August 7, 2022
Berchtesgaden to Eagle’s Nest (Parking Lot) to Hotel Neuhausl (Aug. 7, 2022)
Hello: I write this from our hotel in Wildmoos, Austria (Hotel Neuhausl) after eating an excellent dinner of an “onion roast” (which in Austria does NOT mean the vegetarian option but roast beef with a super excellent onion au jus gravy and roasted onions on top) while Dave had turkey au gratin schnitzel. After all we rode 10 k!
Below were the two routes we INTENDED to take but we had some navigational challenges. (I seem to be saying that everyday).
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The plan for the day (which was NOT realized) was to ride up from Berchtesgaden to the Eagles Nest parking lot (1500 ft in elevation in 5 k) and then hop on a bus (required) to ride up to the site of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, walk around for a few hours, and then ride to our hotel - allegedly around 6 k up the road. (This was Plan B: I had originally wanted to ride up to the Dokumentation Center -located in the same place - which was a Museum about the Nazi’s rise to power, but learned shortly before the trip that the Dokumentation center was closed for renovations. So, the Eagle’s Nest it was to be.)
However, the weather had changed to rainy — and more relevant to this discussion - cloudy. It actually felt wonderful after the heat, but we decided last night that there was no point in visiting the Eagle’s Nest if it was overcast. I am a history buff (especially European wars) but the Eagle’s Nest primary attraction is the super cool view from the top rather than it’s historical significance.
This decision resulted in us having a leisurely morning and checking out from Hotel Gruenberger around 11 am, thinking we had some time to kill at some point. The ride up Salzburgerstrasse to the Eagle’s Nest parking lot was steep (15 percent) and challenging, a busy road with Sunday traffic and some buses to stress me out, but nothing like it would be if we were on regular bikes. We arrived up at the Eagles Nest parking lot and walked around for awhile — it’s touristy and would have great views if it wasn’t socked in - and then decided to proceed to our hotel, which was just supposed to be up the road about 6 k. Because it was just “up the road” I had not even prepared a Komoot route (rookie mistake) but the twisty turny nature of the roads created a complicated situation - I think we stood and looked at our google maps for 30 minutes before agreeing on a route….And then google maps totally steered us wrong…..
Remember yesterday when I said I do NOT want to ride single track ascents or descents on a loaded e-bike?
We proceeded on the main road (319) before veering off on a beautiful quiet road until we got to some super steep sections which we managed until we came to a sharp turn and an uphill gravel goat track. I waited while Dave rode up it to reconnoiter but I know when he yells down: “Jill: walk up this to decide if you can do it on the bike” it essentially means “there is no way in hell I am going to do it.” My opinion was validated by the sign that said: “Radfahren verboten” which for you non-German-speakers means “Bikes Forbidden”. And of course Dave - with his utter confidence in technology said about 3 times: “but google says this is the right way.”
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Eventually we overruled google and turned around and made our way to the main road (319) and after a few more rejections of google suggestions to follow unrideable goat tracks ( as evidenced by the picture here of goats) we eventually arrived at our hotel at 2 pm, having taken 2 hours to go 8 k! Whatever!
The hotel (Hotel Neuhausl) is really cool and an A in our book. A pretty fancy joint out in the middle of nowhere where all the staff people wear dirndl’s and leiderhosen . Austrians love the whole spa/wellness scene and this hotel has a quite nice wellness wing with a spa, hamman, sauna, none of which we used except the gym where we spent a half an hour doing some weights and stretches (Dave and I do personal training back in Central Oregon twice a week with John, our lovely personal trainer, and he has been quite distressed that we would be going two months without him). So, this is the second time in a week we managed to do something, and we felt quite proud of ourselves.
Which of course resulted in the justification of a large but excellent Austrian meal in the dining room. Nine times out of 10 we split a starter and main course but not tonight .
What I learned today:
1. Komoot is better than google maps when it comes to bike routes. When we checked Komoot later on, it would not even CONTEMPLATE the route on the goat track.
2. No matter how short the route is, ALWAYS do a Komoot route.
Tomorrow we reach the Tauerenradweg, or the Alpe Adriatic route.
Today's ride: 10 km (6 miles)
Total: 193 km (120 miles)
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