Day 06: From Bernbeuren to Marktoberdorf

Date	Dec 8th, 2022
Route map	Route trace
Today's distance:	14 miles
Total This Camino:	94 miles
Total 2022 Caminos:	418 miles
Total All Caminos:	1714 miles
Lodging:	Arthotel Ana @ $85
Total Lodging:	$ 410
Planes:	$810 Rochester -> Munich -> Rochester + $75 checked bag
Total Planes:	$ 885
Buses / Trains / Taxis:
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$15
Food:	$38
Total Food:	$ 173

Decision Time

I've got six stages under my belt now and I'm feeling pretty good. The experience so far has been everything I could have wanted.

But now the game changes .

The next three stages are from tough to brutal. The distances go from 17 mi to 23 mi per stage.

The altitude changes go from 300 to 400 ft total up and 300 to 400 ft total down per stage. One day has an unbelievable 1,000 ft elevation climb and descent in total.

Finally the weather for the next 3 days is intermittent periods of rain and snow. The snow I don't mind so much as long as the terrain isn't bad, but rain in high 30 degree temperatures is not good.

Right at this moment I don't have the desire to tackle them as they exist. That means I need to do one of four things:

Follow the Jakobsweg as is
Skip stages or separate them into smaller chunks
Leave the Jakobsweg and devise my own route
Possibly just quit now and sightsee for the rest of my time here

As soon as I finished my shower and got my laundry washed, I just started reviewing all the possibilities with all the info I have.

I have two lists of accommodations plus Airbnb and booking.com.

I have two apps for stage descriptions.

I have Google maps to calculate my own stage distances.

And in the forefront of my mind is the fact that my body is 69 years old, and my feet and legs are feeling the distance already.

***

Initial planning is complete. The best I can figure out is to take it one day at a time.

So tomorrow my stage is 18 miles with approximately total elevation change of 300 to 400 ft up and down ... unless I have some brilliant idea between now and tomorrow morning.

The remaining two brutal stages, I will have to sort out tomorrow night.

***

High food bill today but I treated myself to two different coffee shops and then a Christmas market and finally a good dinner for tomorrow's long hike.

Meaningful Moment

Leaving Walter and Ilsa's Pfaffenwinkle Albergue. I had such an excellent time there over dinner and breakfast with some very friendly people. And I slept like a rock last night.

In Stötten, I stopped a lady to ask if there was a coffee shop in town. She didn't think so but she saw my scallop shell on my backpack and wished me a Buen Camino. Always brings a smile to my face when I hear those words.

A few minutes later as I was walking down the street, she pulled up in her car and told me about a bakery shop that also happens to serve coffee, which is where I am now. Camino angels provide.

As I was coming down from Mount Auerberg, a man popped out from the left off another trail. We talked for a while. Always nice to meet a fellow hiker even in passing.

Random Thought of the Day

Mount Auerberg was certainly passable but it definitely had ice and slick trails of mud. I have to rethink what the rest of this Camino is going to look like as I have much higher mountains in the next few days.

Trying real hard to remember why I prefer mountains over flat planes. lol

On the Road / Notable memories

In Stötten, I had a good cup of coffee and a chocolate cookie which was quite the treat after having tackled Auerberg mountain.

I lit a candle in the vestibule of St Martin's Church as a symbol of burning away negative thoughts, feelings and vibrations.

***

In Marktoberdorf. I asked the lady at the desk of the hotel for a recommendation for coffee shop. She told me the name and I was left astonished. When I asked her to repeat it, I heard the exact same name.

So I asked her to write it out. This is the name of the coffee shop she recommended: Cafe Muckefuck.

I couldn't bring myself to repeat the name.

Of course, the linguistic issue is that the German letter u is not pronounced like the American letter u, but I can't say properly the German letter you. Lol

	On the way up Auerberg mountain

	This handsome guy came out and followed me for a while.
	Just a spectacular view of the Bavarian Alps from Auerberg mountain
	St Peter and Paul church

	I lit the candle on the left as a symbol of burning away negative feelings.

	Some of the people remembered at St Peter and Paul's Church

	Lunch time coffee break
	Leaving Stötten, and headed for Bertoldshofen.

	More blue sky that I've seen in a week
	So nice out that I actually don't even have to wear my Buffalo Bills parka

	On this spot in the year 1841 H. H. Pfarrer died, killed for an unknown reason
	Best place I've stayed in this entire trip
	This is an amazing room for only $80.

	ArtHotel Ana

	I came across the Christmas festival. Had myself a waffle, some cashews and listened to this group.