Breitenstein and Wendelstein During Rainfall
As the weather forecast was looking quite grim, I and David doubted if we should go hiking or skip this weekend. The choices were either to visit Hirschbichel (1935 m), which I saw on the way to Kramerspitz (1985 m), or Breitenstein (1622 m), which the DAAD FK group skipped during the Schweinsberg (1514 m) Easter hike.
The Bergfex forecast was more hopeful for Breitenstein (1622 m), so that's what we went for. When we exited the train at Fischbachau, we were greeted by a very fluffy cat strolling across the street. As we kept going and came close to Wolfsee, we stumbled across some old stone ruins and a shrine. I couldn't find it on the map, but I did find an article about a Lost Place online, having photos of these ruins.
From Schommers, Anita: Hallo, die „Lost Places“ in Fischbachau wurden von Joh. Weizengger, dem Schwiegervater meiner Tante erbaut. Früher hat man dort schon Theater gespielt. Im Internet befinden sich alte Ansichtskarten mit den ursprünglichen erbauten Kulissen und der kleinen alten Kapelle. Ich war als Kind oft dort und auch später nochmal in der Wolfsse-Halle. Ich habe bei meiner Tante Frau Maisy (Anna Maria) Weizenegger geschlafen, die aber im Jahre 2007 verstorben ist.
It's crazy to me that this abandoned theater wasn't documented almost anywhere online and is slowly being forgotten.
Soon enough, we came across a father and a daughter going to a waterfall (47.7146275, 11.9712440) they saw on a waypost nearby. We walked for a bit together, but the way was too narrow and slippery for the child to continue, so they took some photos and turned back.
We skipped past Kesselalm (1278 m) and continued up the mountain, coming across big groups of hikers going to the top together. It was astounding how many people were on the trail, considering the weather. On the top, we met yet another group of hikers, who were discussing how much better it is to go hiking in the rain, as it keeps the crowds away. A bit ironic, considering we were standing right beside them.
We then proceeded down the ridge, but had to go around Schweinsberg (1514 m), since the trail was closed due to nesting birds. Because of that, we skipped Schweinsberg (1514 m) and proceeded directly to Türkenköpfl (1512 m), passing by a lot of Alpine spring flowers.
As we were taking a detour to climb Türkenköpfl (1512 m), we were taken by surprise by a sudden hailstorm. We quickly took cover under a tree and waited for it to pass, putting our raincoats on as a precaution. After a few minutes, the hail stopped, and we continued our way up, meeting yet another large group of hikers near the cross and asking them to take a few photos of us.
As we started climbing Wendelstein (1838 m), coming across several other hiker groups, we saw some rainy clouds in the distance. The trail was becoming more and more rocky, so we hurried up to the restaurant at the top before it started raining or hailing again. We made it just in time, and as we were taking a break inside, the rain started pouring down in the valley.
We went to the observatory at the top, took some more photos, met local expats urging me to join their WhatsApp community and headed down to Bayrischzell, as it became considerably colder because of the rain and wind.
On the way down we saw a herd of mountain goats running across the trail, but unfortunately they went the opposite direction from where we were going, so I decided to not chase them.
As we came down to Bayrischzell, we headed directly to Café Konditorei Huber, my go-to place in the village, and ordered some cake as a reward for the 20 km on the road.
Looking back, this was a great hike, and a welcome expansion of the simpler Wendelstein (1838 m) route I did twice in the past. While combining several summits into one hike may seem a bit much, I didn't feel it was a significant challenge, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a longer hike in the area. The only downside was the weather, which was unpredictable, but manageable. I would recommend checking the forecast the day before or in the morning, and if it looks good, go for it.