Hintersee & Zauberwald
Looking on the map, it’s as if Germany pushed Austria out of the way to claim this beautiful corner of the Alps. Although clouds have obscured the highest peaks, it was a cool and dry day and after the museums yesterday, I was ready to get out and explore the scenery.
We were serenaded with traditional German music at breakfast this morning and instead of eggs and toast, I felt like I should have been swaying with a beer stein. Maybe I’ll actually do that later next week when I head back up to Munich for Oktoberfest.
Just across the river from my Gasthaus is the entrance to the Wimbachklamm in Berchtesgaden National Park. It’s a gorge cut deep by melting ice and snow from the mountains. I hiked along an impressive wooden pathway suspended along one side of the gorge. The water was crystal clear and roared down through the rocks.
Germans have a bunch of words to scare you like Vorsicht! Achtung! Verboten! Their signage has graphical punch to get the point across. Here, this unfortunate soul didn’t heed the warnings and went careening into the strong current causing mortal danger. I like the tiny thumbs.
On up the valley past the village of Ramsau lies the serene Hintesee. In German, the word “See” means lake (an actual sea in English is “Meer” in German). The Hintersee is an incredibly deep and clear Alpine lake that perfectly mirrors the towering mountains crowding around it.
It was too perfect. I had to rent a paddle boat and cause some ripples. But no swimming — the water was way too cold for that! There aren’t any power boats allowed on the lake so it’s very quiet with a glass-like surface. Until I messed it up of course.
The views were gorgeous on the lake and around the lake. I hiked a trail that went around the perimeter. You could take in the views from any angle.
Hiking back toward Ramsau and my Gasthaus, I crossed into the Zauberwald. It’s called the magical forest here and indeed the rivers, boulders and trees weave together in a tangle of dark corners. From the sign, I thought it looked more like they were advertising a theme park dedicated to crazy mountain men. (We already have that at home. It’s called Silver Dollar City).
There were references to elves and trolls and then I came across these little people. Someone really enjoyed themselves while creating these scenes.
Tiny wooden wheels turned in the water and animated these traditional German figures. Some were hard at work chopping and sawing wood but most were having fun drinking or dancing (seems much more Bavarian that way). There was even a ski lift where little wooden people happily went up and down over the water in a perpetual ride.
There were all kinds of real creatures in the Zauberwald too:
Mom asked if the Germans celebrate Halloween like we do in America and I’m not sure about that. I do know they have a bunch of harvest festivals and there are plenty of pumpkins around. I’ll ask about that.
Tomorrow is Saturday and I’m getting back on the train to head south into Austria. I have reservations at a small village called Alpbach in the Tirol region. It was voted Austria’s most beautiful village so I’ll weigh in on that.
