While we were staying in Garmisch in Southern Germany, Cory’s sister really wanted to go hike in the mountains. Thus, we went to the hotel’s front desk to ask about lifts (Gondolas) and hikes in the area. The very kind and helpful lady at the front desk had all kinds of brochures and maps and information on all the local hiking trails and pricing on the lifts. After she gave us a 10 minute detailed and slightly overwhelming run-down of all our nearby options, my father-in-law looked at her and said, “How about a short, level hike for an out-of-shape Opa (Grandpa)?”
“Oh, I see,” she said knowingly. “And the other hikers? What ages would they be?” she inquired looking over my way.
“Five kinder (children) ages 2, 5, 11, 12, and 14 and myself, my husband and Opa (here) and Oma and also my brother’s sister (I motioned to Vicki),” I replied.
“Okay,” she responded. “Then I have the perfect family hike I would suggest that includes riding lifts up and then hiking down.”
Well that sounded great to us. We took her detailed instructions and headed back to the room to grab sweatshirts, jackets, gloves, and backpacks full of snacks, water bottles and Euro and we were off. All ten of us walked several blocks across the valley floor over to the base of the nearby mountain to ride our first lift. There we purchased a one-trip family pass for everyone and boarded the next available Gondola.
It was a sunny, spring day in March and we could see for miles and miles in every direction as we lifted up into the blue sky and moved up the mountain. We shared the Gondola with downhill snow skiers who were fully clad with equipment. We must have been a sight to them; a large family group of all ages including Grandparents all the way down to a toddler who were all dressed for a cool spring mountain hike. And as we rose in elevation we kept “Oooing and Aahhing” and snapping pictures on every side and angle. The mountains were steeped in snow-capped majesty on every side and framed with blue sky and white puffs of clouds all around. And we were still rising up, up, up. We were riding almost to the very peak of the 2nd highest German Alp called the Alpspitze.
Once we reached our destination atop the mountain we unloaded and looked around a bit. We found ourselves at a sky lodge sitting in the sky. There were restrooms, lockers and an indoor cafeteria. So we ordered some hot lunch and then headed outdoors to enjoy the sunshine. We sat around on picnic tables outside and watched skiers unload from the platter-lift and ski down the steep hill on slushy, wet spring snow. There were people skiing in short sleeve shirts and others just sitting around basking in the warm sunshine.
After this we loaded back onto a different Gondola and headed down a tangent side of the mountain. We were heading to a different lift location and then to hike downhill to the final Gondola station where we would take our final ride back down the mountain to end up just a block away from the place in which we began thus completing our hiking lift circuit. At the last moment, before the doors automatically closed, a young German couple jumped into the Gondola with us. When we arrived at the lift station we were a bit dismayed to find ourselves in the middle of a ski hill and thus completely surrounded by snow on every side. We looked around for a trail sign and found one but the young German couple said the sign read something like, “Skiers only—no hikers!”
The young couple were not outfitted for skiing either and said they were also looking for the foot trail. We were much relieved when they offered to go ask someone at the lift station. However, they returned pointing directly up the steep hill in front of us. We all looked up to where they were pointing and I think I said something like, “You have got to be kidding me!” Or “Why can’t we go that way where it’s flat and easy?”
My husband responded, “Because it says no hikers.” But the couple didn’t even answer, as they were already attempting to walk (if you could call it that) straight up the hill slipping and sliding as they went in their street shoes. After all, this was Germany and above all, you follow the rules!
The problem was that none of us had really dressed for hiking in the snow. We were all wearing street shoes and I was probably the worse off as I had slip-on, Docker walking shoes that had absolutely NO traction on the bottom whatsoever. And by this time, my two and five year old children were tired. It was now mid-afternoon, just after lunch and normally would have been naptime for the two year old. The children were also wearing slip-on kinds of tennis shoes with little traction and after just a few steps their little shoes and socks were soaked completely through and they began crying. But, we were stuck. We had only purchased one-way, one-trip, tickets and the only way down the mountain, at this point, was up. So, up we went.
The adults took turns carrying and alternately dragging or pushing the two younger ones up that almost vertical hill. I ended up crawling up it like a bear on all fours, using both my hands and feet. All ten of us also took turns sliding down a few feet so that our progress upwards really went something like ten steps forward and then two steps back. My husband’s sister, the only in-shape adult, zoomed up the hill with the older kids compared to the rest of us.
Once we were up that awful hill, the rest of the trail was relatively downhill. But it was still snow-covered and steep in places and it took us quite a while to traverse the entire trail carrying two small, cold and tired children most of the way. At one point, my daughter Grace (the two-year-old) fell asleep on my back and kept slipping down and became almost completely dead weight. About that time, I fell far behind everyone else and my husband hiked back and took her from me. He slid Mariel (our five-year-old) off his shoulders and around to the front and then put Grace atop his shoulders so that he was walking down the trail carrying two girls at the same time!
It was difficult to enjoy the breathtaking scenery all around us while we were enduring all this physical cold and hardship. And I mostly had to just focus on my feet and every step I took so I wouldn’t slip and fall on the ice especially during the times I was carrying a small child on my back. But every now and then I just had to stop and look around and even snap a picture or two which is partly why I fell so far behind everyone else. I knew I had to savor the moments up in the Alps because there was no way we were coming back anytime soon!
We did eventually reach the other lift station and we were so ready for hot chocolate and German cake. But alas, we were too late in the afternoon. They had closed the restaurant down after lunch. Deflated, tired and cold we climbed into our last Gondola and headed back down the mountain and then walked back to the hotel.
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