Hut to Hut hiking in the Alps

My German trip started with a long day of flying and several short layovers (read: making my way through random airports with short timeframes in which to make my connections).  I managed to find all of the correct gates and make all of my flights.  I can’t say the same for my luggage.
 
I arrived at Erica’s, met her sister Kathleen, and the three of us prepared for our trip up into the Alps.  In the mean time my bag got itself delivered right to Erica’s door (so not like my African lost bag experience).
 
We hopped on a train right around the corner from Erica’s apartment and after a couple of transfers got off the train in Berchtesgaden.  After a short bus ride and a boat across Konigsee, we were standing at the trail head.
 
Our first day of hiking was spent climbing.  We had about 3000 feet of elevation to gain, most of which was on a steep climb up above Obersee (the lake just above Konigsee).  The weather was great – just overcast enough to keep the temps cool.  Once we had gained most of our elevation we traversed along through the landscape until we reached the Wasseralm hut, our destination for the night.
 
The Wasseralm hut is a great little hut (though it sleeps plenty!) with a small group of hosts cooking up great meals and constantly serving beers.  We had dinner and drinks as the sun went down and the night grew cool outside (but stayed cozy in the hut).  Earplugs didn’t block all of the noise of the hut through the night but did a good enough job to get enough sleep.  The next morning we had a good breakfast and started back on the trail.
 
Our next day of hiking we hiked up to an overlook over Konigsee (though the low clouds obscured much of the view), past a couple of lakes (including Grunsee (green lake)) and on to Funtensee where we found our second home Karlingerhaus.  We arrived a little earlier in the afternoon so there was time for reading, resting and snacking before dinner.  We drank plenty, had a big pasta meal, and played cards until it was time for bed.
 
On our last day in the Alps we left Karlingerhaus and hiked back down through the steep 'Saugasse' section, back to Konigsee.  At Saint Bartholomew’s church we got a return boat back towards Berchtesgaden and from there we backtracked our train route to Munich.
 
The trip was awesome.  We had a good variety of terrain, and the huts we stayed at were very different experiences.  The scenery was great and the hikes were just the right balance of effort and reward.  A hut-to-hut trip in the Alps has been on my list adventures for some time and this trip beat my expectations.  I look forward to doing it again.