A lil' bit of climbing with a huge help from the cogwheel train

It's high time for a bit of climbing, ain't it? I've been writing about mountains for quite some time now and you haven't seen a bit of climbing yet, right? I'm going to start in a delicate way. I mean quite high as for European standards, that's for sure, but quite effortless.

We're in Germany again. Contrary to the trip to Polish Pieniny Mountains, in Germany it was really hot, which I've mentioned already. We managed to see the colourful streets of GaPa, we managed to drink a beer or two at the campsite just by a really cold lil' river. It was time to get to the top of the mountain we could practically see from the campsite. So off we went. We went and we went until we reached... a station. Yup, you're not mistaken. We got to the station to hop on a cogwheel train in GaPa that was to take us to the Schneeferner glacier. We could experience a bit of snow in the summer sun or eat (well, drink rather) something in the reastaurant. Then, the glacier cable car took us to the summit 2,950 metres above the sea level (at least that's what the sign on the platform says - you can see that in the last pic). There is a platform up there from which you can experience the marvellous Alpine views. 360 degrees. All around.

And there's one more thing that awaits the brave ones. Get to the peak, right under the yellow cross. It's not for the faint-hearted. I'm rather small a person and in some places it was really hard for me to reach the metal thingies in the stone wall that were to resemble a kind of ladder. And it took a lot of effort to get up there. But the views... AMAZING! And the satisfaction - ENORMOUS!

From up there (the platform or the summit) we could see the various colours of the Eibsee, totally not visible when you're by the lake. We could see other summits, forests and teeny tiny villages that in fact aren't that small.

Was it too hot for such an adventure? Well, it would have been too hot to climb all the way up there. I don't even know if that's at all possible for tourists. At least those who are not alpinists.It was definitely a lot of fun. The train helped a lot. And, nevertheless, we were totally exhausted when we got back down. Some of us even fell asleep on the way down on the cogwheel train ;) (love you, Hon ;)).

 On the way to the cogwheel train station in GaPa

 First stop - the glacier

 

 Eibsee in the middle of the forest

  Eibsee once again - yup, down there.

 The restaurant on the glacier

 On the way to the summit - to the yellow cross

 Can you see me up there next to the cross?

 The summit :) You can see a fragment of the 360 degrees platform on the left

 And on the way back to the platform