Hiking Tour
Once we arrived, the students split into two groups, one to walk around the lake and then go swimming, and another to hike one of the nearby mountains. I chose to go with the group that planned to hike rather than swim. We started a few feet from the lake and hiked all the way up a mountain called Frauenkopf. The name means Women's Head in German.
It was really steep and took about three hours to climb and another two to come back down. Part way up the mountain was a ruin that we explored. There were interesting arches and stairways. From the upper portion of the ruin, we could see the wedding church from the Sound of Music, although it was so far away that it did not look like much more than a dot in the surrounding village. We enjoyed a good break and an even better view. After the ruin, the trail became even steeper. Near the top, we had to use metal guide ropes and footholds to climb. It felt like we were bouldering at the very end of the trail. However, the view from the top was wonderful and completely worth the effort of the hike. We had a panoramic view of the entire area. The Alps rose all around us and down below we could see several lakes, all as clear as the one we had started from. While we were at the top, we ate a lunch of sandwiches and fruit and enjoyed the cool breeze immensely. It was interesting to listen to the conversation, which was mostly in German, and try to pick out bits that I could understand. After about an hour, we headed back down to the lake. On the way down, we took a different trail. I appreciated being able to see both sides of the mountain. When we reached the bottom, we joined the other group at the lake. Many students swam, napped and played soccer until we had to meet the bus and leave for Bogenhofen. (Ashley Vance)
Bildnachweis: Robert Van Arsdale