Not the Biggest, not the Highest, but one of the Most Beautiful, the Karwendelbahn
On the morning we went, clouds were still obscuring the upper cable car station and the last third of the ride had us engulfed in mist. The ride is wonderfully steep and the suspended cable is well above the ground all the way up, also fast - exciting. The gondola is smaller than you might expect - total of five to six adults by my estimation.
The station is set into a cliff and beyond the edge of that cliff is big bowl formation at the top of the mountain - not volcanic-ally formed as I had thought originally, rather by the gradual sinking down of the rock and gravel-based center of the mountain as the ridges remained solidly in place. I'm no geologist, of course, but I in my more recent years I have become more and more of a tourist-info junkie.
So what's it like at the top? Cold. With the clouds still hanging around we couldn't see anything. I was with my 11 year old and we decided to take the hiking path up to ridge behind the bowl. We made it about half way up and at 2500 meters both us feeling out of breath a bit and cold, we found each our on excuse to head back down to the station.
We brought food along and entered the restaurant found a table and set up lunch. Then I went to order me a drink at the bar and a seven up for my boy, where I was told it was not really allowed for us to eat our own food in the restaurant. Thanks to the kindness of the Bar lady, she said since I was ordering drinks it should not be a problem. Anyway, if you plan on eating your own food in someone's restaurant, be prepared for this kind of response all over Mittenwald. I had to order a few drinks and deserts to appease various waiters already. Taken very personally, in some cases. Jeez, just trying to have lunch on a budget here, guys.
Then, at around 12:30 that day, the clouds lifted to reveal the spectacularly serene vally that is the heart of Mittenwald. The fast flowing white Isar snaked from one end to the other, fields of green, picturesque Barvarian Gaeste Haus'es and main street, Mittenwald clearly visible, the green & rolling Kranzberg range across the other side of the valley below, really quite breathtaking and soothing at the same time. And I mean literally, breath taking. In that, taking in a few deep breaths of clean mountain air while taking in the view really enhances the experience. It kind of clarifies for you the reason you had chosen this spot originally to get away for a couple of weeks from the 47 to 50 degree Dubai summer.
There was snow all around the station and we had impromptu snowball fights. Second time for my son to see snow in his life, having been brought up in hotter "climes" and, even though his citizenship warrants that he should have been quite familiar with snow up to now!
There are some polished stones in a vending machine for 1 euro each with instructions on the machine as to how the color of your stone relates to your sign of the zodiac. Wouldn't you know it I got a rose colored polished stone which somehow is supposed to be the color of Taurus. Yes I am born in May. Shaking my head at the coincidence, I watched my son turn the dial an get an April color even though he is born in October. Managing expectations, I told him it was all pretty much malarkey, anyways, designed to free us of our jingling one euro coins...
In the station itself there are some well laid out exhibits of the kinds of rocks and plants and animals that you can find at the top of Karwendel mountain. These exhibits are also carried through into a concrete structure beside that looks like a giant telescope, overhanging the cliff in a serious manner. we had a walk through and a good look, and a good read. Even enough to interest an 11-yr old son for the whole time we were up there - rare.
After spending two hours or so in total, we decided to ride back down. There are hiking trails all the way up and down the but some parts are apparently pretty steep and technically challenging. Plus it would probably take an experienced climber at least two and half, three hours on descent. We saw groups of climbers resting at various levels as we rode back down and decided it was very good to have that option.
If you visit Mittenwald, the Karwendelbahn is one of the unmissable experiences in the area. It is relatively cheap for the gondola ride, kid friendly, and a nice Morning's expedition.
The station is set into a cliff and beyond the edge of that cliff is big bowl formation at the top of the mountain - not volcanic-ally formed as I had thought originally, rather by the gradual sinking down of the rock and gravel-based center of the mountain as the ridges remained solidly in place. I'm no geologist, of course, but I in my more recent years I have become more and more of a tourist-info junkie.
So what's it like at the top? Cold. With the clouds still hanging around we couldn't see anything. I was with my 11 year old and we decided to take the hiking path up to ridge behind the bowl. We made it about half way up and at 2500 meters both us feeling out of breath a bit and cold, we found each our on excuse to head back down to the station.
We brought food along and entered the restaurant found a table and set up lunch. Then I went to order me a drink at the bar and a seven up for my boy, where I was told it was not really allowed for us to eat our own food in the restaurant. Thanks to the kindness of the Bar lady, she said since I was ordering drinks it should not be a problem. Anyway, if you plan on eating your own food in someone's restaurant, be prepared for this kind of response all over Mittenwald. I had to order a few drinks and deserts to appease various waiters already. Taken very personally, in some cases. Jeez, just trying to have lunch on a budget here, guys.
Then, at around 12:30 that day, the clouds lifted to reveal the spectacularly serene vally that is the heart of Mittenwald. The fast flowing white Isar snaked from one end to the other, fields of green, picturesque Barvarian Gaeste Haus'es and main street, Mittenwald clearly visible, the green & rolling Kranzberg range across the other side of the valley below, really quite breathtaking and soothing at the same time. And I mean literally, breath taking. In that, taking in a few deep breaths of clean mountain air while taking in the view really enhances the experience. It kind of clarifies for you the reason you had chosen this spot originally to get away for a couple of weeks from the 47 to 50 degree Dubai summer.
There was snow all around the station and we had impromptu snowball fights. Second time for my son to see snow in his life, having been brought up in hotter "climes" and, even though his citizenship warrants that he should have been quite familiar with snow up to now!
There are some polished stones in a vending machine for 1 euro each with instructions on the machine as to how the color of your stone relates to your sign of the zodiac. Wouldn't you know it I got a rose colored polished stone which somehow is supposed to be the color of Taurus. Yes I am born in May. Shaking my head at the coincidence, I watched my son turn the dial an get an April color even though he is born in October. Managing expectations, I told him it was all pretty much malarkey, anyways, designed to free us of our jingling one euro coins...
In the station itself there are some well laid out exhibits of the kinds of rocks and plants and animals that you can find at the top of Karwendel mountain. These exhibits are also carried through into a concrete structure beside that looks like a giant telescope, overhanging the cliff in a serious manner. we had a walk through and a good look, and a good read. Even enough to interest an 11-yr old son for the whole time we were up there - rare.
After spending two hours or so in total, we decided to ride back down. There are hiking trails all the way up and down the but some parts are apparently pretty steep and technically challenging. Plus it would probably take an experienced climber at least two and half, three hours on descent. We saw groups of climbers resting at various levels as we rode back down and decided it was very good to have that option.
If you visit Mittenwald, the Karwendelbahn is one of the unmissable experiences in the area. It is relatively cheap for the gondola ride, kid friendly, and a nice Morning's expedition.
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