What lies beyond?

The pièce de résistance… the trail goes up that peak, to the right at the top and then down the far side.  At the moment I took the photo, I had no idea what "down the far side" would actually mean.  But it didn't look good.

Nope, not going back...

Looking back to where I've come from.  Zoom in to see the trail more clearly.  Oof!

A hop, skip and a...

The trail at the top.  Just a little drop of a mile or so to the right.  I'm not very susceptible to vertigo, but I have to admit that I was not admiring the views as I was walking along this part of the trail.  Instead, every now and then I'd stop, clutch a rock, and look out into the void.

Looking back

View back up valley to Pfelders.  If you look very carefully, you can see the Stettiner Hütte (which I had lunch at yesterday) at the pass in the center of the photo.

Up where?

See the houses on the far right?  I climbed straight up from there.

Pfelders

View from my balcony in Pfelders first thing in the morning.

Day 3 — Pfelders to Hochfirst

Well, that was a day. Off at 8, at the pass around 12:30, and reached Hochfirst at 16:15. Started at 1600m, topped out at 2780m, and dropped down to 1720m before climbing the last stretch to Hochfirst at 1850m. You'll see in the photos below how steep the morning climb was (hint: steepissimo), and then the walk down, although "only" 1060m, was interminable. Great weather though, and even better views.

I saw a half dozen other people on the trails in the morning… all of whom overtook me (sigh)… and no-one at all in the afternoon until I got to a hut about an hour from the end.

Photos follow.