SemitonesJun 22
Tom Lechner
After the Libre Graphics Meeting, I spent a couple days in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, from which there's a train that goes up to the Zugspitze! It's part of the Alps, the highest point in Germany, and shares a border with Austria. It tops out at 9718 feet. There's quite a nice lake with blue/greenish glacial runoff water called the Eibsee down below.
Jun 21 at 6:10pmWeb
Show threadTom LechnerJun 21
There's a cable car that goes all the way to the top from the lake, however it's down a few days a year for maintenance, which happened to coincide with the days I was there! Fortunately there's a cogwheel train that also goes up the mountain, through a tunnel. From Garmisch-Partenkirchen, from which there's also #hiking trails about 15 miles long that go up to the peak. I completely cheated and took the cogwheel.
Show threadTom LechnerJun 21
I'd love to go back and do the 15 mile hike up the #Zugspitze some day! I could easily spend months hiking in the Alps if I won the lottery. I think I could feel the altitude a little bit, but nothing serious. The views were really good anyway.
Show threadTom LechnerJun 21
The weather forecast before I got there was thunder storms, but fortunately the clouds were high enough that I still got a lot of great views, and not much rain that day! Also did a little hiking along the lake on the way back. You can get a sense of the magnitude of the alps by using my feet for scale in photo 3.
Show threadWeltzeitgeistJun 21
@tomsart I'm so glad you're having a good time in Germany, but here on the continent we don't use magic numbers. The Zugspitze is 2,962 m high, so not quite three kilometers.
Show threadTom LechnerJun 21
@wackJackle Oh, you and your crazy numbering system that actually makes sense!
Show threadWeltzeitgeistJun 21

@tomsart ;)

Have a great time in Germany. I was on the Zugspitze as an 11year old young boy. Great family memories.

Show threadTom LechnerJun 21
@wackJackle Thanks! I'm actually back home now.. just going through the hundreds of photos I took! That area is quite nice. People of all ages were hiking at every elevation! I have a bunch of photos from the nearby Partnachklamm still to process.
Show threadJamesAshburnerJun 22
@wackJackle @tomsart Yes, this Australian just translated that height. Zugspitze is almost 740 m higher than our Mt Kosciuszko (which is lumpy, its nearest neighbour—Townsend—is peaky).
Show threadFranz GrafJun 22

@tomsart
"quite nice lake" might be a little bit of an understatement 🤣

But cool photos from up there!

Show threadTom LechnerJun 22
@hikingdude I'd go so far as to say it's hard to take bad photos up there, or around the lake!