Day 26 - Immenstadt

Tuesday 18th July 2017

By dawn the thunderstorm has finally rolled away and the skies are clear. I'm a little melancholic though; today we are leaving the Alps behind and starting the long journey back north towards home.

I've done this trip so many times now that it can be a bit tedious as temperatures drop and the terrain turns flat across the long plains of North West Europe. So I'm always on the lookout for interesting alternatives to explore and today we will find one such.

First we head north east and ride down the Mustair Valley to the border back into Italy. At Mals we join the busy SS40 for the run over the Reschenpass. This road is one of the low routes from Italy into Austria and so attracts the heavy wagons that cannot tackle the likes of Timmelsjoch.

The sunken bell tower in Reschensee

At the top of the pass there is an artificial lake created in the 1940s. Despite local objections several villages were submerged when the dam was built. Today the campanile of the church at Graun is the only visible clue to their existence.

On the descent into Austria the road ahead is closed and a long diversion takes us down to Martina in Switzerland and back into Austria along the banks of the River Inn.

In Imst we turn off the main road and take a wild and beautiful route up over Hahntennjoch. This is a new pass for both of us and a lovely alternative to the usual heavily trafficked Fernpass.

At the summit of Hahntennjoch


The summit at Hahntennjoch stands at 1894 metres a.s.l. It's a very popular route for local bikers. It's great, very wild and narrow on the southern ascent then more sweeping on the north side. And the coffee van at the top even sells stickers so I can add a new one to the growing collection on my panniers.
 
At the top of Hahntennjoch

And so finally we ride back into Germany near Oberjoch and along the Iller Valley to Immenstadt. We have left the high Alps behind now and it really starts to feel that the tour is coming to an end.


Grosser Alpsee
We camp on the shore of the Grosser Alpsee. Campingplatz Alpsee is a modern well laid out camping ground with a small shop and good facilities. This evening just for a change the thunderstorm is accompanied by a huge hailstorm with big hailstones hammering noisily down onto the tents and bikes. It is extraordinary and I shoot a short video on my phone shot through the top vent in my tent. Just to prove it really happened!




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