Herrsching to Tutzing

I enrolled in a driving school to finally get a driving license I've been meaning to get since I turned 18 6 years ago. First, I was busy grinding for grades and learning German to enroll at TUM, then I was busy grinding for grades at TUM to get into the PhD. Finally, I realized I can't delay it any longer and started visiting the course.

After a rough week in a stuffy office room listening to the theoretical course in German for 3 hours a day, I decided to take a stroll along an easy route to clear my mind. Out of the option I had, e.g. Murnau to Kochel, Penzberg to Tutzing, Brannenburg to Prien, Munich to Starnberg... I decided to pick Herrsching to Tutzing. The goal being, of course, to connect my hiking route endpoints into a single net, since I'm walking anyway and might as well do something cool with it.

Since I'd need to change the train in Laim anyway, I decided to pick the direction of the hike on the spot based on which train came first.

The trains decided to stop at Passing, making me take several busses to get there, but eventually I ended up in Herrsching. I wandered around and took the longer trail to Kloster Andechs, then took the official X7 Wanderweg to Tutzing through Machtlfing and Traubing. It was already raining at 15:15 when I started, so there were not a lot of other hikers on the route.

What struck me immediately was the deer farms and the dairy production facilities plastered everywhere around Herrsching. At the lake I came across many foreigners. I thought to myself, that there are more English-speaking people here than in downtown München.

Regardless, I continued walking and soon I was alone on the trail, going through fields and small forests. After 10 kilometers I started coming across horse riders on evening walks and woodchucks at work (on a Sunday?), which gave me some hope I'm not that far from civilization. Around Traubing it finally got dark and I decided to take a 2-minute break to have a protein bar and some rest after doing 5-6 kmh for the entire route. Although I got wet sitting on the bench under the rain near a random field, the break was very much needed and deserved.

Another thing that struck me was the thickness of the surrounding forests. When hiking in the mountains, I'm used to seeing sparse spruce forests that you can traverse easily. But here, with mixed trees and other plants of all kinds, the forests created a deep shade like an umbrella over the surrounding area. Even during the day it felt like I was walking at dusk.

Regardless, I pressed on, pointing out the lack of lion statues in the gardens of the expensive villas in the countryside, until I arrived at Tutzing and headed home. By then the railway was repaired and I could change in Laim without hopping on busses or trams.

One of my original plans was to scout the area out for potential organized group hikes in the future. As a result, I was left wondering if it's worth it. The route is 20 km, the scenery is not so breathtaking, and most of the way is just an asphalt road. Nothing to write home about. Still, compared to mountain hikes, maybe someone will enjoy the flatness of this route.