Griesenau to Stripsenjoch

I've been caught in a few storms in my time, but none quite as sudden or violent as this one, which made for an unexpectedly memorable hut walk at the start of this year's Alpine trip. We had flown into Munich in the afternoon, stopped for a pizza at Walchsee and started the short walk in to Stripsenjoch unusually late, almost 7pm. The reason for this casual approach was that we had booked places, and I had previously visited the hut in 2011 from the much longer northern approach via the Eggersteig and knew this way to be far easier. It was indeed, but we didn't factor in the storm which blew in very rapidly as we contoured up through the trees in worsening light and increasing humidity. The view up to the Ellmaeur Tor from here is spectacular, arguably Europe's most dramatic col. We were stripped to the waist initially, then came a distant clap of thunder. By the time we emerged from the woods, the storm had blown in (from the other side of the Stripsenjoch to the west - which was why it took us by surprise). Soon, torrential rain and squally gusts accompanied the thunder and lightning. Mercifully, the hut's lights glimmered not too far above, so we put our running fitness to good use and increased the speed, with headtorches and coats replacing the bare chests! Water cascaded from the slabs above the path - as Vic said, it was like being in a car wash without the car. I likened it to having buckets of water thrown over you. Explosions of thunder and seemingly constant lightning flashes as we crested the col and scampered into the warmth and conviviality of the hut, totally sodden. Time for one beer before bed in our own room in the separate hut building.