We headed back to Konigssee today with sandwiches, apples, pretzels and water packed in our bags. The sun was out, and everything was green. Our first stop was Jennerbahn cable car where we would take the (thankfully enclosed) car up to the top of the mountain (1874 meters high).
I'm not sure why I suggested this. I'm constantly thinking that I am braver than I am and then putting myself into situations that stress me out, but there we were, dangling from a wire in a little metal box high enough that if the cable broke, we would be smashed to bits on the rocks below.
Don't look down. Don't look down. Don't look down.
I'm looking down! Holy crap we are high, but I'm in this for the long haul, and we are only half way up.
Along the way, we pass a lake.
And cows with bells.
We got to the top and there was a nice, safe visitors' center with a deck and picnic tables and a gorgeous view of the mountains. Then my family, those adventurous Americans, spotted a hiking trail to the tip top of the mountain.
"Let's go to the top!" they said.
"Let's not," I thought. But I didn't want to be the loser mom who stays behind while the family lives life, so off I went. There was still snow, which the kids thought was very "cool."
The trail was wide enough, and there were all of these Omas and Opas tooling up the path. I thought, "If they can do it, I can do it!" Then vertigo started getting the best of my bravery, and I pictured myself or one of the kids losing their balance and sliding off the edge or someone in a hurry pushing past us and accidentally knocking one of us off or one of the kids going for a closer look off the edge and slipping over or...It can happen! That six foot wide path got narrower with each step!
We had almost gotten to the overlook viewing area. I was practicing deep breathing, but a mile high, the oxygen isn't what I'm used to, and as hard as I was trying to control my panic, the more difficult it became to keep walking. At one point, the path curved around the mountain, and all I could see as I focused straight ahead and not down, was the open air off the edge of the mountain. In my mind, I saw the path crumbling away as I rounded the bend, and the kids slipping off one by one.
"I have to stop," I said. I plastered myself up against the rocks and watched people twice my age push past and on. I literally could not move. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.
"You all go on. I can't go any further," and I stood, frozen in place while my family went on to the lookout.
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| The curve in the middle of this picture is the place where I froze. |
After a minute or two, the Brave Sharron that lives very deep down inside somewhere said, "You can do this! Don't be a wimp! Show your girls how to conquer their fears! Be a role model! Move it!"
I took another deep breath, and seriously, inch by inch, made my way around the turn.
"Way to go, Mom!" Emily called when she saw me coming.
"You can do it, Mom!" shouted Claire.
"Please don't talk to me!" I replied. "I'm concentrating!"
Seriously, looking at the path, it is not that narrow. It is a sturdy path full of skipping children (not mine!) and old people with walking sticks. But in my mind, it was a foot width wide and I was about to fall off at any second. I must be suppressing this deep-seeded desire to fling myself off the edge of a cliff and fear is the only way I stay alive. I don't know. I do know I was terrified. I had finally reached the overlook which only meant one thing...I had to turn around and go back!
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| We were TOTALLY in the clouds! |
From the overlook, there was yet another ascent to the tippy top where the cross is planted. This is via wooden railroad tie-type steps, planted helter skelter to the top. Of course, Kyle wanted to go to the top just to say he did. Of course, Kirk was all in. Of course, I was about to have a coronary at the thought.
I said, "No way. Absolutely not! You are NOT going to the top of this mountain!"
"MOM!" moaned Kyle. "It's fine! Look, there are kids jumping down the steps! I can't believe you'd bring me to this mountain and make me stop just before I reached the top. Come on!"
I had to walk away. "Kirk," I said, "I cannot be here. I'm leaving." So the girls and I began our step by step descent back down the path to the visitors' center. We were still slowly making our way 20 minutes later when Kirk and Kyle caught up with us.
"I don't want to know," I said. "Don't even think about telling me anything."
Once we were back on "land," we walked down to the lake and got tickets for the boat ride around the lake. Now that is more my style! The only boats allowed on the lake are the electric ones owned by the Berchtesgaden National Park, of which the Konigssee is part. No offense to my boater friends, but it was SO NICE not to hear the whine of engines echoing across the lake.
We headed to our first stop, St. Bartholoma, a small church in the middle of nowhere and a few out buildings. Not sure who built it or why, but it is very pretty. Along the way, the captain stopped the boat in the middle of the lake and played a song on his trumpet. He stopped after every phrase, and it echoed back like someone else was playing it just a few seconds later. The water was this incredible shade of green. I have never seen anything like it before. It IS because of the minerals in the water.
After some time spent relaxing on the shores here, we hopped back onto the boat and headed to Salat, the spot at the farthest end of the lake. The captain told us to be sure to go see the waterfall. We saw some beautiful scenery and more cows with bells. You could hear the bells as the cows moved through the fields. They must be some happy cows living out here. They were very docile.
We started hiking back towards the waterfall. It looked pretty far, and we were unsure if we wanted to take the time to get back there, but it was on "land," so we kept going.
We passed through forests that looked like gnomes and fairies should be living under each rock and behind every tree.
We came up over a rise and out of my lips escaped an involuntary intake of breath and, "Ooooooh!"\
It was the absolutely most beautiful place I have ever been on this earth. I have seriously never, ever seen anywhere like this. I thought these places existed in movies and imaginations, but not in real life.
We sat for a long while, just looking.
When the time was approaching that the last boats were leaving for the return trip, we had to go. I had to drag myself away, and walked, glancing over my shoulder, for as long as I could see the lake.
After we were in the car and on our way back to Salzburg, we decided to stop in Berchtesgaden for dinner.
Kyle decided to try fish caught fresh in the Konigssee...
He said it was good!
Tomorrow we head to Oberammergau. I can't wait to see what this next adventure holds!
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