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When crossing the Allgäu Alps between Germany and Austria, you will be hiking today through beautiful lush green pastures and tomorrow over rocky mountain peaks. Sometimes past the original Sennalpen, which is an alp on which cows are kept whose milk is processed into cheese directly on the alp. Sometimes over mountain fields full of flowers! This is the story of Sean and Ralf, and their journy over the Austrian and German Alps following the "Steinbock Tour". Please enjoy.
Ralf Menzel & Sean Plowden-Wardlaw.
Our Steinbock tour (Ibex Trip) runs for about 37 miles (about 60 km), starting from Oberstdorf, we take the Söllereck cable car up to its station on the mountain, and will hike to the Fellhorn high above Oberstdorf. We will take a half-circle through the Allgäu Alps, and our cabin hike will end after five stages at the Kemptner cabin high above Oberstdorf.
We will have scenic stages through lush green alpine meadows full of flowers, and challenging stages over steep, rugged rocks, and ridges in a barren, sometimes moon-like landscape. The Allgäu, and especially the Steinbock tour, offers so many contrasting impressions in such a small area, unlike any other Alpine region.
The Ibex tour is a part of a high alpine hiking experience. You don't need any climbing skills, but you need a head for heights, sure-footedness and a good level of fitness as basic requirements. Furthermore, you will need good equipment, such as climbing boots and a sturdy backpack, to survive on the trail. The Schwarzmilzferner, the only small glacier that we will cross, is free of crevasses, so normally crampons and a pickaxe will not be necessary. However, we were happy to have both items with us at the end. Starting in Oberstdorf, we will take the Söllereck cable car to the mountain station and hike along the Fellhorn ridge to our first stop, the Fiderepass Cabin. Okay, let's go.
