Oberammergau, Germany--Climbing The Kofel Mountain
Last week, Jackson and I and a friend of ours, Josh, headed south to Bavaria to visit Oberammergau and then head up to Oktoberfest. You can read more about that
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.Our top priority while in Bavaria, was to find a good trail to hike. After doing some research, I found a little bit of information about the Kofel trail and we decided to go for it. The trail starts near the öttenbühl parking lot, near the Oberammergau Cemetery. We stayed at an apartment about 5 minutes from the town center and we just walked to the trail head. There are signs around town pointing you to the mountain, just follow the “kofel”signs.
The day that we went was rainy and wet and a little chilly. We were a bit nervous about hiking the trail in the rain, but it ended up being ok! The rain cleared up when we got to the top, which was great for us. Had it been raining while we were at the top, it could have complicated getting back down. Before the actual trail starts you walk through an incredible meadow. It was beautiful and a great photo opportunity. The majority of this trail consists of switchbacks up the side of the mountain. Most of the trail is under a canopy of trees, and it was beautiful. During this portion of the trail, it’s a fairly simple climb. A little steep, but not too bad. Once you’re around two-thirds of the way up, roughly 3,000 feet, the trees begin to open a bit and you get an incredible view of surrounding mountains.
I read that it would take an hour and a half to make it to the top, but it ended up taking us right at 2 hours. There is one hut about two-thirds of the way up that we took a short break in. Make sure to bring plenty of water with you, we definitely did not bring enough with us! Overall, the hike was exactly what we hoped for. It was challenging but not exhausting and the view at the top was 100% worth it. If you have climbed the Kofel mountain and have any tips of your own, I would love to hear them!