Back to the Kaiser mountains: Naunspitze (1663 m) & Pyramidenspitze (1997 m)

The last September weekend, I spent in the Kaiser Mountains in Austria. It was yet another tour with the DAV - the last before my big vacation. For a good carbon footprint, we went by train from Munich to Kufstein and then walked through the little town. 

Starting point

At the Kaiser creek we turned to the trail and went uphill through the forest. After the first part, the trail joined the forest road. Some years ago, a tunnel was built so the residents could reach the valley with the car. 

We followed the road for several minutes before the trail forked and we went to the left. From here it was 50 min to the Ritzau Alm. When we left the forest, the air was hot and hazy. The clouds were slowly moving uphill. In less than 30 min we reached the Vorderkaiserfelden Hut (1388 m) where we took our lunch. Some of us decided for hearty, the others for sweet. The hut is very renowned for their cuisine. 

Chamois

We left our overnight stuff in the hut and hiked to the Naunspitze that got her name from the shout of a witch who was banning shepherd Peter into place during a thunderstorm and shore some of his black sheep. The top was just an hour from the hut and was well attended. It was hard to get a spot to sit and enjoy the view. We were lucky with the weather having sun all day. 

Naunspitze (1663 m)

Back at the Vorderkaiserfelden Hut, I visited the Alpine garden that has more than 300 kinds of plants. There were also two volunteers present who took care of the garden all year. 

Willow gentian

The reminding afternoon, we spent on the sun terrace watching the sun set. 

sunset at Vorderkaiserfelden Hut

At 7 pm, dinner was served - nearly all seats were taken as well as the beds for the night. We had two rooms and I got a bed in the bigger room. 

room with 5 beds

The next morning, we had a big breakfast and left as the first at 8 am. We took the same way as to the Naunspitze and then continued upwards to Petersköpfel (1745 m) named after the Peter mentioned above. 

Petersköpfl (1745 m)

From there, we hiked up and down through alpine pines for the next two hours to the Pyramidenspitze (1997 m). There we made a break and ate some snacks. 

Pyramidenspitze (1997 m)

We had to return 20 min on the same trail and up the chimney with a wire cable, but then turned to the left and took a different trail down. This led directly down crossing a field of scene twice in front of rock face. Then continued through a forest to the meadow of Hinterkaiserfelden and onwards to the Vorderkaiserfelden Hut. I ordered the Kaiser salad for lunch and then we packed our backpacks for the way  down. 

climbing rock face

At Rietzau Alm, we entered the clouds and the fog. The temperature fell and paused to take out our jackets. We continued downhill and reached the starting point at 4 pm. We crossed through Kufstein again and took the next train from the station. 

It was another great experience but my new softshell jacket did not perform well, so I will have to return it.  

Kufstein with castle

Balloon riding in Allgäu

I got a voucher for balloon riding to my birthday and it was about time to redeem it. I tried in August but the weather was bad. So I was happy to receive a call on Monday with the news that the weather forecast for Tuesday was good. 

Early morning my phone was waking me up and I left Dachau in the dark. I went to the south in direction of the Alps and after more than an hour I reached the meeting point at Lake Schwalten. Several other people were already there and at 7:30 the organizers arrived with two VW vans with trailers. We were split up and we jumped into the van and left in search for a take off point. 

There we helped to unpack the basket and the balloon. The other group did the same on the opposite meadow. After 20-30 minutes the balloon was blown and fired up and we got into the basket for our ride. 

We gained height and moved north going down on the lake where we parked the cars. Then we really went up to have a fantastic view of the Alps, the Allgäu and the clouds over Munich. We went up to 3000 m. 

We could even see the clouds over the cooling towers of one of Bavaria's nuclear power stations. 

After 90 minutes of balloon riding we prepared for landing on another meadow nearly touching a wired fence. As it was the first balloon ride for allow us except the pilot, we were baptized, got a noble name and were introduced to the royal circle of balloon riders. 

After we finished our glass of Prosecco we helped to pack everything and we're driving back to the parking lot. A fantastic adventure that asks for repetition.

IAA - International Motor Show

Last Friday, I had the chance to visit the IAA - the International Motor Show.

From www.iaa.de:
"The origins of the IAA can be traced back to more than 115 years. In 1897, 8 motor vehicles were exhibited to the public at the Bristol Hotel in Berlin. From these humble beginnings, a regular exhibition was established. Due to its high visitor and exhibitor turnout, the IAA was developed into a yearly alternating exhibition of passenger cars and commercial vehicles in 1991."

IAA Passenger Cars took place in Frankfurt.

A new way - to drive green.

There was a high focus on electro-mobility, hybrid and other innovations.

Tesla Model S

Renault Twizy

Also our mother company Volkswagen offers an eCar:

Volkswagen e-Golf

IAA is also a platform for new ideas, plans for the future and studies to be shown:

In the afternoon, I did a test drive with Hyundai i30 and Kia Venga. Unfortunately, there was no Ferrari to test. But you could stare at it longingly from stand border and take pictures.

Ferrari 458 Speciale 

The stands of the luxury brands were not very accessible - the stands of the big German brands AUDI, BMW & MERCEDES/ DAIMLER offered more for the broad audience. They even let cars drive around the stand on makeshift roads.

Daimler Stand

Besides the current vehicles and the concepts for the future, there were also some old-timers:

                                                old                                               new

Seen those cars, there is only thing to do next: flying - and even for that there is a stylish car: 

 Smart

Next year, there will be again the IAA Commercial Vehicle again in Hannover with the big vehicles: buses and trucks!

Mount Krottenkopf (2086 m)

My second attempt on the Zugspitze also got cancelled due to bad weather, so I signed up for another day tour. The weather forecast also predicted rain but this tour was less effected.

After an early morning start in Munich, we began the tour from a parking lot in Farchant. We passed some meadows with cows and took the trail uphill through the wood. The trail was very steep for the first one and a half hours, then it was flat for a long way.

view from the trail

At a crossing the way led up again, leaving the forest in the next valley it became very slippery.

stone pyramids on the trail

We walked through mountain pines to the Weilheimer Hütte and from there over a rocky path to the summit of the Krottenkopf. While enjoying a great view on the surrounding mountains and lakes, we took our lunch there.

 View on the alpine foothills and the lakes Ammersee, Starnberger See and Kochel

Krottenkopf (2086 m)

We made a stop at the hut for coffee/ tea and cake and decided against the second summit (Rißkopf - 2049 m) as the trail down from the top would be to dangerous. So we took the same way back and finished the whole tour in 8h. The weather was good the whole time and even the sun came out for some minutes.

Weilheimer Hütte

Munich by night - a photo walk

On Friday, I treated myself to a photo walk where we learned about how to take good photos at night. Here are some of the results:

Skyline

car lights at night

 surfer at Eisbach

 Eisbach - view from bridge

church

bell tower

 club

From Stockholm to Moscow

My last business trip brought me to Sweden where I enjoyed two days of sun and delicious Swedish chocolate balls.

On Friday, I left Stockholm and flew east to Moscow. I already had heard a lot about traffic jams in Moscow in the rush hour but to encounter one just after midnight on Saturday morning was new to me.

The first days, I spent with Oksana, her mom and daughters. Her little Diana got quite addicted to my iPad. As the weather was cold and rainy I skipped the sightseeing and just relaxed.

On Monday morning, I went to the Crocus Expo for COMTRANS - the biggest Commercial Vehicle show in the Russian speaking world. Besides the European and Russian manufacturers there were also a lot Chinese, Korean and from surrounding countries.

First MAN truck from Russian production

Getting ready for Winter Olympics in Sochi

In the evening, I moved to Lena's place for the next days where I had already stayed in 2008 and 2012. Both sisters were great hosts and prepared delicious food. Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at the exhibition centre checking out the competitors. One of the Russian banks presented a futuristic truck in the outdoor area.

SperBank truck ...

... for a "Perfect future".

All the big stands featured some kind of shows to attract the masses:

• Daimler showcased Russian force with two men reforming pans, metal tubes and tearing phone books apart.
• Volvo sent artists up in the air.
• KAMAZ raffled rally truck models and let you shake hands with truck rally driver.
• MAN let musicians play classical music and artists juggle balls. 
  

The MAN Lion's Coach joined ...

... the MAN Efficient Tour across Russia.

I left very early Thursday morning to the Hotel Kempinski Baltschug - this time without any traffic jam, so that arrived within 18 minutes (much fast then with the metro). At the hotel I had the chance to attend a business breakfast with leaders from different business sectors exchanging their views on the Russian economy.

Later I sat in the lobby doing some more work and having a great and expensive lunch. Then I went with my big suitcase to the metro station and took the Aeroexpress to the airport Domodedovo.