. |
 32 Monday 28 June, 2010 And a few steps later in Tyrol, Austria. How neat! |
 33 Monday 28 June, 2010 Germany's highest Bratwurst, not expensive at €4. (Semmel =roll) |
 34 Monday 28 June, 2010 We shared the table with two old ladies (about Jenni's age) and they both wished us Guten Apetite. The people here are so nice. |
 35 Monday 28 June, 2010 The funny thing was that the deposit on the glass was €3 - just in case we wanted it for a souvenir. |
 36 Monday 28 June, 2010 We decided we would take the cable car down into the Zugspitzplatt, and from there take the cog-wheel train back down the mountain. |
 37 Monday 28 June, 2010 It was a very short ride, maybe a minute or so. |
 38 Monday 28 June, 2010 On the way down, we pass the Schneefernerhaus, an environmental research station. |
 39 Monday 28 June, 2010 We are looking up into the Northern Schneeferner glacier and, at the time, neither of us realised this was a glacier. Germany's highest chapel sits on a rocky outcrop. |
 40 Monday 28 June, 2010 When we look back up the hill to the Zugspitzbahn, the cloud has moved in. Just as quickly, it moves out. And in again. |
 41 Monday 28 June, 2010 These ski lifts are to the right of the Northern Schneeferner glacier. |
 42 Monday 28 June, 2010 I suppose in Germany they would refer to these as beginner's ski slopes. This area is just to the right of the Southern Schneeferner glacier. |
 43 Monday 28 June, 2010 This is what remains of the Southern Schneeferner glacier. We did not see skiers so it appeared that the skiing season had ended. |
 44 Monday 28 June, 2010 Still fogged in. The red-white-red on the building to left are the colours of Austria. |
 45 Monday 28 June, 2010 The Schneefernerhaus is a former hotel that is now used as an environmental research station (Umweltforschungsstaion). It is located directly below the summit of the Zugspitze and it opened in June 1931. |
 46 Monday 28 June, 2010 The building is a ski-lift station at the top of a beginner's ski run. |
 47 Monday 28 June, 2010 There is an eerie beauty as the sky clouds over and then clears again. |
 48 Monday 28 June, 2010 And now for a few "We wuz there" pictures. |
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 52 Monday 28 June, 2010 Now the two zugspitzebahn stations are clear. |
 53 Monday 28 June, 2010 I cannot imagine too many experiences more awe-inspiring than gliding over Germany's highest mountain. |
 54 Monday 28 June, 2010 This dog looks at home in the snow. Its thick fur might mean it is a husky? |
 55 Monday 28 June, 2010 We walk up the hill a little to visit German's highest chapel. The boulders in front of us were formed by glacial action. |
 56 Monday 28 June, 2010 The chapel is of very robust construction no doubt because it is completely under snow for much of the year. |
 57 Monday 28 June, 2010 Inside, it is very attractive. I particularly liked the wooden ceiling and the iron candelabra. Outside, the roof is made of corrugated steel. |
 58 Monday 28 June, 2010 From the chapel, we look back down at the Zugspitplatt buildings. The round building is the entrance for the cogwheel railway. |
 59 Monday 28 June, 2010 A maypole. These are primarily found in Germanic Europe and neighbouring areas but its origins remain unknown. The maypole is erected as a part of various folk festivals, particularly on May Day, or Pentecost (Whitsun). |
 60 Monday 28 June, 2010 My lasting memory of this place was how warm it felt even though the air temperature was only 13°. There was no wind and it was extremely pleasant just sitting waiting for the train to arrive from down below. |
 61 Monday 28 June, 2010 We sat in the balmy sunshine and enjoyed a cafe latte (each, not shared) |
 62 Monday 28 June, 2010 Some serious snow ploughs stand by. Did they drive these up here? Probably transported in pieces up the railway. |
 63 Monday 28 June, 2010 These snow ploughs did not have a lot of work to do today. I imagine that with the weather being so changeable, they are needed to keep the area clear year-round. |
 64 Monday 28 June, 2010 A cannon was fired so that the sound would dislodge any snow banks that may have built up and prevent avalanches. |
 65 Monday 28 June, 2010 While we sat waiting, a helicopter did one circuit of Zugspitze. |
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 68 Monday 28 June, 2010 On time for our 2:30 departure, our train arrived and we got aboard. The train runs only every hour departing on the half hour. |
 69 Monday 28 June, 2010 There is plenty of room, no graffiti and the train is spotless. |
 70 Monday 28 June, 2010 Not being sure on which side the scenery would be, we each take a window seat on opposite sides of the train. |
 71 Monday 28 June, 2010 In an amazing feat of technology, the train runs for over 20 minutes through a tunnel bored into and through the mountain. It took us maybe halfway down the mountain before we came out into the sunshine again. |
 72 Monday 28 June, 2010 I suppose this means if the weather suddenly goes bad, and the cable-car can not run, people won’t be trapped on Zugspitze for the duration - nice. Two hikers have alighted at Riffelriss station, a stop on the way down. |
 73 Monday 28 June, 2010 From Riffelriss, we can see the towers of the Zugspizebahn cable car. Quite frankly, I was much happier going by train. |
 74 Monday 28 June, 2010 It’s a very modern train and even though it was cogwheel driven, it was still very smooth. The power source is overhead electrical cables; no steam or diesel smoke in the tunnel. We get a great view of the Eibsee from my side of the train. |
 75 Monday 28 June, 2010 The train arrived at Grainau station after maybe 50 minutes. We alight here and retrieve the car. |
 76 Monday 28 June, 2010 This is the cogwheel track. |
 77 Monday 28 June, 2010 The train continues from here the rest of the way down hill to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. All considered, the €98 transport costs were reasonable. |
 78 Monday 28 June, 2010 Looking back up to where we had been. That cable car was the scariest I have been on. |
 79 Monday 28 June, 2010 I seem to remember seeing on TV about a Swiss cogwheel train that was engineered so that there was always a gear driving in the rack so that the ride was smooth. The ride on this train was very smooth and you could not tell it apart from a normal train. |
 80 Monday 28 June, 2010 After retrieving the rental car we headed into Garmish-Partenkirchen, visited the tourist bureau and got some information to help us with tomorrow’s planned visit back here. |
 81 Monday 28 June, 2010 In G-P township, we discovered a great German delicacy, ice cream topped with liqueur cherries. |
 82 Monday 28 June, 2010 We intended coming back tomorrow to visit the Partnach Gorge, a beautiful spot recommended by Claus. |
 83 Monday 28 June, 2010 Quintessentially Bavarian. Beautiful. Idyllic. |
 84 Monday 28 June, 2010 In the distance are the ski jumps for the Garmisch-Partenkirchen stadium which is within walking distance of the Partnach Gorge but we never made it back here as planned. Next stop: Another bad day in Bad Tölz |
