E5 Days 86-90

Thursday, May 30 

“Trying to drown myself in the shower”

• We enjoy a leisurely and hearty breakfast at the Staufner Haus, while everyone around us is frantically packing up and leaving (e.g., to catch the cable car or train).

• Our path leads us through the fog and over very alpine terrain on high-altitude trails, from one summit cross to the next along the ridge.

• To our delight, the clouds are clearing and soon we are below the cloud layer and can enjoy fantastic views of the valley and the Alps.

• It even gets sunny in between!

• We walk quite a bit of the way together with two athletic, young students who are on a weekend trip to the Nagelfluh Mountains – one of them looks like Stefan’s doppelganger (and acts like him too, it’s crazy) – we definitely have a lot of fun with the two of them! It’s nice to hike with others again. 🙂
• The two swear by hiking poles and are so convinced that they say, ‘Just give them a try,’ and lend them to us for a short while.
• I promptly almost kill myself with them, an incident after which we all agree: ‘Poles are not suitable for everyone!’

• As it becomes cloudier again and raindrops begin to fall, with the appearance of a thunderstorm approaching, we decide on the only sensible course of action: to descend into the valley as quickly as possible. Thus, our path diverges from that of the students, who continue on to the cable car.

• It is raining heavily and soon the alpine paths turn into slippery slopes. So we are very grateful when we reach the asphalt roads of the valley.

• It is dreary and grey, and so is our mood. The only ray of hope is a cat that comes along with us for a while.

• At least we make good progress on the asphalt roads and are relieved to soon reach Sonthofen, where we check into our somewhat outdated and strange-looking hotel.

• First, we take a warm shower, which is a relief, but suddenly I hear Matthäus whining (which is a bit unusual for him) and ask him what’s wrong, to which he replies: ‘I feel like Wood in Harry Potter: “Trying to drown himself in the shower.”’
• Since the restaurant is closed today, we order food, which we enjoy comfortably in bed, and finally treat ourselves to some delicious gummy bears (Betthupferl) before falling asleep, exhausted.

Friday, May 31st 

Hairdresser appointment on the long-distance hiking trail

• We wake up and are delighted that our stage today is very short, because it is raining cats and dogs.
• This is also shown by the weather barometer at the hotel entrance. 

• After a leisurely hotel breakfast with good old bread rolls and jam, we throw on our rain ponchos and head out into the wind and weather.
• We see a train (we even stand in front of a closed barrier) and that’s pretty much the highlight of our very short walk to the centre of Sonthofen.

• There we immediately take refuge in a café and to escape the rain.

• We managed to get both (!) of us a hairdresser’s appointment before the wedding tomorrow, which was an amazingly difficult undertaking, especially considering that there are around 20 hairdressers in the small town of Sonthofen.
• At least 6 of them were fully booked. (:O)
• With freshly cut hair, we meet Fritz for lunch.
• He tells us that he decided against his original plan of travelling by motorbike due to the weather and came by car instead.
• It’s really nice of him to have made the journey – he also brought our wedding outfits with him, and we’re really looking forward to spending some time with him, catching up and just chatting!
• After lunch, we treat ourselves to a coffee together before moving on and Fritz makes his way home.
• We take a look at the outdoor shops in the town centre, which are a dime a dozen here, and discover that gaiters are only available in the winter range and that surf shirts are not really their speciality (I try to buy a light-coloured one for sun protection).
• Instead, we get an extra buff, which we can definitely use for the mountains ahead and the cold (including snow) that awaits us.

• We continue on to the Allgäu Stern Hotel, a huge hotel that is clearly designed for guests arriving by car (there are several large car parks and a huge driveway leading to the entrance) and certainly not for hikers arriving on foot.

• What’s more, it’s completely full, something we realise at the latest when we venture into the swimming pool, where all the sun loungers are all covered with towels, thousands of people are splashing around in the pool (a rhetorical exaggeration) and the noise level is quite high.
• We realise that we haven’t seen so many people at once for a very long time and that we’re no longer used to it, which means that it all quickly becomes too much for us.
• So we only swim a few laps in the pool and I chill in the sauna (which obviously is equally crowded) before we retreat to the peace and quiet of our room, put our feet up and enjoy the silence for the rest of the evening. 🙂

Sunday, June 2nd 

At the foot of the Alps…

• Slightly hungover, we show up for breakfast and hand over the wedding attire to Becci’s parents, who take it back to Hof and pass it on to Matthäus’ parents – logistics at its finest and a big thank you to all the parents involved!
• The wedding reception was fantastic, by the way, because although Becci and Nico weren’t so lucky with the weather (it poured with rain), the guests made up for it by partying hard. 🙂
• No wonder I need another power nap before setting off, semi-fit, on stage 88 – to the foot of the Alps in Spielmannsau.

• Passing through Sonthofen – as ugly as ever – we reach the Iller river, along which we hike to Oberstdorf on a gravel path.
• Thanks to it being Sunday, there is a lot going on – cyclists, pedestrians, everyone bustling about on the paths, which are wide but still seem narrow.

• In Oberstdorf, we stop at Zoran’s, who runs an inn near the sports field right on the hiking trail, where we can eat delicious cevapcici and watch ice skaters training (in the hall, which can be seen from the restaurant).
• We continue along increasingly crowded paths leading into the mountains to the back of the valley and a small lake.

• From there, it is not far to Spielmannsau, where we will be staying at the mountain hostel tonight.

• We expect to sleep in a dormitory with lots of people, but are pleasantly surprised when Lukas, the host, tells us that we are the only guests and are very lucky, because tomorrow a school class with 61 (!) children is coming.
• It is very cosy and we enjoy the peace and quiet.
• Lukas also tells us that there is a lot of fresh snow on top of the Kemptner Hut and that he would not recommend us to go there.
• We almost expected that, after literally watching the Alps in front of us get snowed in over the last two days and nights.
• He tells us about two people from Hamburg who tried it yesterday anyway, but were forced to turn back due to the snow conditions and the lack of bridges over raging streams.
• Chilling out and going to bed early is the motto for today.

Monday, June 3rd 

… and no further

• Sometimes quotation marks are appropriate (as is the case today with the word ‘stage’).
• We enjoy a leisurely breakfast and although it says ‘Do not pack any snacks’ three times, Lukas says, ‘Go ahead and eat everything’ – so we pack the remaining two rolls as snacks.

• Refreshed, we make our way to the bus station to catch the bus back to Oberstdorf because, as Lukas assured us again today, ‘It’s really not a good idea to climb up to the Kemptner Hut.’ There is apparently about half a metre of fresh snow at the top, and on top of that, the Sperrbachtobel gorge, through which you climb, is notorious for avalanches.
• So, even though Holzgau looks so close on the map, we fall back on the bus and train and take the long way around the Alpine foothills.
• First of all, I try my luck in one of the countless sports shops in Oberstdorf and ask: ‘Do you have a long-sleeved surfing shirt?’
• After clearing up some language comprehension issues that still exist even here (such as ‘What do you mean “Leiberl” (Austrian word for shirt)?’), the saleswoman looks at me like I’m crazy and then says, ‘Surfing isn’t really in our range.’
• Okay, okay, I don’t care what you call it – just a long-sleeved, light-coloured T-shirt made of functional, breathable, UV-protective material!
• They actually have exactly what I’m looking for, and I enthusiastically purchase my sun protection shirt, which can also serve as protection against the cold (given the snow conditions).

• We celebrate with a coffee before taking the train, bus and more bus out of the valley (via Sonthofen and Kempten) and reaching Holzgau after a 4-hour odyssey.

• ‘So close and yet so far,’ so to speak (the village is about 6 km away from Spielmannsau as the crow flies).
• We check into our super fancy spa hotel and ask the receptionist about the current condition of the hiking trails.

• She says enthusiastically: ‘Ah, you’re the first E5 hikers this year!’ – Great…
• Chilling in the room, devouring snacks and then good night!

Tuesday, June 4th 

Exit Game and Spa 

• In the morning, we get another update on the hiking trail situation and receive the following information: a trail in the valley is closed, but it can be easily bypassed. However, the host of the Memminger Hut (at least he is still reachable, ha) says he has half a metre of fresh snow and would not recommend us to climb up there.
• ‘So he does have a phone after all,’ says Matthäus, as we have been desperately and unsuccessfully searching for his phone number.
• As the story unfolds, however, we become more aware (you’ll soon understand why) of the hype surrounding the ‘E5 across the Alps’, the extent to which hiking has taken on and why it is a wise idea for the hut owner to only give his telephone number to selected people.
• Without further ado, we book another night at our very nice hotel in Holzgau with spa, sauna and steam bath, and fall from one extreme – ‘We’re hiking up the mountain’ – to the other – ‘We’re doing nothing and chilling in the sauna’.

• A great day: reading, writing, just chilling out, then a quick visit to MPreis across the street, mainly to buy Latella, then a round of Exit Game ‘Burg’ at professional level, which we slowly but successfully master and which is great fun.
• Finally, the day is rounded off with an extensive spa visit with several sauna sessions and breaks in between.
• To top it all off, we treat ourselves to a dinner with lots of asparagus – mmm, asparagus season – before falling into bed exhausted from the whole exhausting day. 🙂