October Kramerspitz Hike

Published on 2006-10-14 by Michael Stanton

Kramerspitz hike

October 14, 2006

I wanted to get some exercise, so despite a bad forecast I headed out towards Garmisch. I found an approximate place to park on the west side of town to hike up an initially confusing welter of roads and trails to reach the Kramerspitz. It was good exercise in the mist. After about 1300 meters (4300 feet) of uphill hiking, I was on the summit, and it started to rain hard! I could barely see the Zugspitze across the valley through a murky haze of clouds. I went down a different way, heading for the Stepbergalm. When I got there I was soaked and half-frozen. The hut was closed for the season, so I stood under the awning a few minutes, then resumed running down the "Steig über Gelbes Gwänd", which was a mistake, I meant to take the "Kreuzweg", which would get me back to the car with less flat walking on the valley floor. I didn't realize my mistake and was frustrated with how long and flat Garmisch seemed to be once down! At the car, I turned up the heat to thaw my cold limbs. 4 hours round trip. My heart rate monitor calculated 3000 calories burned :-). I wish I'd had nicer views to show for the effort!