Making Tracks North to Cologne

This is the nifty schedule you can print from any Deutsche Bahn ticket kiosk, showing route, departure and arrival time, any transfers, the type of train and price. If you click an individual train you can print out the track information, information on need to reserve a seat if congested, etc.This makes traveling with my 30 day/10 trip maximum German Rail Pass very easy.
Unfortunately, because of the flooding in Bavaria with the town of Passau seeing worst floods since 1501, Prague sandbagging and Austria getting 2 months of rain in 2 days, I won't be taking this route to Salzburg. I experienced that Austrian rain when at Neuschwanstein, which is on the Austrian border.
Instead, I'm taking a fast ICE train from Munich to Koln today at around 11am.
The weather in Northern Germany is sunnier and warmer than here. Yesterday Munich was 9 degrees Celsius.
I will explore a city I'd not planned on visiting. After Cologne I may go to Hamburg and Leipzig, then return to my planned stops in Dresden and Berlin. Should the weather clear I might return south and visit Salzburg as I'd like to see the Alps. Perhaps I might then travel via Stuttgart and into France.
I've brought camping gear with me and I'd still like to use it, perhaps in Alsace.
Time to pack my gear, pull sheets off the dorm bed, and get going.