Große Reibn – hut tour in the Berchtesgaden National Park

“Why don’t you scramble around on your Swiss mountains?” This is the question we hear most often during the four days on a hut tour in the Berchtesgaden National Park. Two Swiss, here with us? Shaking his head in disbelief. In fact, it is not obvious to accept an almost seven-hour journey to and from the airport in order to spend a few days exploring the German mountains. But if you’ve already seen pictures of Königssee or – probably the most popular Instagram subject in Bavaria – Obersee, you’ll understand why I really wanted to hike in this corner of Bavaria. The second oldest national park in Germany is something special.

1st hiking day: from Schönau to the Gotzenalm

The first day of hiking starts shortly before six o’clock in the morning with a train ride from Zurich to Salzburg. Both hiking backpacks are packed – I rely on my tried and tested red model, which I already carried on my back for three days on the Toggenburg High Trail. Packed are hut sleeping bag, rain jacket, flip-flops for the hut evening (unnecessary ballast yes or no?) and other odds and ends. The fear of having forgotten something essential travels with you on the train. From Salzburg, take the bus via Berchtesgaden directly to the heights. But before we set off, there is a delicious refreshment at the Gasthof Vorderbrand near the Jennerbahn middle station. We are served what is probably the most beautiful omelette ever. What a start. We generously look away from the fact that the rain starts just in time for the start of the hike. We are prepared for this. Even though umbrellas are frowned upon by some hikers, we have packed one as a precaution due to the mixed weather forecasts.

Shortly after the first ascent to the Priesbergalm, the sun prevails and we hike towards the Gotzenalm with a view of the Watzmann. The path changes from a wide gravel path to a narrow forest path. The “Deer Run” has it all. In a partly adventurous up and down, it winds its way up the slope. But the last section of the trail, which leads steeply uphill to the Feuerpalven, is really tough. From here we are rewarded with the first magnificent view of Lake Königssee. It is just under ten minutes from the Feuerpalven to the stage destination Gotzenalm. There are no hut finches. The flip-flops do their job. After a portion of pasta, we fall dog-tired into the bunk bed in a two-person loft. What a day!

2nd hiking day: up and down to the Wasseralm

The second day of hiking starts cloudy. But while we fortify ourselves with a hearty breakfast, the clouds slowly disappear. With a last view of the Gotzenalm with Watzmann in the background, we continue towards the Wasseralm. The landscape with its rugged peaks, gurgling waterfalls and loose fir forests is reminiscent of the Rocky Mountains. It doesn’t work without drops of sweat on the second day either.

Although the stages of the trail are manageable with around four hours of hiking time each, the constant ups and downs sap your strength. The effort on this day is rewarded with a magnificent view of the Obersee. What a panorama! Shortly after noon we reach the idyllically situated Wasseralm at 1,400 m above sea level. The smallest of the three huts on this tour is nestled between blooming alpine meadows and a refreshing stream. If you are fit, you can reach both the large and the small Teufelshorn from here in about three hours. We, on the other hand, order a fine plate and enjoy the afternoon in the sun in front of the hut.

3rd hiking day: over the Halsköpfl to the Kärlingerhaus

The Wasseralm has filled up well in the evening. 40 people in one bedroom – you can imagine the snoring concert that results from that. Accordingly, we are up early the next morning and continue hiking towards Halsköpfl. Although the two huts were well filled, we hardly meet fellow hikers on the way. And so we enjoy the view from the Halsköpfl to the Königssee for ourselves. After two days without any mobile phone reception (on the Gotzenalm it would have been enough to make a phone call, but on the Wasseralm no signal was found), we take our time up here with fabulous 4G to update ourselves on all channels. The hiking days in the Berchtesgaden National Park were an unexpected “digital detox”. In Switzerland, we are used to receiving 4G quality down to the last corner of the valley. On this hut tour, I was grateful to have at least once enough good reception to upload a picture to Facebook. If you feel that “being online” all the time is a burden, you can take a breather here.

After a break of about thirty minutes, five more hikers have made themselves comfortable on the bench on the Halskopf. Time to march on. The following section of the trail is one of the most beautiful of this four-day tour. After a short descent through the forest, where we spot a chamois in the thicket, we reach the Schwarzsee. After that, it’s uphill again. Past the beautiful Grünsee, the ladder to heaven up to the plateau with Funtensee and Kärlingerhaus. The mountain lake became famous through the TV meteorologist Jörg Kachelmann, who set up a weather station here and found that record-breaking minus temperatures for Germany are measured here in winter. Here, too, the ascent is a tough one, when we arrive at the Kärlingerhaus, we treat ourselves to a lunch break.

We don’t want to let the unexpectedly stable weather pass by and tackle the Feldkogel after the break. The summit is located at 1,886 m above sea level and can be hiked in an hour from the Kärlingerhaus. The extra meters of altitude are compensated with a magnificent view over the national park. We have heard the cheeky whistling of the marmots several times in the last few days. On the way back, we finally see three specimens.

Just in time with the first raindrops, we are back at the Kärlingerhaus, where we treat ourselves to a shower. After two days in the hut without a shower, we are happy about this comfort. Three minutes of warm water costs three euros. The counter starts as soon as the money is inserted. Because I didn’t realize that and I put in the money first, then calmly changed my clothes and only then jumped into the shower, I still had two minutes left. Well. The cold water at the end brought my calves back to life.

The hut was filled to bursting in the evening. With regard to the European Football Championship and the quarter-final match between Germany and Italy, digital detox means precise route planning. With an exclusive TV room, the Kärlingerhaus was able to score points in this regard that evening. Accordingly, the small room was filled to bursting point hours before the game. This drove away even die-hard Germany fans wearing Götze football jerseys. Instead of keeping their fingers crossed for Germany, they instructed us Swiss in “Schnauz”. With Bavarian maps, of course. A hut evening as it is written in a picture book.

Day 4: Descent to Lake Königssee

After three days of good weather, the fourth morning shows its gloomy side. After all, it rained out. We hike through the fog down into the valley and descend via the notorious Saugasse to St. Bartholomä. 400 metres in altitude and 36 hairpin bends lead the Saugasse down a steep slope. One imagines the sight in the opposite direction and shudders. If you want to go up here, you definitely need to catch your breath.

We, on the other hand, have already successfully mastered the 2,650 meters of altitude difference of the hut tour at this point and return from St. Barholomä by boat towards Schönau am Königssee, from where we travel back to Switzerland via Salzburg and Munich. It was four wonderfully varied days with picturesque alpine pastures, restless hut nights and phenomenal views. After these pictures, who needs an answer to the question why we don’t always scramble around on our Swiss mountains? The Berchtesgaden National Park gave us an unforgettable hut tour.

The hard facts about the hut tour in the Berchtesgaden National Park:

The route is 37 kilometres long in total, includes an ascent of 2,650 metres and a descent of 2,650 metres in altitude (if you start at the bottom in Schönau). Alternatively, you can ride up to the middle station of the Jennerbahn and save yourself a few meters of altitude at the start. The hiking time is about 16 hours. The individual stages are about four hours long. The tour can also be done in three days. Either hike directly to the Wasseralm on the first day or walk directly from the Gotzenalm to the Kälingerhaus on the second day.

Further information about the hut tour can be found here. There are also more route tips and maps on outdooractive.

Our hut tour in the Berchtesgaden National Park was supported by the German National Tourist Board and Berchtesgadener Land Tourism. Thank you very much for this. As always, all impressions and opinions are ours.