The Zugspitze- Wetterstein Mountains
This is the route off Germanys highest mountain which starts and ends with a cable car ride.


The view to the north from the summit.
It can also be used in reverse as the route up but on the day we were doing the route the guide advised that bad conditions were forecast for the afternoon(thunderstorms) and he advised us therefore it would be better to be going down rather than up!
Its common at this time of year in the Austrian mountains to have a very hot morning followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon, apparently the ideal month for hillwalking is September with much more stable conditions.
As it happens the threatening bad weather arrived just as we reached our hotel at around 4.30pm.
The time taken here is slow mostly due to lots of photos, stopping for lunch etc. rather than the conditions.


Church at over 2500 meters.
The descent is initially over a large flattish plateau with deep snow and loose rocks, there are several paths leading in all directions, but as you head down to the Knorrhut at 2100 meter the track becomes one and gets steeper with much loose stones.

Heading for the Knorrhut.
As you approch the Gatterl (the narrow pass into Austria), passing an old customs outpost, you are greeted by
huge views down into the deep valleys below.

Looking down the Gatterlbach.
After passing into Austria you can climb to the summit of the Ambrand at 2116 meters to get a final view back at the Wettersteins.


Back to the Wettersteins
Our group travelled from Dublin on an halfboard package including flights and transfers with topflight.ie at a cost of 659 euros each, tremendous value for 8 nights with guided walks on 5 of the days.