What a beautiful day. A beautiful stage through the green and rolling hills of the lower Alps. Beautiful weather, sunny with mostly blue skies, no wind and temperatures in the lower 20’s.
The Bergenz JUFA offer a very nice and varied breakfast and I was down to enjoy it just after 7 o’clock. I would have been a bit earlier, but I couldn’t unlock the door to my room and had brief worries about being stuck in my room. After trying several times, it finally opened.
Today marks the next stage of my walk from Sagres in Portugal to Rome and to my home in Denmark. Today I start to walk through Germany towards Denmark. This time around I will only be walking four days to Füssen on the Austrian-German border and am looking forward to walking in the Alps again, albeit the lower Alps, after several flat days.
I left just before 8 o’clock and was in plenty of time to be one of only two people on the Pfanderbahn gondola. The gondola took me up to ca. 1.000m, just as I had yesterday, where I walked from the top down to Bregenz.
Today I set off in the opposite direction, north-east towards Scheidegg in Germany, 3h15 minutes away according to the signs. There were occasional views of the lake below as I walked primarily through forest on wide paths. I passed through the small village of Möggers, missing my turn and walking downhill, instead of uphill towards the church.
As I reached the Austrian border with Germany at Oberschwenden, the landscape opened up with magnificent views of lush green countryside as far as the eye could see. No wonder a sky walk had been built, elevated walkways enabling you to see even further. And today was perfect with clear blue shies and no heat haze. I had a long day day, so I resisted the temptation.
I arrived in Scheidegg at 11.30, ca. 30mins quicker than the sign had indicated. The last hour was primarily downhill, back down to the same height above sea level as Bregenz. The walking route bypasses the town, but I decided to walk through town, and was rewarded with a fantastic conditory, a plum strudel and coffee.
I was soon back on the official track, walking along back roads and forest tracks, passing small villages. The views were sweeping, wide open areas of green meadows, forests and occasional houses. The air was fresh and there was next to no noise. I stopped at a house that had been painted with different motives from top to bottom. It really stood out.
I passed through the very pleasant village of Weiler im Allgäu, decorated with lots of flowers and a stream running through the village. Another walker with a backpack passed me walking in the opposite direction. We exchanged nods, but she was occupied with something and I moved on.
The climb really kicked in after the town. It was part of a local walk and there were activities along the way, eg. matching feet and animals, throwing balls on string through holes …. It was hard going, and I stopped for lunch ca. halfway up. Well rested, I completed the rest of the climb in no time at all.
After passing through Simmerberg, another small town, my path followed a walking/cycling path next to a main road. I was still climbing, the views still lush green rolling hills and spectacular.
At one point I had the choice of continuing on a shorter route along the road, which wasn’t particularly busy, or following the planned route, a detour to the village Hopfen. I was in two minds but decided to follow the official route, passing through Hopfen with its chapel and dairy selling cheese. I continued along a path in a valley with hills on either side. It was pleasant and quiet, but I had the feeling that it didn’t offer much more than I would have seen by following the road. In addition I was climbing.
That all changed when I turned a corner and an even more beautiful view met me, a 180 degree panorama of the surrounding countryside, hills, villages and town, for as far as the eye can see. It is so green, that there aren’t any signs of autumn. The green is so green, that one would think that it was spring.
I rejoined the main road that I had left, but soon turned onto a smaller road walking through the countryside I had just been looking down at. The road led into Oberstaufen. Officially there are ca. 8.000 residents, but I am sure that in both winter and summer there are many more, not least based on the number of hotels and restaurants there are in town. As I arrived, the town was busy. Cyclists and walkers overnight here, and during winter I am sure that many skiers have their base here.
I walked around town, found where I was going to eat, only to find out that it was already full up. Yet again, I fell back on an Italian restaurant, where the tomato soup and lasagna were very good – but the service slow.
The day ended up as 32kms plus a couple more to get to the Pfanderbane. The accumulated elevation gain was just over 700m. A long but fabulous day.