They said there would be a lake...

We walked out of the lodge toward the mountains and along the stream with confidence.  "Follow the yellow signs," they said.  When we rounded a corner to a small village and we decided that we followed the wrong yellow sign!  But, we were getting our steps in and enjoying nature!  We got back on track, and enjoyed the crunching sound of our feet in the snow.  It was wet, good packing, snow ball kind of snow.  John capitalized on the situation a few times.  We kept a look out for the yellow signs that said “Ferchensee” on them, which I had originally transposed in my mind as Friedrichshafen (from MTU days), and that was 190km in the wrong direction!  Way more steps than we bargained for.  Even heading in the right direction, we wondered if we were really headed toward a lake.  There seemed to be no evidence that we were.

We eventually arrived at the lake, elated to see the guest house, entertaining dreams of coffee, hot chocolate and a roaring fire.  Too bad the place is closed between October 31 and December 22.  Crushed, we turned around and headed back to our local home. We were happy to arrive at the retreat in Schloss Elmau, a fantastic place tucked into the Bavarian Alps.  It is now a new favorite of mine.  We logged ~7 miles that day.  The luxury of our accommodations and the quality of the food fortified me.  John, not completely.  He still wanted to protest the long walk with apparent lack of purpose.  I logged a small victory in the physical fitness department!

Trudging along with a mile or so to go, we think. 

We found the lake, but didn't stay long.

The civilized Alpine hike turned into a barbaric, every-man-for-himself snow ball fight with no warning.  I had to take this picture quickly then duck and return fire !!

After 15,000 steps and an all-out snowball fight, snacks by the fire seemed appropriate.