Monday 29 July

At 5:45am, the conductor awakened us. My bunkmate on top made a lot of thrashing noises, so I got up, dressed, and made the seats out of my bed so we could sit. The coffee wagen came by and we reached the Munich Hbhf at 7pm, and then the Ost Bhf less than 10 minutes later. This is where I got the bike, which indeed had not fallen over underway on the Deutsche Bahn AutoZug.

I had to wait for another flatcar of bikes to empty out. This was so cool. I spoke to a couple and they were coming from somewhere between Köln and Bonn. Then it was my turn and I got to ride off, ducking my head (thank goodness for the helmet). I stopped for a croissant and applejuice so that I could take ibuprofen for my headache, and then I found an Esso tankstelle to fill up, hoping that my petcock repair would work.

I went the fastest way, which was the Autobahn to Salzburg. Thank goodness I got to sleep through the 600 Km of Autobahn between Berlin and München. Just at the border, I stopped to buy the required Austrian Vinegennete, though it wasn't strictly necessary since I was only on the the Austrian Autobahn for a very short distance until I turned off to go to Berchtesgaden, which I reach at 9:45am. Nicht schlecht.

I got to the Walche Family house expecting to find loging. Instead, I meet the Omana, Therese, who is on the way to the doctor to get treated for stomach cancer. There is construction going on: they are building a new stable and, most important, a new Anlage for turning the cow Mist into fertilizer. The workmen are staying in the guest room I would normally be able to get. Maria helps me find a place nearby.

This place is run by a Swiss guy, and the air is full of Grussi, Pfirti, and Servus. He's very nice and even washes my clothes for free. I shopped and looked around. I went up to the Lockstein Cafe, but they don't open until 2pm. I noticed that the old Tracht store opposite the Schloss has moved. So then I rode up to the Kehlstein "ermaliger Sperregebiet" to see what changes there were.

They were pretty dramatic. Nothing much has changed with the Berghof. The driveway is now completely open on one end. marked only with a sign that says "dirty driveway".

The big change is that they are tearing down the Platterhof in order to build a big new resort atop the ruins of Göring's house. The Platterhof, and the old garage, are now going to be a parking lot, and the new "Busabfahrt" for the busride to the Kehlsteinhaus up above. The ruins of the SS barracks are being dug up but for what purpose is not yet apparent, because it looks like they are saving and reusing some of the foundations.

A storm blew up at 2pm. I went back to my "Wohnung" and took a nap until 6pm. I sat on the porch for a while, drinking a Känchen of cofee, watching another storm blow over the Kehlstein and the Watzmann. Then I went into town and visited the Lockstein and Wendy's Abendcafe, but both places were too wet to sit outside. I ate dinner at the Post Restaurant and went "home" to bed.

30.07.03

In the morning, I took my bags over to the Walche family house to leave them. Joseph recommended starting at the Watzmann. Theresa said to leave the Haus no later than 6:30am to have a chance of crossing the range. I took my mountain pack and parked the bike at the Königsee parking lot in the space marked "only for motorcycles.". Then I started up the mountain.

One starts out, unfortunately, walking up the concrete path by the bob, skeleton, and "Roddel" sled run. It's not much fun but then I saw some high school girls preparing to make a practice run from the place where the youths start. One of the boys around said that they get up to 100Kph.

After a few hours, I made it to the Kühlrointalm at about 12:30, way tired. But after flirting with the waitress and having some goulash and buttermilk, I was sufficiently refreshed to go on to the Watzmannhaus, even though it looks impossibly distant still.

But really, it's not far now, and the walk through the woods to the first climb, the "Falzsteig", is so beautiful as to make all of the effort so far worthwhile. It really feels as though one is walking through magic woods up in the mountains over the valley. I take it easy, stopping to drink water a lot, thankful for the cool clouds that never turn into a storm, and reach the Haus at about 4:30pm.

The Haus is being reworked. I go out back to the Biergaten and the view in the clearing sky is just wonderful. I sit at a table to have a bier, which happens to be the "Stammtisch" of the family Verst that runs the Haus. They had family visiting them. The visiting family had two children, the youngest being Emil. And there was another very young child, Pauli, with a babysitter. At first, I was annoyed that such young children had been brought up the mountain, but then it turned out that I had a really great time visiting with everyone.

The babysitter found out I was from Stanford. She spoke English, having spent time in New Zealand (that is, she spoke "beautiful English") and gave me an article about Stanford that had just appeared in Der Spiegel. She worked very hard, all day, six days a week, from May to October, and no place to go and nowhere to spend her money. She is exactly Lauryn's age.

It was cold at night. Next time I am bringing a light and slippers for going to the toilet at night.

31.07.03

I started up the hill at 6:45am. I was out-of-shape, due to not being able to exercise for months prior to this trip because of my broken wrist. I reached the Hochecke at 9:45am. I'm carrying my full pack because I still think I am going to cross over the range and come down the other side. Once I get up to the top, it's just a matter of walking over the mountain, right?

These are not Sierra Nevada's. A lot of people stop before attempting the next peak, the Mittespitze. It doesn't look far, even though a lot of people say it is difficult. A guy named Lutz wants a climbing companion. I warn him I am slow. We put away our walking sticks, because now it is climbing, using the cables. It takes about an hour, but I eventually make it.

But I am completely wasted. I tell Lutz to go on. It is clear, even to me, that I cannot go further. I eat some chocolate and lay in the sun, but I cannot get warm or feel any more energy. Well, I have to go back. I make it back to the Hochecke and now I am really suffering and I still have to go back. I meet Bruno and Micha on the way, and they can see that I am in trouble.

I sit with the family and drink a beer and eat some food, even though I don't feel hungry at all. About a half hour after eating, I start to feel warm again and by the end of the evening, I am having a good time with the family again. I think Heidi and Michael might have been a little worried about me. Michael is brother to Bruno, who is married to Annette, who is mother to Pauli, and who works very hard and cheerfully.

I also ask about the name of the babysitter, and no one seems to know, but I ask her later and it is Stephanie. They call her the "babysitter" and we all agree that the German word for this is probably "Kindermädchen". Stephanie puts Pauli to bed at 9pm and comes over to the table and eats everything in sight. She explains that she has no time to eat during the day.

Bruno comes over talks for a while. He explains that there are 5 water collection point for the Haus and water is hard to come by up on the mountain. He spends a lot of time checking the connections.

1.08.03

It's foggy and cold this morning. Anette and Marcel won't let me pay for breakfast or coffee. I go down with the family Verst. Michael is carrying Emil. This is not trivial, especially the slippery descent down the Falzsteig. I'm wearing a light plastic poncho that I highly recommend. It keeps the light rain off of most of the body but allows the arms to be cooled.

We reach the Kühlroint about about 11:45am. From there, I walked with the family a different way than I had come up, down through more really beautiful woods to the Grunstein, where we had Bier. Then down to Hammerstiel, where their car was parked. They dropped me off at my bike.

I go back to the farmhouse and take an evening ride around the mountain roads around the Kehlstein. It really, really feels good.

Uncousciously, I choose the Hotel Watzmann for dinner, wearing my Watzmann T-shirt, which is the only clean shirt I have right now. I have Seelachs and Grüner Weltliner and go home to sleep.

2.08.03

Walked around the Berghof grounds today. There are no more warning signs and lots of people are still picking over the grounds, as I can see by some freshly removed bricks. I go over to do the Dokumentation tour again. They've turned the Höhe Göll Gästehaus into this center, and walking there from the Berghof, you can still see the reamins of the old stone fence.

This time, I take the English audio tape. I only do 2 hours, which is not really enough but I'm tired. One of the key stories is that of a photographer who used to be on the Hinterecke and was jailed for two years in Dachau because he wouldn't sell his Obersalzberg property to Bormann. His twelve sisters appealed in writing to Bormann and he was released into the Wehrmacht, in which he was later killed.

There is a nice video with interviews with now old people. One woman remembers Bormann as "brutal", an adjective often used in connection with his name. Bormann demolished about fifty houses on the Obersalzberg to make the special Führergebiet and make it prettier for his master.

The Wachfieldhaus was expanded into the Berghof in '36. And though it is not documented here, the Berchtesgaden Hauptbahnhof was rebuilt in '37, probably for the same reason. Göring had the best view, and indeed, that's just where they are going to locate the new ski resort.

Speer's private house, and studio, were the only buildings here not demolished in the 50's other than the Kehlsteinhaus itself. Both were amazingly unharmed by the bombing in '45, even though the latter was one of two specific targets. And the local officials managed to preserve them. Speer's house is now a private residence, but it is easily found.

I rode out to the Hinersee and had a fine dinner looking at the lights of the Blaueishaus up on the Hochkalter.

3.08.03

The we went to Andech and had an even better time drinking beer. At least Brigette and I did, because Viola was driving. We sat out there the rest of the afternoon (watched a police helicopter looking for someone) and only left to escape an oncoming Gewitter.

4.08.03

In the morning, Viola and I went to have breakfast with Holger and Corin and I showed them my trip report, including pictures of us all, from last year on the Internet terminals in the breakfast place. They showed me the apartment that they are redoing. It is really an old ruin that they are completely rebuilding themselves. I was quite impressed. I hope to come back and see it sometime in the future when it is done.

I left Augsburg at about 3pm. There is a constant Stau, so I started lane splitting on the Autobahn. I'm fully loaded and going faster than the German motorcyclists. Perhaps I have had more practice in California. Or perhaps there are really good reasons for going more slowly.

In Ulm, it starts to rain and I pull over into (ironically) a carwash to wait it out. Around Stuttgart, the sky starts to turn black with lightning, and I put on my rainsuit. It starts to rain really hard. Other motorcyclists are pulling over and huddling under overpasses. I'm the proverbial "Only fool riding". I try not to split lanes in the hard rain.

Hard rains come and go. I come upon a group of sportbikers, going rather slowly. When I pass them, they speed up and get in front of me. But they don't lane split, so they keep sprinting in the clear patches to catch up and pass me. They are wearing leathers with the pants tucked in the boots. They must be miserable. I can see them shifting in their seats. Finally they pull off in Karlsruhe, which, given my name, is where I should probably rest too, but I keep going.

I see a sign for Landau, which I know is on the way to Kaiserslautern, my destination, and I get on the E65. Then I exit at Neustadt and take off the rainsuit since it is now sunny. Of course, that was just taunting the raingods.

From Neustadt, the 39 is a beautiful little backroad into K-town. Everyone else thought so too, so it wasn't much fun. In town, the sky turned black again and just dumped. I wasn't sure where Sigi was living now, so I escaped into a phonebooth and called.

Sigi and Stephen came in their car and guided me to their house. I got out of the wet leathers and had good Pfahlz wine and dinner and slept.