Logically, you can only witness the sunrise over the Grand Canyon at dawn. Which, on the one hand, is a limitation. On the other hand, the sun rises every morning. The full moon, on the other hand, can only be seen every four weeks and only when there is no cloud cover in the sky. However, if you want to marvel at the full moon, you don’t necessarily have to stand at the Grand Canyon (even if the overall composition there is more impressive than in Munich-Milbertshofen, for example).
A so-called blood moon or a solar eclipse are even more exclusive – and what’s more, they don’t recur according to a constant rhythm. Nevertheless, the probability of being able to see these phenomena at one time or another is definitely there. It looks similar with the chance to cross the frozen Königssee on foot, with ice skates or cross-country skis. The Berchtesgaden Mountain Experience Association puts the probability at once per decade – a dead-end statistic, because: The last time Lake Königssee froze over was in 2006. The last Seegfrörne to date, the complete freezing of Lake Constance, even dates back to 1963. That was also the very cold winter Königssee covered with a layer of ice. Back then, a daring person drove his VW Beetle over the ice to St. Bartholomä. However, on the return journey from the monastery and inn peninsula, which is only accessible from the sea side except for experienced mountaineers, the car broke through the ice and has been lying on the lake bed ever since.
What’s the point of a car on a lake, even if it’s frozen over? What do pedestrians and cyclists have to do on a motorway? This brings us to the most exciting opportunity of all, the “Once in a lifetime” opportunity: Even today, people tell their unbelieving grandchildren about car-free Sundays during the oil crisis in the 1970s. Cycling on the A8 from Munich to Lake Chiemsee or gliding on ice skates from Konstanz to Bregenz – such opportunities probably only come about once in a lifetime, if at all.
This leads back to the USA, to Death Valley, half a day’s journey from the Grand Canyon. The lowest, hottest, driest point in North America is located there. And what can I say: you can paddle there now! A hurricane in the fall and heavy rain caused a considerable puddle to form. The temporary Lake Manly is approximately five by ten kilometers in size and one foot deep. Enough to navigate it in a kayak before the lake dries up again in a few weeks. And before this opportunity arises again, Lake Constance will probably freeze over twice more. In this respect, fewer people will have ever kayaked in Death Valley than have stood on the summit of Mount Everest. The key to true exclusivity for adventurous travelers is less money or a special physical skill. But spontaneity.
Stefan Fischer would like to skate in Death Valley one day. During a total solar eclipse.
(Photo: Bernd Schifferdecker (illustration))