Table of contents
Iron ham
12th pictures
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Where piles of motorbikes park at the Arberseehaus Biketreff in summer, piles of icicles await in winter.
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Melancholy in the sky, but euphoria on the street – or maybe a break at Weibenstein?
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The route through the Bavarian Forest.
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Best asphalt near grainet.
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Above a thousand meters, the lifeline in the form of free asphalt becomes increasingly narrow.
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What a feeling to push open an inn door after this cold.
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There are also things worth visiting along the way: a warm visit to master glassblower Kock in Riedlhutte.
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Adventure on the way to the Dreisesselhaus.
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Traveling in summer is more pleasant, but if you can’t wait any longer, you shouldn’t be put off by the winter cold. The winter landscape has its own charms that should be explored, like this forest world on the Bretterschachten.
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At Teisnach the horses have to stand in the paddock even in winter.
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This is where winter comes in: Everything, even the streets, is white.
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Chance meeting with Roland, who drives with a 49er Puch team and a beauty case.
to travel
Winter trip to the Bavarian Forest
Winter trip to the Bavarian Forest
A journey through wintry Bavaria
Freezing temperatures can also be heart-warming when you are tired of waiting for spring in the middle of winter and exploring the Bavarian Forest on a motorcycle.
Gerhard Eisenschink
02/17/2011
Now wait for the spring, ”says my friend. But does she know what it means when the F 800 GS is in the garage and laughs at me every day? Does she know how long there can be a winter? My longing for the wind is so great that neither warm words nor freezing temperatures can dissuade me from a winter tour.
The thermometer of the F 800 GS shows plus two degrees when I roll towards my destination, the Bavarian Forest, on the A3 on Friday morning. A relaxed temperature that you can handle with good gloves and thick sweaters. Admittedly, from a speed of 130 the wind is already very sharp. Feet and fingertips develop into problem areas for winter drivers. No matter, the snowy landscape and the admiring glances of the overtaken drivers make up for it. From the Hengersberg exit, the B 533 leads directly into the Bavarian Forest. But it has to be even more curvy. Behind Auerbach I throw myself on the tiny, partly straight car-wide streets that lead via Grattesdorf and the 1016 meter high Brotjackelriegel to Schofweg, Kirchberg in the forest and to Regen.
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The temperature may drop with every kilometer that I screw my way up, but my heart is getting noticeably warmer. When the thermometer drops below zero, no regrets. Finally curves again, even with a perfect surface. No trace of snow in the lower elevations of the mountains. Only a few pieces of ice in puddles and ditches fly past in the corner of your eye. But winter is still to come. Like a staircase, the Bavarian Forest builds up step by step from the climatically mild Danube valley to the 1400 meter high mountains of the border ridge to the Czech Republic.
“Closed until May 5th, the kiosk at the Weibenstein castle ruins near Regen is my first tourist stop. The stairs up to the old walls, which sit on a steep quartz rock like Frankenstein’s castle, are icy and so smooth that as a precaution I leave my helmet and gloves on for the daring ascent. There is not much to see of the snow here either. But in the north, towards the border ridge, there are mountain ranges covered in white sugar. I want to go there!
Iron ham
Above a thousand meters, the lifeline in the form of free asphalt becomes increasingly narrow.
So on via Teisnach, Drachselsried and Arnbruck, to the ridge mountains, in which the rain and snow clouds are caught. And now winter is really coming to the streets. The crossing of the Kaitersberg leads on a winding pass road over 800 meters high into the white splendor. In summer this would be a great route for heating, but now you have to be careful on damp, gritty asphalt. This also applies to the winding panorama route behind Lahm towards Bayerisch Eisenstein. In spite of the untrustworthy asphalt, I quickly pull up from the Brennes junction towards Arber, at 1,456 meters the second highest mountain peak in the nation. At the Bretterschachten I dive into a completely white world in which all trees are covered with a thick layer of frost. Which is okay at temperatures of minus eight degrees. Without skis or snowshoes you would sink up here right next to the road up to your stomach. Winter also has the Arbersee at 900 meters under control.
Where the 90-degree bend at Arberseehaus is otherwise popular in summer, a group of snowshoe hikers is getting ready to march. Instead of the visor washing device, there is a toboggan, and over at the yawning empty parking lot, winter campers cook themselves a warming afternoon tea in their mobile home.
Actually, I want to do another lap across the Czech Republic in “cozy” temperatures of minus five degrees and approach the border crossing to Železna Ruda via Bayerisch Eisenstein. But it starts to snow and the plastic garden gnomes at the stalls behind the border are already covered in white. The road will soon be too, because the Czechs save on salt. There is a threat of adversity. So quickly back and via Zwiesel and Regen on the B 85 to Schonberg, where I want to move into quarters. Which has the advantage that it didn’t snow at all in lower elevations and the road is perfect. Conclusion of the first day: feet cold, the heart glowing with motorcycle joy.
The next day, nothing glows any more: the BMW, which started in the hotel garage, measures minus five degrees without any problems. From Schonberg I want to advance further east towards the Czech Republic via Grafenau. Somehow I’m a little effeminate overnight. The warm bed, the cozy breakfast, one too many beer last night? In any case, despite some good slopes, I freeze on the roads that are still free of snow and ice. In Riedlhutte I come up with a warming ruse: A visit to the glassblower, who can only blow the glass at 1100 degrees. In the studio glass works in Kock, my bill is paying off. The master works skillfully with his son on a glass head, behind which the incandescent glow is glowing in the open furnace. Room temperature: 30 degrees. After 15 minutes I feel so warm that I have to keep going.
Iron ham
What a feeling to push open an inn door after this cold.
In Mauth I could make another stop in the area of glassworks. The glass road across the Bavarian Forest is a dream route for the soft winter driver, warming the heart and fingers, on which you can watch a glassblower at work every few kilometers. But today I want to try my Czech round from the other side. So in Philippsreut across the border. What is only noticeable in a united Europe because there are more snow residues on the roadside in the Czech Republic. The streets in Stražny are completely uncleared. Slippery terrain also because a new brothel has just opened (“New girls, new prices”). Get out of the swamp quickly. Horni Vltavice, ten kilometers further, doesn’t look so sinful. But it gets slippery here too. When I stand at the junction for my planned route west via Kvilda and Kašperske Hory to Železna Ruda, there is a continuous, icy blanket of snow instead of drivable asphalt.
Disappointed, I have to cancel the Czech Republic round for the second time. So back over the border and from Philippsreut via Haidmuhle on a dry road to the Dreisessel. Now my fingers, which are quite cold at minus six degrees, are itching, and I want to try to get up the 1332 meter high mountain. The snow is getting closer and closer to the road, which only has a free lane in the middle. And that too, as my only lifeline in terms of traction, is getting thinner and thinner. Do not give up. Suddenly the completely empty parking lot under the summit. Now there is only a short kilometer left on foot to the Dreisesselhaus. Which means a welcome warming at minus eight degrees when the body finally starts to supply blood to the feet again. I trudge through deep snow to the well-known mountain inn with a panoramic view. The silent winter forest swallows my step. What a feeling to push open a pub door in such an arctic environment and to be welcomed by cozy warmth! The helmet, immediately covered with condensation, lands on the clothes rack, followed by several layers of textiles.
A steaming fruit tea becomes the pinnacle of wellbeing. Matching the snow scenario outside the window of the mountain inn, Wolfgang Ambros sings his old hit song about “skiing” in the background. And chants that in the evening he looks up again at the ski slopes and decides not to go home. That makes me want to extend my own winter tour as well. A group of snowshoe hikers is just coming in through the door of the Dreisesselhaus, who are taking a completely secluded vacation up here. We start to chat, the fruit tea gives way to the hunter tea, and an unbelievable comfort spreads. Tonight I will also spend the night in the Dreisesselhaus. My F 800 GS has to freeze itself down in the emptiness of the huge parking lot in the middle of the forest together with a fox and a rabbit. And should it snow more tonight? The landlord also rents out snowshoes.
Info
Iron ham
The route through the Bavarian Forest.
Directions:
From the south on the A 92 to Deggendorf, from the north via Regensburg on the A 3 towards Deggendorf / Passau to the Hengersberg exit. From there on the B 533 into the heart of the Bavarian Forest.
accommodation:
The Hotel zu Post in Schonberg (Marktplatz 19, 94513 Schonberg, phone 08554-96160, www.hotel-post-schoenberg.de) offers free garage, drying room, screwdriver corner and elaborated tour tips for the Bavarian Forest and the border triangle for motorcyclists. The double room costs 62 euros.
The Berggasthof Dreisessel (family Nusser, phone 08556-350, www.dreisessel.com) is located at 1312 meters on the Dreisessel summit and can cause problems for motorcyclists in weather conditions with a probability of snow. Pay attention to the weather report and clarify with the host. The overnight stay costs 21 euros per person and is only possible Friday to Sunday, otherwise open daily for refreshments.
literature:
MOTORRAD general map sheet 17: Regensburg, Weiden, Passau, 1: 200000, price 5.90 euros. The card also includes the Czech part of the tour. DUMONT travel pocket book East Bavaria, Regensburg, Bavarian Forest by Daniele Schetar and Friedrich Kothe, price 14.95 euros.
Worth seeing:
The Glasstrabe is a 250 kilometer long themed trail through the Upper Palatinate and Bavarian Forest, which touches the most important glassworks and museums. Information at www.dieglasstrasse.de. The wilderness areas of the Bavarian Forest National Park are almost inaccessible in winter in the grip of snow and cold. Information about the nature of the park, however, is available – at room temperature – from the Hans-Eisenmann-Haus visitor center in Neuschonau with an adjoining animal open-air area and treetop path, as well as the Haus zur Wildnis visitor center in Ludwigsthal (north of Zwiesel), which also has an animal open-air area. Information at www.nationalpark-bayerischer-wald.de.
Addresses:
Information about the Bavarian Forest can be obtained from:
www.bayerischer-wald.de
www.bayerwald-info.de
www.nationalparkregion.de
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