Kossen to St. Gertraudi - July 2001

Typical view from a bike path

We rode bike paths along road 172 by Walchsee to Niederndorf crossing into Germany at Oberaudorf. I noticed a number of bees along the route. Sure enough, one collided with my helmet and had time to sting me before falling off. This developed into a fair sized welt between my right eye and ear. We found a bakery and stopped for a late morning snack of pastries and juice. A few kilometers south and we were back in Austria, turning west near Kufstein. We had a steep climb up to Zu See. Needing directions and water, we stopped at a country restaurant above Thiersee overlooking a lake. We ordered ice cream and coffee so as not to take advantage of our hosts. This was a mistake; it took almost 30 minutes to be served. The ice cream was covered with fresh fruit. Tasty, but we weren't really that hungry. We talked to a Dutch tourist vacationing in the area. I asked which language he would recommend that I might find most useful for traveling through Europe. He replied English as it was spoken as a second language in many countries. The waiter consulted with the owner for directions. As we would be taking parkland dirt roads, they were uncertain of the trails.

Looking down at the lake from the restaurant

We rode up to Hinter Thiersee and came across a farmer working his field. We asked for directions to Kranhaus. He directed us through his property on a farming road that entered the woods after 1/4 mile. The road was crushed gravel and dirt and shortly we came across signs telling us this was the Panorama Trail. Our bike path map indicated we would pass through Kranhaus and we turned off the trail onto a paved road following the sign to Kranhaus. The paved road ended at a farmhouse about a mile up the road. A dirt road climbed steeply through pasture into the forrest. We climbed the dirt road coming upon an electric wire stretched across the road. Since this was the only continuing trail since the sign for Kranhaus, we thought this had to be the way and went underneath the wire. The trail ended, so we backtracked and picked up a lesser-used dirt trail. This ended too. We backtracked and heading down hill in the shade of the trees, I was upon and into the electric fence wire before I could react. I broke the wire before I could stop. I noticed it had been broken before and retied the wire and hooked it back up. Heading down the hill to the farmhouse, we found a resident. We explained to her about the fence and asked where Kranhaus was. She replied her farm house was the Kranhaus and directed us back down the hill. We erred when we left the Panorama Trail for Kranhaus. Back on the trail, we had a beautiful ride for miles in forest parkland. The trail continued on to Kaiserhaus with the road becoming paved. We went by Pinegg, Aschau, Kransach, and Brixlegg to Zimmermoos in search of an inn. We struck out and picked up road 171 to St. Gertraudi. Here we found a lovely Gasthof. We enjoyed a beer and snack before dinner in at the outdoor tables. A German couple rode up on their touring bicycles seeking a room. We had taken the last room; there were only 3 or 4 rooms at the Gasthaus. The proprietor told us of her trip to the United States. She made a whirlwind trip and saw San Francisco, Los Angeles, Disneyland, the Grand Canyon and Hawaii on one trip.

Gasthaus at ST. Gertraudi

View across the road from the gasthaus

Back

Home