Hollentalklamm

First a disclaimer: There is no way that our words and photos can accurately portray the beauty of this place. You must see it to believe it!

We recently took a bike/hike trip through the village of Hammersbach (near Grainau, June 25 post), up into the mountains to see Hollentalklamm (Klamm = gorge) where the Hammersbach "stream" roars through a 1 km (1/2 mile) gorge about 100 m (328 feet) deep.

The trip started along a typical meadow with its cows and sheep grazing contentedly, bells clanging loudly as they attempted to shoo the flies away. We tried to woo these cute calves over closer to the fence but neither grass nor flowers tempted them in the least.

Then we decided to have a little trail snack before we started out again. Newsflash: German calves like trail snack! Was it the peanuts (probably), raisins, craisens--M&Ms? Who knows. But we thought they were going to come through the fence to get some!

To all of our canine friends: Do not despair if nature calls while you are on the trail. Just take the person on the other end of your leash to the nearest "doggie john" (?!) and they can dispose of whatever you produce for them! (Readers: Please click on the photos to enlarge them. We don't want you to miss any of the details).

Always fascinated with the meticulously neat wood piles in town, we were interested to find one of the places that produces logs cut then split into perfect 1 meter lengths. A few days prior while visiting Grainau, we saw a log-splitter, very similar to the one Bob uses in White Hall to split wood for our wood stove.

The higher we hiked, the more beautiful the sights. Grainau, now far below us looked even more like an alpine village. It is at an elevation of 2487 feet so by this time we were probably at about 3500 feet.

At this elevation, the trail was really a gravel road. Even so, someone had built a water trough for hot, thirsty hikers (and lumberjacks). The trough was carved out of a solid log but had concentric metal hoops pressed into the ends--presumably to keep the log from splitting.

 Higher up we found another water spout/trough made with a sense of humor and artistic flair. The water was cold and refreshing.

Eventually we had to park the bikes and continue on a more strenuous trail. For some reason we didn't take any photos of the trail--perhaps because of our amazement at the caretaking. Most of the trail was gravel ("Who would haul gravel up here? And why?"). Where needed there were skillfully crafted wooden bridges and a few cables. Obviously, a tremendous amount of care goes into the maintenance of the trail.

Soon we could hear the roaring of the gorge. We made it to the Berghutte (mountain hut) where we paid our 3 euros ($3.78 that day) each and entered the gorge. It was a spectacular sight--and sound.

The trail tunneled into and out of the mountainside, again and again. In some places there was so much water dripping over the trail we had to put on shells to stay dry.

 Again the wonder. The trail was built in the 1800s so that means that someone tunneled through the solid rock by hand to make these trails. And all the heavy material for each of the bridges and the concrete steps (added later, no doubt) was carried in. 

But the greater awe was in observing the the work that the water has done over many millennia--slowly and imperceptibly carving away at solid rock to reach this depth--something humans could never do. Our hearts were filled with thanksgiving for the power and majesty of it all and the privilege of witnessing such beauty firsthand.

We could have continued up to the top and ridden the gondola we observed earlier on the trail--many hikers were headed that way.

But not knowing how long it was going to take us to get back, Bob checked the map, talked to a few hikers and we began our descent.

Speaking of hikers--the vast majority of them were our age or older! Germans love to hike and age is no reason to stop. Hiking poles are also quite the rage--even with younger German hikers.

We haven't been converted to hiking poles yet, but going down steep rocky trails (especially on the wet, slippery parts) I would have been happy to try out a pair!

The trip back was faster than we expected. We went a different way and enjoyed yet another little village and said, "Auf wiedersehn" to the mountains.

At the end the day we were able to get a close-up of what must be the world's smallest "truck" (a 3-wheeler)  ; sorta makes you want to put one in your back pocket and take it home!