On Monday I was on one of my favorite summits. It is located in
Karwendel. These mountains are located in Northern Tyrol. I have been
to this summit several times, and now I have decided to activate it.
On Monday the weather was perfect for this plan, and it was a great
tour. That is why I want you, to take part of my trip.
The key facts for this tour are about 15km distance and 1200m
elevation gain for the whole round trip. The reward for this effort
are 8 points and a wonderful day in the mountains. But that’s boring!
So lets begin. My trip began at 07:00 in the morning. I parked my
car near guesthouse “Gern Alm”. Before I got out of my car,
I had a short look at its dispay. It showed me 3°C. uargh That’s
really cold for August 25th ! I quickly put on my shoes
and grabbed my backpack. The air was clear and cold. After taking a
deep breath, I started my tour.
The beginning of it is not so great. At first you have to walk a
long gravel road for over one hour. For 15 minutes you follow this
road without any gain of height. This was not too bad, because I
could shake off fatigue. Then I arrived a junction, and had to turn
left. Now the road was steep, and endless switchbacks were following.
The whole time I was walking in forrest without any view to the
mountains that were arround me.
But then the last switchback came, and the forrest was gone. Now I
was standing in a large meadow with lots of cows. The best thing was,
that from now on the tour follows a wonderful path through meadows
and light forrest. Along that path I found some blueberries. Yummy!
During my ascent I lost 30 minutes. Guess why! 
After leaving the
bushes of blueberries, the path traverses a ridge, where some chamois
were browsing. That’s were I could also see the last meters of my
ascent. Until now the trip was only “hands in your pocket
stuff”. But now an enjoyable part of scrambling was folling. A
few meters before the top I was lucky, and saw some capricorns. They
were lazy sitting in the sun. One was scratching his back with his
horn. Maybe they were wondering, what I am doing.
browsing chamois
way up to Mondscheinspitze
lazy capricorns
When I was arriving the top of Monscheinspitze, I knocked very
pleased at the wooden cross at the summit. I could see the great
panorama of Karwendel. I could see many mountains, I have been only a
few weeks before. For example Birkkarspitze (OE/TI-131),
Lalidererspitze (OE/TI-199), Soiernspitze (DL/KW-029), Hochplatte
(OE/TI-519) and so on. I was supprised. Birkkarspitze and Sonnjoch
(OE/TI-615) were coverd with a little bit of snow. Some minutes I
enjoyed that view, and then I set up my equipment. There was a nice
place for my vertical antenna, that I occupied for the next two
hours.
summit of Mondscheinspitze
Sonnjoch coverd with some snow.
I was late I knew, but I didn’t want to hurry during the ascent.
Especially the second part is so enjoyable, it would have been a
shame to rush. At first I wanted to activate on 20m in SSB. So I
tuned up my antenna, and asked if the frequency was in use.
Surprisingly two stations replied. Manuel EA2DT and Mike G6TUH must
have been waiting. Both signals were very strong. Mike put the spot
on me, and soon other stations were calling. I also had a short
chitchat with Don G0RQL. In the end I had twelve QSOs in SSB at 20m.
After that I changed my antenna and started to call at 2m in FM. I
could add further three contacts to my log. Then I switched back to
20m, to get some CW contacts. When starting CW contacts I am always a
little bit nervous and clumsy. But this time something was really
wrong. Sometimes the Dits were missing and sometimes the Dahs were
missing. It took me some time to realize that the cable of my paddle
was not correctly plugged. Phil G4OBK and Jose EB2CZF thanks for your
patience! It must have been really annoying to listen to that
stammering. But at least I could add six contacts to my log. 
Although the view on this summit is so wonderful, the sun was
shining and the activation was great, I had to pack my things now,
and to leave the summit. You cannot stay forever there. 
So once
again I knocked at the cross on the summit, and continued my trip.
For the descent you follow a small path heading in south direction.
Now again some enjoyable scrambling is awaiting you. This part of the
trail is marked very well. It is impossible to miss. There are so
many red and white dots and arrows. Along the way lots of flowers are
blooming. One of them is fringed gentian. I really love this flower.
It is so beautyful. And its the first messenger of autumn.
way back
Unfortunately this path also ends in a gravel road, with lots of
switchbacks. But the view is much better. And the best thing is, that
it ends at guesthouse “Gern Alm”. The whole way back I was
looking forward to a delicious Germknödel (a big dumpling made of
yeast dough and filled with plum butter) with melted butter and poppy
seed. So I finished my tour with that tasty meal. Yummy, yummy!
That was a great day in my beloved Karwendel, and I hope to hear you
soon on the next summit,
73 Jana
DG5WU
