Climbing the Kampenwand

Well I've been meaning to press 'publish' on this for ages but have had zero time (as per usual), due to a combination of dresses to be made, approximately 1000 maths workbooks to drag T through and preparing for a drive to Italy. The norm.

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Yesterday I climbed a mountain. Not a psychological mountain, an actual literal mountain. It's not a mountain you'll have heard of; by Alp standards it's nothing special but at 1669m it is considerably higher than anything Great Britain has to offer... did I mention that it's the one I live next to?!

And so the hike to the top of the Kampenwand begin. It was lovely an sunny, not stupidly busy and the rest of the family were all out and about doing their own thing. The path sets off in open fields with views of Hohenaschau Castle, then winds into woodland. It's steep in places but nothing to worry about. Emerging, 2 hours later, on to the plateau there are stunning views of the Chiemsee and quite a quantity of cowbell-wearing-cows. There were places to stop and get food or drink en route but with a supply of water and cereal bars what more did I need?!

I decided to walk to the Eastern summit. Walk being a slightly inaccurate description. I'll go with scramble in future. The path was steep and rocky, with far too much loose rock for my liking but I continued, after all there were plenty of other people scrambling. The paths wove through the rocky outcrop, including sections with staples and hand rails so you didn't fall.

This would be the path

The view from the summit was amazing. The Chiemsee in one direction and the Central Alps in the other.

Chiemsee

Alps

On the way down I took a wrong turn. Actually it was the person in front of me who took a wrong turn and I stupidly followed. The path was very very steep, not really I path anymore. It was becoming more and more like rock climbing, only without a rope. Hmm. At last I was down the rocky section and onto a steep gravel path... which suddenly stopped. There was no sign of the person who had been in front of me. Deep breath. Check phone: no signal. Great. My options were either to walk straight through the vegetation and hope that a path appeared or climb back up.

It was just as steep as it looks.

I climbed back up. I was at full reach, desperately clinging on, but determined to get to the top. And then I saw the wonderful sight of other people: I was back on the main path. 

East summit

After all that excitement I got the cable car down, happily walking in through the exit and skipping the queue... it helps when you live with the owners!