I have been to the mountain!

Sunday, November 10, 2018

Zugspritze, Germany

If the church at Wies was breathtaking, today’s experience makes the word seem almost mundane.

It began, as usual now, with my morning meditation in Garmish, watching God paint the tops of the Bavarian Alps with golden sunlight inch by inch as the day dawned. You could not have asked for more perfect weather! Clear, crisp air bathed my room through the open window. And then……

The church bells! I hadn’t been to church that morning, but I certainly attended worship with the faithful! Throughout our stay we could hear the bells chiming the hours each day, but this day! What can I say? It was as though every bell in town joined in a chorus and rose to peak performance praising of God!

It was a day I had planned to rest, but with weather so beautiful the Zugspritze, all 2,962 meters of it, beckoned to share it’s wonders.

Zugspritze is the highest mountain in Germany. On a clear day you can see some 400 mountain peaks and four countries from the summit...and today the visibility was unlimited!

To get to the top of the mountain you first take a train about halfway up the mountain. There you change to a cog train that takes you the rest of the way. It was a day of spectacular views on the way up, until….

Well, let’s just say you’d never have gotten Andrea to the top of Zugspritze. German engineering built a tunnel over 3,000 meters long which winds its way to the station at the Glaciers. The trip even came with a safety briefing assuring us the trip through the tunnel was absolutely safe, but...just in case...the engineer would direct us to the escape tunnels strategically placed ever so often up the climb. Riiiigghhht!

Exiting the car we climbed 37 steps to get to the platform from which the cable car departed. (Actually, I don’t know how many there were...it just seemed it was getting close to 37,362 by the time I reached the top….which conveniently opened onto the walk directly in front of….you guessed it….the souvenir shop! After a brief stop outside to look at the already imposing view of the three glaciers and their majestic vistas (and to catch my breath!) we joined a group waiting their turn to get into the cable car.

Rated to hold 120 people, thank goodness we only had a couple of dozen! Can’t imagine what it’s like in high tourist season and with all the skiers in the winter! I got one of the only two seats in the car and watched as we swayed our way to the Top of Germany! Frank and I both took videos of the ride up.

The weather board inside the new facility at the peak of the mountain said it was 4.6 degrees C with a wind speed of 10 knots. Chill factor? Below freezing! It was so cold I wouldn’t even take my gloves off, so of course I didn’t take any pictures at the summit. Thank goodness Frank had his Sony which he could operate with his gloves on. He did take them off to get the quick picture of me with his iPhone. Just as quickly he put them back on!

Again, just describing Zugspritze physically is beyond the scope of the blog, so here’s a link.

Pictures: Zugspritze in all its glory! I don't think Frank's videos from the summit (at the end of the pictures) are going to play. They're in a format called MTS. I'll try to put them in a different format when I get home, MOV maybe. I'll let you know because they are certainly worth revisiting.

As we prepared to board the train in Garmish, there was a parade forming up. We never did find out what it was for, Although it was Veterans Day in the US the parade seemed more Christmas themed. It was so fascinating I took pictures of all the horses and carriages.

Reflections: Lighthearted prose aside, this one one of the most moving experiences I believe I’ve ever had. I’ve flown at 10,000 feet over the Rockies in my SuperCub, climbed to 11,000 feet with the backpacking group from Resurrection where we could see multiple 14,000 foot peaks in the distance, and never have I felt the awe I had as I stood stunned looking into the infinite distance of God’s...of God’s....I don’t even have words to express the feeling! What a way to worship! Church bells and Zugspritze! I can’t fathom how unbelievably blessed I am!