Sunday morning we had classes again, but we finished around 11 so that those who were heading back to Italy could check out of their rooms. We were lucky, Doug had taken some leave and we were able to stay an extra night. We asked at the desk where we should go and Partnach Gorge (or Partnachklamm in German) was highly recommended (and low cost as well!). The base of the hike (and several other hikes) is near the 1936 Olympic Ski Jump site, so we stopped in the arena and took a few pictures.
Olympic Ski Jump in Garmisch, Germany
After exploring the stadium, we headed out the other side toward the hiking area. We opted to walk up to the entrance to the gorge instead of taking one of the horse drawn carriages. The kids complained a lot about being hot, I think they have forgotten how hot it was in Texas! It was quite a walk up the hill though. We passed lots of little snack shops and souvenir stands before we got to the entrance to the gorge itself. Some of us didn’t last as long as others and needed some assistance.
Doug carrying Alyssa up to the gorge entrance
We saw some horses in pastures, and some little waterfalls along the way. We followed the river that formed the gorge. The hike up there was about 20 minutes or so.
Checking out the river
little bitty waterfall
The hike up the actual gorge is really cool. Mostly because there is water dripping on you at any given time (there are warnings to watch for falling icecicles in the winter) and there isn’t much sun! The gorge is really narrow, so much of the trail is actually drilled through the mountain. Short distances though, which is good because we didn’t have a flashlight!
Doug and kids in the gorge
In one of the small tunnels
When we finally got to the other side, it opened up into a beautiful area with lots of rocky beaches and the river lazily running through. From here you could either turn around and go back or you could head out on another hike. The options were almost endless.
Me and the kids on the other side of the gorge
We opted to turn around and hike out the way we came in. We stopped for beer and eis (ice cream) on the way down.
Beer!
Then we caved and took the horse carriage back to the bottom (well, it didn’t take much to convince me to take the carriage of course!).
horse carriage
This is post is getting long, so I will write about the rest of our Sunday adventures in another post.
