With another day of afternoon storms we decided to make the most of the forecast morning sun by getting up early and heading for a peak which was close to Munich, and almost out of the mountains in order to try and catch the best of the weather. We ended up deciding on the Kampenwand, as we could have a good day out with a reasonable amount of ascent, knew there would be wonderful views and that we could save our knees by getting the gondola back down.

The ascent was initially up wide forest tracks, which meant that we made good progress, but in order to traverse under the impressive cliffs of the Zwölferturm we took the smaller path which ascended towards the Zwölferturm’s cliffs from the north. While the path was pretty steep up through the woods, it was certainly worth it for the initial views out towards Chiemsee over Erlbergkopf, and to see the impressive cliffs from up close.

As the skies were still clear we didn’t hang around once we got up to the Steinlingalm, but instead headed straight up to the Kampenwand. This meant that we didn’t meet many people coming down as we were still early in the day because of our early start, and that we made the best of the views from the top, as the cloud was starting to build fairly rapidly.

The ascent was steep up scree, and then had some easy scrambling up some of the most polished rocks I have ever seen, or stood on! It was wonderful to see fleeting views through the cloud to the south, and needless to say the view of the Chiemsee was wonderful. The descent over the polished rocks and scree was much easier than expected, and we were soon back at the Steinlingalm.

Due to time constraints we didn’t have enough time for a drink at the alm, and a post walk drink and a swim, so we elected to head straight down so that we could enjoy a refreshing swim. The gondola was certainly welcome rather than the long descent in the main heat of the day!

Erlbergkopf and Chiemsee
Gederer Wand and the Chiemgau Alpen
Becky looking up at the Kampenwand
Winding our way up to the summit
Looking down over Sulten towards Chiemsee
Becky on the summit of Kampenwand
Looking through a window of cloud towards the Großvenediger and Ackerlspitze
Summit selfie
Looking along the Kampenwand and over Aschau
Total distance: 10.51 km
Max elevation: 1631 m
Min elevation: 621 m
Total climbing: 1172 m
Total descent: -330 m