Family Trip - Day 11 - Lechbruck / Zugspitze

Friday July 5

We all had looked at our weather app in the beginning of the week and decided Friday was the best day. This was a must on our itinarary: Zugspitze, German's highest mountain (2962 meters or 9,718 feet)

Oh, and what a day it was! 

We drove to Garmisch-Patenkirchen in good time. We had been told that earlier was better. We had bought tickets online which saves you time in case there is a line but they are not specific to a certain time to go up. 

We had no problem finding a parking place, well two since we came with two cars. That might be a problem in German vacation time. 

I guess this means that the cables are monitored. Is this comforting? Wade had said that he had watched a video on the website with the boys when they were still at home and it was quite scary. 

Soon we were in a cable car. I thought it was amazing. Mostly it was clear.

But for a short moment we went through a cloud.

It was fun when we were suddenly above the cloud and saw the tip of the mountain. 

Screen shot taken from the website. It gives an idea about the platforms, restaurants etc.

But there was a place which needed real climbing to get to. It was a golden cross (which is not in the photo). Of course several in our party needed to do this. It was a bit nerve wracking for the rest of us. I know I am a wimpy. It was such a bottle neck though that it reminded me of an article about the recent "traffic jam" on Mount Everest. 

Some of us really enjoyed a hot chocolate, after all, there was snow outside ... and quite a wind blowing.

After we were warm again we did some more exploring. You could walk not far across and where in Austria. Because because both countries are EU there is no passport control now. But the border is clearly marked.

When we had done all we needed to do up there we took another gondola down the other side. It was only a short ride. 

This looked more like a valley and it was actually a glacier. 

There was a chapel on a little hill.

There were also free sleds available for anybody who liked to use one. The boys and Helen took advantage of that. The sledders had to climb back up though.

It was really a nice place too.

Finally we took the third option of transportation: a cogwheel tram down to the same parking lot where we had our cars. This took longer but it was another scenic route.

Some of Sarah's photos:

Some of Helen's photos:

Should I apologize that there are sooooo many photos? Noooooo! This was a most amazing day. A place I would like to go back too. So much beauty. So much fun. I think all 9 of us all would highly recommend a visit!