In June 2019 I spent a month in the Bavarian city of Erlangen, where I was working on some research for my PhD thesis at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU). I didn’t have a lot of time to explore Germany, but I made an effort to make a brief trip to the Alps to visit Berchtesgaden National Park. I took the bus down on a Friday and stayed at a hostel that evening after a quick evening visit to Lake Hintersee. I was up bright and early on Saturday to catch the first ferry across Lake Königssee, spent most of the afternoon exploring Lake Obersee and Germany’s tallest waterfall, Röthbach, before making the 6.5 km hike to a backcountry hut called Wasseralm. I was back in Erlangen by Sunday at 10 PM and exhausted, but it was completely worth it.
Enjoy this photo story from a fun weekend spent exploring Berchtesgaden National Park.
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You can’t miss striking architecture of St Bartholomew's Church as you cross the lake. You can get off of the boat here to explore the area if you would like to.
An abandoned boat house on Lake Königssee.
Looking towards the west end of Lake Obersee.
The view of lake Obersee from the hiking trail to Wasseralm backcountry hut.
Arriving at Wasseralm.
It was approximately 870 m elevation gain and 6.5 km to reach Wasseralm backcountry hut from the end of Lake Obersee.
The entire valley was covered in cloud during the first part of my descent the following morning. By the time I was out of the forest, most of the cloud had cleared. That is Lake Obersee in the distance.
Arriving back at the dock to be picked up by the ferry.
“Goodbye”
Arriving back at Schönau am Königssee after a great day of exploring the park.