I did not sign up for this — death hike in Germany

Top of the incredible hike we did that is described in the passage
This was the pay off tho

By Yara Gavrilyuk

I wanted to share this story with you (I already shared it with Instagram, but it truly deserves its own platform with pictures and videos and some little extra tidbits). Christian and I went on a hike in Germany last year, and it was one of those experiences that you never stop talking about ever. Special thanks to Philip, who was our wonderful host in Munich and was literally feeling under the weather when we did this hike and it did not even phase him one bit whereas Christian and I were unable to move for three days after. Enjoy 🙂

Hour 1: hike begins. Pretty easy, sweet river nearby. We walk to a table to eat some snacks. We ask a lady passing by if there is snow at the top. She says no. Christian gets attacked by weird small wasps. I think about my small fear of bears. We look at a sign that tells us this is the easy hike.


Hour 2: Incline increases a considerable amount. But still manageable and not too difficult. Our guide/friend says it gets only “a little” bit harder than that. I believe him.

Hour 3: Terrain changes completely, it’s pretty open, no trees and just rocks around. We stop for a snack of sausages, bread, and hard boiled eggs as our friend says we are halfway there. I smile. He points STRAIGHT up a mountain to a cross. I stop smiling. Like legit straight up vertical up there is no slow incline. I look at the cross and think maybe Jesus will take me now.

view of the trail ahead with our guy Philip leading the way


Hour 3.5: oH. It’s straight UP. Knees? Gone. Life? Flashing before my eyes. No pictures were taken during this time and honestly I think I blacked out this whole time. (Future Yara here, I straight up don’t remember this part of the hike and truly believe I must have ascended into heaven at this point)

Hour 4: aaaannd there’s snow. Lady before said there was no snow. Thanks lady. Christian drops our phones and they slide down the snow SO FAR. Truly thought our phones were goners. We also fall and slide down the snow. It burned. I ask if I can quit. I cannot. Literally this part feels like we are climbing Everest.

I cannot believe this was real


Hour 5: We make it. We order beer, and a delicious baked good that you dip in applesauce. Christian and Philip go up to a higher peak not far away as I literally take a tiny nap with my head on the table. The sun is beaming very hard and I honestly probably got a sunburn. I contemplate life and how I’ll get back down. Perhaps roll?

Hour 5-7: we make our way down in mostly silence. I slide down most of the snow hill. Mostly a mistake but also easier? I’m purposely leaving out a side story about a drunk couple that bothered us on the way back down because I dont have the mental energy to think about them again. We finally make it. Pass out in the car. Philip and his wife ask if we want to walk around the city for a couple hours the next day. We laugh.

Truly hope you enjoyed this small story from one of our travels. Let us know if you want to hear more like this, or if you have your own death hike adventure you wanna tell us about! 🙂

  1. Monica says:

    holy cow!! these views are SO beautiful!! wow. also — 7 HOURS?! dedication.

  2. Katelyn Scott says:

    I absolutely adore watching your adventures and progress and success! I would love to read all of the adventure stories!

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