Dreams do come true

A drawing of the Nebelhorn

Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to go hiking in the mountains.  Any mountains wouldn't bother me, but when I started traveling to Germany, I began to stage my hiking dreams in the German Alps.  That's why, earlier this week when my parents suggested that we go hiking, I just about jumped up and down with excitement!!!  Sunday was the day we decided on, and so this morning I was ready to go almost as soon as I was out of bed, even though we weren't leaving until 11 or so.





Gabi, Uli, and I were the ones who went.  Martina and Uwe didn't really want to go, so they opted to stay home.  We drove for just about an hour, and then we reached Oberstdorf, a town below the Nebelhorn, the mountain they had decided would be a perfect one for my first time hiking.  They go hiking often, so they're experienced enough that they would've been able to do a much harder trail, but since I've never done it before, they didn't want to choose something too difficult.  Especially in case I wasn't trittsicher (roughly translated, "step-sure").  It didn't really matter to me which mountain we did, I was simply too excited to be going hiking!

     When we got there, we found a parking space (which was difficult, because school has just gotten out for summer break, and many people went hiking).  Then we took a lift to the halfway point, since our parking ticket was only for 4 hours, and we wouldn't have enough time to hike the whole way and back down without taking it.  That was an adventure in and of itself, because the only other time I've ridden in one was when I was really young out in New Mexico when I visited my uncle.  There were ski slopes everywhere, and there was even one of those ski jumps where you try to fly as far as you can before you hit the ground.



At the top of the Nebelhorn



     Once we got to the station, we hit the ground and started hiking up to the top.  I couldn't see our destination, because it was soooooo foggy, but there were a ton of signs that pointed out the different routes.  It was a bit tiring going up, but along the way Gabi told me all the different types of flowers and the birds that we saw.  And, before I knew it, there it was!  At the top of all the mountains, there is a cross, and all of a sudden I looked up and it was right in front of me!  After taking a picture by it, we stopped and had a snack before we kept going.

     Then, of course, there wasn't anywhere to go but back down.  So, we started on our way.  Going downhill, they say, is always harder than going up.  I found out that that is very true.  Going up, you can always see which rocks are good to step on, but going down you have to constantly have the brakes on.  We took a different route down, so I had to try to keep from falling head over heels and still try to take in all the beauty around me.  There were some cows on the next mountain, and I could hear their bells as they grazed, but I could just barely see them.  I guess the moisture from the fog helped carry the sound, but blocked the sight.

     And then we were back to the station with the lift.  Tiredly, I boarded, and was happy to see that I didn't have to hike down the second half of the mountain.  Once we got back down to the parking lot, we got in the car and headed home.  I fell asleep after about ten minutes riding in the car, and slept right up until we were about 20 km away from Unterkammlach.  All in all, it was a wonderful time, truly a dream come true, and I hope we go again soon!