Checking Off Obergries

Ever since I did the trip to Blomberg (1248 m), I wanted to do another hike in the same area, since there were so many small summits to choose from. I chose them all! I decided to do a hike from Rechelkopf (1330 m) to Semmelberg (1101 m), visiting all other peaks along.

I briefly looked at the map and saw that some peaks were missing roads leading up to them. Remembering my recent Via Nova trail experience, I wasn't too worried about it. I assumed that there were trails not marked on the map, made by tractors after dragging chopped down trees or cleared out ferns. Although I had 3 vaccines two days before, I was confident I could complete this route in my condition.

Following my "Web of Hikes" idea, I started the route leaning a bit to the west. I passed a nearby bridge during my Bad Tölz to Lenggries hike, so I wanted to pass it again this time around to connect the routes together. Next, I headed straight east across the fields and the horse farms towards the first summit.

Although there is an unnamed 861 m mountain nearby, my choice fell onto Schürfen Kopf (1096 m). I started the hike a bit later in the day, so the trail leading up was full of people, mostly older hikers enjoying the weather and younger trail runners setting their personal best paces. The cross for the mountain is located slightly to the side of the panoramic view area.

While the mountain itself is nothing special, it offers great views towards Zwiesel (1348 m), the highest peak near the Blomberg ridge. There were a bunch of people with dogs enjoying the clear sky, smiling towards me when I got to the top. I greeted them and kept going.

The next summit was Schwarzköpfel (1140 m), a random hilltop in-between other mountains. There were some warnings to stay on the trail when I was approaching it, which I did, but there wasn't much sense getting off the trail anyway. There was a simple handcrafted cross made of two sticks at the top, which I quickly passed and kept going.

After I went down to Schwaiger-Alm, I met two confused elderly hikers trying to figure out the route. I had my headphones on in pass-through mode, but I guess they got intimidated by me and didn't ask for directions. I kept going and soon reached an opening with a cross and a bunch of people. It was Rechelkopf (1330 m), the main destination for most hikers in this region. You can get there from all sides, even from the south through an unmarked trail created by woodchoppers.

Before going there, I took a quick detour to Sulzkopf (1279 m). While there's nothing there except a bench, I met several hikers with dogs doing some light trail running, so that was something.

The view from the Rechelkopf (1330 m) peak is much greater than from the previous summits. You can see Benediktenwand (1801 m), which I visited with Maksym a while ago, and even further beyond! For some reason it snowed the day before in the middle of May, covering all the mountains in quite a thick layer of snow. I was hoping that the lower mountains I was visiting on this trip were safe from the frost, but I started slipping on the snow quite soon. I took some photos trying to avoid getting caught on other peoples' camera views, took a short break near the cross, and continued.

There was another "summit" on the same "ridge", clearly just a spot for cutting down pines. The road to Mitter Berg (1280 m) was covered in tractor tracks, and I was drowning in mud jumping from one higher spot to another, while trying to avoid the puddles and random metal spikes. When I got to the highest point, I wasn't able to see much, and the spot itself wasn't marked. I did it to mark the peak as visited, then turned back and started heading down to the next target.

This section of the road was particularly awful. The mud and turf on the way made me slip and get my clothes dirty. Other hikers I came across had the same experience. When I turned to Rechelköpfel (1182 m) on the crossroads, the surface of the road changed. I started seeing a lot of branches and woodchips mixed with the dirt, and stepping there became much easier. The peak itself was again nothing special, just a hilltop with a bunch of cut down trees. The views from it were completely covered by the remaining pines. The road leading there wasn't marked on the map, so I made a mental note to put it there when I come home. On the way back I got to see a view of Fockenstein (1564 m), which I recently visited with a Ukrainian hiking group.

The next summit, which I had to backtrack to a bit, was Gronetseck (1278 m). While it was similar to Schwarzköpfel (1140 m), the ferns on the way were very appealing. Unline the previous summits in a barren pine forest, this one had bushes and various plants around, so it was much more interesting to get there.

I got a bit lost trying to figure out which side of a barbed wire fence to take, at the end choosing the wrong one and having to climb over. There weren't any markings on this summit too, so I just kept going along the trail towards the next destination.

When I reached the hut at the crossroads to Lucken Kopf (1370 m), I got a call from a colleague needing some quick tech support. I spent a while talking to him on my one bar of cellular connection. Meanwhile, I had some time to think about my next summit. Since I was already close, I decided to visit Kogelkopf (1324 m) on the way. I couldn't find any markings there too, so I turned back and followed an unmarked tractor road towards Lucken Kopf (1370 m).

While the Lucken Kopf (1370 m) summit didn't have any markings either, I found traces of a fireplace and a pile of stones where the top was supposed to be. The area here had a lot of taller ferns, so visually this section was more enjoyable.

I can't say the same about the next peak, Brauneck (1290 m). It's again a hilltop on a ridge in the middle of nowhere, with no views because of trees blocking the sightline. I found a weird thick cable on the ground though, could be a communication line or something.

I passed a municipal boundary stone and continued along the ridge to Spitzeck (1339 m). Yet again, there was nothing there, but I could see the surrounding mountains from time to time between the trees. The trail I was following was getting worse and worse. There were no tree markings or arrow signs, so I had to closely follow the map and hope for the best. The whole route in this area goes along a fence, sometimes crossing it, so taking this trail is a huge pain.

Next up I was going to go south, but I spotted Huder (1405 m), the top of a nearby hill. At first, I was hesitant to go there through wilderness with no trail, but I spotted someone's footsteps in the snow and just followed them. The person was hiking straight uphill from Auereck (1113 m). I tried backtracking their footsteps down to the summit, got lost between the young pine trees, somehow found the highest point using the map and turned back.

I expected the rest of the trail to the next summit to be nice and visible. In reality, it was another track near a fence that I climbed under several times. Soon after, the track ended and I had to find my way in the wild with no visible trail or paint marks. I got seriously lost here and got my feet wet, but somehow eventually reached the bottom of the slope leading to Sattelkopf (1384 m).

Again, there was no trail to the top. Since I was close and really wanted to visit this summit, I had to climb uphill on a steep slope. This was by far the hardest section. Because of all the snow and mud, I kept slipping down, getting wetter and dirtier. After lots of effort, I eventually got to the flat hilltop with some weird old trees. For the way down, I found yet another unmarked trail and followed it down.

I can't express how overjoyed I was to enter a normal gravel road towards Aueralm (1266 m). Although the hut itself closed for the day an hour before, I was still happy to see some civilization. The owners were gathering empty drink boxes and cleaning the place. I walked around taking photos of the surrounding mountains, took a break for a snack, and prepared myself to head down to Bad Wiessee. It was nice to see Hirschberg (1668 m), which I visited with a DAAD FK group a while ago. Kampen (1607 m) on the other side of the valley also brought memories from a recent snowy trip, where I didn't get to see any views from the top.

Although I had an option to take the short route down and finish the hike in 1.5 hours, I settled for a longer option going through 2 more peaks, the first of them being Auereck (1113 m). Along the way, I got to see some views of Gindelalmschneid (1335 m) and Roßkopf (1579 m).

It was yet another forestry road leading along the ridge. This time around, the area was quite empty and I could walk around the dirtier sections. There were also occasional markings for bikers and hikers, so I felt much better than before. The Auereck (1113 m) summit itself wasn't marked, so I kept going to the next one.

My last stop was Semmel Berg (1101 m), a peak with an actual cross and the last point of a tractor road used for bringing wood down the hill. I quickly walked past it and headed down.

The rest of the hike was quite filler, although it was nice going along the Zeiselbach river. Soon after, I got to Sonnenbichl, a restaurant and a hotel near a ski slope. It was quite empty at this time of the year. Afterward, I kept going and finished my hike at a nearby bus stop.

Despite visiting 15 peaks on this hike, I can't recommend any of them to others. I can name the more popular options - the hut near Lucken Kopf (1370 m) with a view towards Reichersbeuern, and Rechelkopf (1330 m) with a view towards Benediktenwand (1801 m). You can do those as two separate easy hikes, both accessible by hikers of all ages.