Tuesday, November 1 was a public holiday, had a decent weather forecast and I couldn’t come up with a better plan. So I decided to hike from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to the summit of Zugspitze.
Monday I did a little research. According to the DAV the tour was 10-11h, other sources mentioned between 8 and 10 hours. Sunrise was 6:58, sunset 17:00, but the last cable car from the summit left 16:45 already. I wasn’t sure how much time I would need. Usually I’m faster than the fastest time given for a hike but to be on the safe side I decided to start at 6:00.
My alarm rang 4:30. My pack stood ready in the hallway and after a quick breakfast and a very important coffee I left around 5:00. Not surprisingly the roads were empty and I made good time to Garmisch, where I parked at the Ski jump stadium.
I was putting on my boots when another car right next to me and a young woman got out. We chatted for a minute, both surprised that somebody else was here that early, before I started walking at 6:18.
The morning air was still freezing cold and I wore just a soft-shell and a shirt. To warm up I started running to the entrance of Partnach Klamm (Partnach Gorge). I slowed down once I reached the entrance of the gorge. Usually you have to pay to pass through, but nobody cared that early. The roaring water sounded a lot louder in the darkness and with no other people around than just a week ago. But I didn’t spend a lot of time to enjoy it and kept on walking.
Time passed quickly when I was walking along the Partnach. The first time I checked my watch was when I passed a sign saying “8h to Zugspitze”. It was 7:50 which meant I was on time to easily make it up before the last cable car. Five minutes later I passed Bockhütte, where I stopped for a cup of tea and a muesli bar.
I could see the sun shining on the peaks ahead but it was still dark around me. But the path was excellent and I continued to make good time. I spotted some prayer flags shaking in the wind ahead of me before I saw Reintalangerhütte. I had hoped to get a coffee there but the hut was closed, so I again stopped for only five minutes for another tea and a energy bar.
So far I had already climbed five hundred meters but the incline had been minimal. When I reached the Oberer Anger at the Reintal the trail turned to the North-West towards Brunntalkopf. The morning cold had kept me cool but the climb changed this quickly.
I thought I heard some kids voices behind me, but when I turned around I saw a flock of chamois running cross the valley. They were surprisingly quick even though their movements looked a bit comical, like they were kids running for the first time.
After another 30 minutes I finally made it out of the shade and into the sun. I wasn’t really cold thanks to the climb but it was still nice to take off the softshell and enjoy the sunshine. For the first time I had view out of the valley and over some of the surrounding peaks. The air was perfectly clear and promised some awesome views from the summit.
I decided it was time for a break, but when I sat down and checked my progress on the map I noticed that I was just a few minutes away from Knorrhütte. So I got up again and made it there in less than 10 minutes. It wasn’t even 11:00 but I was hungry and had a long lunch break on the bench in front of the hut.
Soon later I encountered the first few patches of snow which quickly turned into a solid snow cover. But the snow was mostly frozen solid and the tracks easy to follow. A sign at the last hut said that all the markers had been removed but I still spotted dozens of poles ahead of me and had no problems following the trail.
Another 2 1/2 hours later I reached the Zugspitz Platt where I heard screams of people sledding down the snow covered slopes.
The trail turned right and went over a snow field up towards the summit. The snow here was already pretty deep and I was already tired. Slowly I made my way up, sinking in every few steps. At the upper end of the snow field the trail turned right, here some steel cables were fixed to the rock as a hand rail.
The trail was a little exposed and the final bit over a thin ridge had some exciting views down to both sides. But there were the only parts of the hike were experience was necessary.
Clouds moved in and the wind picked up just minutes before I reached the summit. Here I was met by hundreds of tourists, a few (2? 3?) restaurants, and way too much noise. It was 13:40 and I needed only 7h 20m including many breaks.
After the mandatory summit shots I found a mostly quiete place to eat. I just made it to the cable car at 14:00 back down to Eibsee and from there I took the cog railroad to Garmisch, just in time to see the clouds enclose Zugspitze.
