Gehrenspitze East ridge - my first tour in the Tannheimer mountains

Hi there! 😊

As if the last two weekends hadn't been exhausting and exciting enough, DF and I couldn't stay inside at the 25th/26th May of 2018 as well and drove southwards to the mountains. 
I have to admit at this point that I had a nasty cold during that time and my nose ran all the time but I just couldn't stand the thought of staying at home. It was a typical case of: Don't try this at thome! 
So, if I look a bit tortured or exhausted on the pictures, it was due to my health state and not because I was accompanied by DF.

This time, our goal was the Große Gehrenspitze in the Tannheimer mountains and we chose the path via the East ridge that was supposed to lead us over four addional summits. Yes, I wrote "was supposed to" and it has a deeper meaning as you will see in the following report. 😅

The drive passed by smoothly despite one litte traffic jam close to Würzburg (where else?). The parking space was close to the forest edge near Wängle - it was an isolated and quiet place at first glance - of which more later. 

View from the parking space

At first we wanted to prepare our beds and made a sobering discovery: we had forgotten our mattresses which we used to cushion my car's trunk. 😱  ...we just had searched for a solution to cushion the uncomfortable edge inside my trunk during the morning of the very same day. We had found our solution with a set for a table and two benches as it is used in beer tents (yes, you read correct!) but our joy was slightly diminished by our lacking mattresses. *sigh*

Car without mattresses...

Fortunately, we had some more blankets with us, so we could use them to cushion the ground. But to be honest, I am already looking forward to sleep more comfortably next time. 😛

And then the night came and with the night came...the cool wackos! As I mentioned: our parking space was somewhere in the nowhere at the forest edge and there of all places, a prole ride arrived around midnight. They unload a bycicle, talk loudly to each other and let the engine run all the time. It was already around 03:00 am as they finally left. So, the sleeping conditions were extraordinary...

We started in time despite all those hardships at 05:30 am at the following morning. Our first goal was the Feuerköpfle (literally translated: "fire savvy") , you cannot reach on official trails. The most tour reports lead to the Castories chapel but our navigation app had offered a shorter way, that we had chosen for us. 

Uphill - steep and pathless

We left the official path exactly as planned, according to our GPS. We went up a steep ditch in which flowed a little stream. Our GPS lead us to the right as we had reached a certain height and we stood in the nowhere only a few steps later. We took a new look on other navigation app and it seemed that we were about 200 meters away on the left from our original route. 
I had nothing better to do than to plunge in the steep and slippery area. The result were two bloody knews and an half-amputated nail of my thumb. I was lucky enough to move on after a huge load of desinfection gel and a plaster. 😓 

Returning was not a real alternative and so we decided to search for an opportunity to climb up to the ridge at the stone walls piling up in front of us. The GPS was correctly working again and it showed us that we were only about 30 m away from our original route. 
We finally found a way up the stone walls two fails later. You can of course see the detailed drama includic mimic, panic, cursing and so on in DF's video. The whole "fun" had cost us about 1-1 1/2 hour in our time schedule.

Finally, we were back on our route and had to descend about 300 m, to reach the view point at the Feuerköpfle (1.494 m) at 09:00 am. The panorama was partly a compensation for most of our ordeal before. 😉

View from the Feuerköpfle

We marched on to the Turejöchle (1.746 m). There were a few foot and shoe prints leading the way. Often, we had a real fight with the mountain pines to be able to walk on at all. 

Through the mountain pines we go! 

The Turejöchle's summit cross rather resembled a wrong positioned and outdate traffic sign...don't ask me why?!

Panorama from the Turejöchle - the view shows Füssen, the Säuling and Reutte

Our next goal was the Blachenspitze or Blachenspitz (you find both versions in the internet) with 1.965 m. That was where the real ridge walk and the autonomous pathfinding began. 

Blachenspitze

You can see the ridge on the picture above. The small arrow marks a huge rock in front of the Blachenspitze, you have to surround it on the South side (left). We also understood why after we had had a closer look on it. It would have been impossible to climb over that rock without climbing gear. Especially, the descent would have been suicide! The bigger arrow marks the third summit, the Blachenspitze. 
The way did not become easier after our way around the rock and we were happy about our hiking sticks. 

DF during the ascent to the Blachenspitze

There were "only" grassy slopes leading upwards but they were difficult to walk on. It definetely does not need rocks and stones to make one's way harder. 

The steep grassy slopes at the Blachenspitze

We reached the Blachenspitze at 11:30 am and enjoyed a short break to have some lunch. We kept it short because the sun was burning down on us and we felt like being roasted. 

At the Blachenspitze's summit

We had mastered three out of five summits so far. The crux (II+) according to tour reports was still not reached. It was supposed to be the descent from the Kleine Gehrenspitze ("Little Gehrenspitze"). We still had some way to go before we would reach it as you can see on the following picture. 

DF on the ridge with the view to both Gehrenspitzen

The way to the Kleine Gehrenspitze (2.105 m) was very exposed and the steep grassy slopes did not make it easier. 

Don't tumble! 

We finally reached the Kleine Gehrenspitze's summit at 01:30 pm. The last part had been a nasty crossing in the gras combined with steep climbing. We were quite happy about a short break.
Our final goal, the Große Gehrenspitze ("Big Gehrenspitze" with 2.163 m) seemed already within reach. 

Goal within reach! 

The crux of our tour was still between us and our final goal. It began directly at the Kleine Gehrenspitze. Some tour reports said that you can walk over the extremely exposed ridge or descend in a grassy wind gap. We took a short look at the ridge and chose the wind gap. 

The descent was not toooo hard but the ground was not made out of solid rock. There was only grass and earth and a deeeeeep abyss behind you. We had to stay very focused all the time and needed our calm. That way is an absolute no-go during or shortly after wet weather. 

The descent route

At the abyss...

The rest of the way was demanding but not as nerve-jangling as the part before. We reached the Große Gehrenspitze at 02:30 pm. 
My cold became worse so I couldn't really enjoy the lucky feeling of having reached the summit during that time. 

Three Stoffel at the Großen Gehrenspitze

View back to the East Ridge

We began the descent via the official trail after a short cookie-break. The official trail should also not be underestimated. DF and I had already our hiking sticks in our hands but only to discover that we still had to climb down on very steep rock. So, the sticks were more of a hindrance than helpful.

We reached the characteristic draw, you need for the further descent, after some climbing. The draw was also very steep, full of gravel and anything but comfortable to walk through. 

Descent through the deep draw

The draw's entry was the worst. That spot was extremely narrow and you really have to wedge yourself through it - and where of all places were swarms of midgets to attack you?! I suggest to keep your mouth shot, to suck in your stomach and to keep on going! 😑

In the following, the trail wriggled steeply along the mountain to the Gehrenjoch. The ways became easier from there on and our further way to the Gehrenalm was really relaxed.
We made a short stopp at the inn with elderberry juice, Tiramisu and Apfelstrudel during a short quall. 😀

View back to the Gehrenspitzen

We began the rest of our descent at 05:30 pm and were completely beat when re reached our car at 08:00 pm. 

Conclution to the tour: WOW! and MIEP!
We got ourselves fooled and lead the wrong way by the GPS - so we didn't have a lucky start to begin with. Luckily, things took a turn for the better. Still, that start had been really unnerving and energy-sapping. 
The East ridge is definetely not a cakewalk and you need absolute surefootedness and orientation. Whoever would like to learn how to climb in grass, will have his/her fun on this route. 
The rock is solid most of the time, but it has to be crumbly at the crux of all places.
All in all, it was a breath-taking tour with great views over the Tannheimer mountains, Reutte and Füssen with the royal castles.
I really enjoyed it - even with my nose running like crazy.

You can watch DF's video here: Gehrenspitze Ostgrat . 

See ya 'til the next mischieve! 

Your Katharina