Great Rachel

Great Rachel
	Big Rachel in autumn
height	1452 m above sea level NHN
location	District of Regen , Freyung-Grafenau , Lower Bavaria
Mountains	Bavarian forest
Dominance	23.8 km → Großer Arber
Notch height	496 m ↓ S of Nový Brunst
Coordinates	48 ° 58 '42 " N , 13 ° 23' 22" E Coordinates: 48 ° 58 '42 " N , 13 ° 23' 22" E
rock	Gneiss

The Great Rachel is 1452 m above sea level. NHN is the second highest elevation in the Bavarian Forest or Bohemian Forest after the Great Arber and the highest mountain in the Bavarian Forest National Park . Together with Little Rachel , 900 m north-west, it forms Mount Rachel ( Roklan in Czech ).

description

On its rocky summit there is a stately wooden cross and a mountain guard hut . The panorama extends from the Osser and Arber in the north-west to the Dreisesselberg in the south-east; in the case of foehn influence or inversion weather conditions , the Alpine chain from the Dead Mountains to the Zugspitze can also be seen. In the meantime, this panoramic view is obstructed by growing spruce trees in the summit area . The Big Rachel is a popular destination. Hikers can rest and stop at or in the Waldschmidthaus below ; Since 2011, due to changed fire protection regulations, overnight stays are no longer possible.

As on neighboring Lusen , large parts of the forest on Rachel fell victim to the bark beetle from 1995 onwards . In line with the national park concept , no defensive measures were taken, and the dead trees were not removed. Instead, nature was left to its own devices and instead of the former, monotonous spruce forest , mixed forest is now growing back.

To the southeast of the summit is the Rachelsee around 400 meters below . The Rachel Chapel is also located on the slopes of the mountain. North-east of the mountain in the Rachel Forest ( Roklanský les ) in the Czech Republic are the source areas of the Kleiner Regen and the Großer Müllerbach ( Roklanský potok ).

The Rachel is the local mountain of Frauenau and Spiegelau . Its summit can only be reached on foot. Driving on the approaches with a mountain bike is not permitted. The shortest way to get to the summit is from the Gfung car park in 1½ hours. Other starting points are Oberfrauenau , the Klingenbrunn train station and the Racheldiensthütte car park. The access to the two parking spaces mentioned is closed from May 15 to November 2 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. and they can then only be reached with the Igelbusses of the Regionalbus Ostbayern . In winter, the mountain can often only be climbed with touring skis or snowshoes due to the meter-high snow . A direct ascent from the Czech side is no longer possible, as the traditional starting point, the Rachelhütte (Roklanská chata), is in the core zone of the Šumava National Park ( Maderer Filze nature reserve ) and is therefore prohibited from entering.

Geotope

The summit cliffs of the Großer Rachel are designated by the Bavarian State Office for the Environment as an important geotope (geotope number: 276R029).