My first European hiking trip surely did not disappoint

During the long weekend of August 13, 2022. Sam, Eduardo and Sandeep invited me for a hiking trip in the German/Austrian Alps in the south. Of course I said yes the moment I heard the word “hiking”. Not knowing anything about the European hikes and not speaking a word of German except for some swearing words, I was excited but also a bit nervous. This is also the first time I properly met Sam and Sandeep so I didn’t know what to expect. It turned out that this trip would be amazing and they were all great people.

Just like every good adventure, I was up at 5 A.M. and was out of the door by 6 A.M.. It felt weird that I was not in a car going to the trailhead as I usually was in Canada. This time the trip starts with catching an early train at the Würzburg Hbf (train station). I was happy that I didn’t need to pay for the train as the German government had issued a 9-Euro ticket policy to compensate for the rising gas price due to the war (you can go anywhere by regional trains with a monthly pass that only costs 9 Euro).

Of course, it won’t be a trip without the German trains getting delayed. As as result we missed one of our connections and had to make an alternate plan, which required us to wait an hour before hopping on our next train. We decided to explore a random town: had some snacks, coffee, looked at cathedrals and all the things that one tourist in a European town would do. It was great.

After getting on our last connecting train, the scenery started to change and the mountains were getting closer and closer. I was excited. Unfortunately I didn’t take photos of the train station, but it was surrounded by mountains. I was amazed by how accessible the mountains were. Sam and Eduardo, in their true European style, wanted to get some local pastries before we started our hike. They did, the bakery was lovely. I opted for a couple of bars that I brought for lunch. After some grocery supplies we finally started putting one foot in front of another up a mountain.

Here was something I learned about European trails: they can start at the side of the highway, at the back of a shopping mall or someone’s backdoor and leads you straight into the mountains. It was quite a bit strange to me. After some hard work up some steep hills, we reached our first lookout point.

Me on top of the hill, apparently they put a cross on top of every mountain here

The rest of the hike was straightforward, some flat part through a bunch of cows, some up and downs and a final steep climb up to our hut. The sound of cowbells ringing in the valley was definitely a true Alps experience.

The hut was quiet busy so I didn’t take many pictures. I did get blown away by the cola mix that they had. Our accommodation was bunker beds and cold showers.

The amazing window view in the washroom, I first thought it was a painting hanging on the wall

We didn’t need to pay extra for dinner or breakfast, which was great. The food was good but I would have loved a bigger portion. After dinner there was still quite a bit of sunlight left and I went our for a little jog to explore the surrounding areas and enjoyed some quite times by myself. Afterwards we all headed west to catch the sunset.

The clouds turned pink, Sam taking in the views

The cow was also enjoying the sunset, at least that’s what I thought

Golden hour, some distant peaks far away

The next day was again an early rise for the sunrise.

I liked the golden colour on the hill in a distance in this one

Jugged ridges in Austria seen from our hut

Sam said he looked hot in this one, so I have to put it here

As we still had to hike down, catch a short train ride to Oberstdorf and hike again. We quickly had breakfast and packed up our bags.

It was a scotching hot day and I’ve never done well in the heat so it took us a bit longer to get back to the train station. Thankfully we caught our train and 30mins later we were at the Oberstdorf train station.

Mount Rubihorn in the background, Sam and Eduardo standing on the left

The town itself was cute and touristy, we quickly took a walk through, filled up our waters and started to look for the start of our hike up to our second hut.

Typical scene in the town: cows, horses, green grass and mountains

After a bit of route finding we were finally on the right track. The hike up was a simple up hill in the forest. We dropped our stuff in the hut and headed up for a lake hoping to catch some sunset views. Unfortunately clouds started rolling in and it got dark so we headed back.

It rained during the night and the next morning so we had to hike out in a bit of a drizzle. We made it down the mountain relatively quickly and successfully caught our train in time. The rest was just another 2 connecting trains back to our town.

It was a great first European mountain experience and great first trip with the boys. It sure felt quite different from what I’m used to in the Canadian coastal ranges, which is a lot wilder. It is much easier to hike here, logistically speaking, as one does not need to consider shelter, being cold at night or resupplies. I could be hiking 30km in the roughest terrain in a snowstorm but once I get to a destination there will be a hut built on top of mountain (sometimes I wonder how they did it) with hot meals, iced coke and a bed. It truly is a dream location for hikers. My back was definitely thanking me for the light backpack at the end of the trip since I didn’t need to carry any tents or sleep systems.

On the train back, I already started making plans for the next trip and it will be in the notoriously beautiful Swiss Alps.

Immenstadt - Oberstdorf (Southern Germany)

Golden Ears Summit