Today we launch our first assault on Mount Pfänder (pronounced fender). Jenny, Jeffrey, Cindy, Steve and I hike up to the top ..following one of Jeff’s mountain bike trails. It's a killer hike and I'm gasping for breath. I tell them that this is just like one my regular hikes ..only much, much longer and way steeper. Switch back trails take us through forests full of fir, pine and spruce trees. We hike by streams trickling out of the mountainside ..across lush alpine meadows ..back into the forest ..then out again on top of the world. And Whoaa ..! What a fantastic view of the Bodensee (Lake Constance) ..as well as the Rhine River and Swiss Alps. They tell me this is the ‘Voralsberg’ region of Austria. I repeat to myself ‘For Al’s beer’ a few times until I get it. There is a chalet-style bier garden here ..but it's closed. Bummer. Well, it's not the destination but the thrill of the climb, I say. No problem, Jeff says ..there’s another one back the other way. Treacherous descent though ..sliding down watery trails ..slipping over rocks and skree. No traction thanks to the worn-out tread on my hiking boots. The backside of my shorts are soaked and there are plenty of branching trails to lose my way ..but Jeff and Steve wait so I’d know which one to take. I imagine Jeff mountain-biking down these trails and I shudder. What massive cajones that takes, as well as 'shock absorbing' knees ..and calves the size of trees. Hey, how far is it to that other bier garden ..?
Sister Cindy, Brother Jeffand Sister Jenny
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