On the road again - Saxony "Malerweg"

Day 1 - Thursday
27km

 

Got up as early as 3:30 am to catch the first train to Dresden. As I walked to the station I realized it felt good to walk with my backpack again and I was immediately thinking of my Ireland trip earlier this year. Deadly tired I was very happy to have the whole compartment to my own, yeah. No one is going to Dresden this early and in the middle of the week, haha. So I just stretched out and slept the better part of the two hours on three very comfortable adjoining seats.
Changed in Dresden to the train to Pirna, took the bus and started my hike from Pirna Liebethal at exactly 8am. As I had roughly 27km to go today I wanted to be off as early as possible and just take it slow.

 

Excited to get going

The trail is very well waymarked and led alongside a river at first with the famous sandstone rocks towering left and right. Despite low hanging clouds there was only some spray rain every now and then not even enough to get the rain gear out. The broad well maintained path led through a tiny village, alongside some fields and then through another valley with those moss covered sandstone pillars. The utter silence was only disturbed by some dripping water and an occasional chirp of a bird. Within this scenery it just couldn't get any more magical! I felt like being in a haunted maze of some fairytale.

Dark clouds no rain

As I neared the village of Wehlen I met more and more people out on a walk. Had a coffee and a piece of cheesecake on the terrace of a cafe overlooking the river Elbe already having accomplished half of today's track at mid day.

Climbing up a steep path mostly made of steps just carved into the stone I arrived at the top of the rocks flanking the north bank of the river drenched in sweat. I need to work harder in the gym! Still I settled to a nice pace and enjoyed being rid of people once again.
Not before long they bothered me again with their presence. Gone was my sought-for solitude as I was nearing one of THE tourist attractions of the area: The Bastei. It's actually only a couple of nice view points, but I have to admit the views are absolutely stunning! No kidding. On a weekend with nice weather the place must be overrun!

View from the "Bastei"

After having had my share I kept on going down endless stairs, passing by a man singing loudly in the woods and eventually reached the bottom with knees more than close to protesting. With the heavy load on my back it was just beyond fun.
Walked for a good while along the bottom of a gorge with some lake before the path climbed again. This time not so steep and I basically raced up leaving a lot of people with just a small or even no backpack easily behind. My backpack was now part of my body like it was when hiking Ireland, hehe.
After some fields and more climbing up and down including the amazing narrow Wolf's Gorge I finally reached today's destination Hohnburg at around 4:30. Actually I wanted to have a beer somewhere before going to the campsite nearby but all the places looked closed and deserted. So I headed over to the campsite straight away which was another 1.5km outside the village. Arg.
Got myself a beer in the small shop there, pitched my tent, had a shower, some small dinner from my stash of food and sat under a tree relaxing. Read for a bit before I hit the sack after such a long day with the clock not even showing 21:00

 



Wolfsschlucht (Wolf's Gorge)

Dinner: Egg, beer and beef jerkey, yummy!

 

 

Getting ready for Saxony

Interesting how this year is just flying by. My mind, body and equipment just go from one holiday to another and my friends just wonder how much annual leave I have since I seem to be away all the time. The magic is actually no magic at all. Due to my part time job and some occasional weekend shifts I have sometimes a few days off around a free weekend that easily count up to 4 or 5 which makes for a nice short trip without spending any of my precious holidays.

A nice side effect is my much improved fitness. I've always been fit but never really pushing it. With some high altitude hiking and expeditions on my list for the next few years (Aconcagua being the ultimate goal for me) I want to be in the best shape. I think I am now at maybe 60% of what I can be. This figure may seem quite low for my not-so-fit friends but I think it's only realistic.

The two-day-cycle was a good test for me. 230km in two days were not really a challenge for my stamina, but more for my knees and Achilles tendon, hehe. This is something only a few of my friends would be able to do so I'm on a good way.

The next challenge will be the completion of the "Malerweg". A scenic 112km trail around the famous "Sächsische Schweiz" national reserve in Saxony with quite a few ascends and descends. It's normally done in 8 stages for the average weekend stroller. I will do it in 5 starting the day after tomorrow.

Already laid out all the things I'm going to take with me which was quite easy after my Ireland trip. Packing has actually become a routine. I know what I need and what I don't need and how to stuff it into my backpack.

The whole trip is a test in the field for my new Hilleberg Soulo tent. Normally I would take the much lighter TerraNova because taking the Soulo is like taking a Ferrari to get some groceries. But as this is just a short trip I don't mind the extra weight of my new aquisition and just can't wait for my first night sleeping in this beauty.

Hilleberg Soulo - first pitch in the backyard

A Determined Finish (Friday)

Distance: 112.3 km
Time on the road: 6.5 hrs
Time total: 8.5 hrs
Calories: 3200



As the battery of my iPhone died the night before I decided to stick to my printed maps as long as possible and fall back to the track loaded onto my GPS device. Possible places for breaks were at Trebbin, Beelitz and Potsdam with possible drop-out points at Potsdam and Berlin Wannsee both having train connections to the city.
Had some peppers and eggs for breakfast and left the campsite as early as 8am aiming to be back home around 4/5pm. Though there was no rain during the night my tent was wet and I just didn't want to wait for it to dry in the sun and stuffed it into my backpack anyway.

I love being outside early in the morning seeing the world wake up. With the moisture still in the fields, waterdrops sliding down the plant's leafs and stems, the not yet warm rays of the sun occasionally breaking through the trees' lofty crowns as it rises higher and higher. It's a feeling of peaceful happiness taking in the rich scent of grass, trees and water with every deep breath. With a smile on your lips and tears welling in your eyes you not only feel embraced by mother nature, as your body dissolves and your mind stretches out you become part of it, feeling so tiny as your are just one of a myriad beings, each of equal importance from the mighty tree to the small ant - including you.

I was pulled back into my body quite roughly as my knees and my left Achilles tendon complained straight away the second I set sail, disrupting my peace with their loud voices. But I payed no heed to them and kept on going. We had a long way home ahead of us so they better shut up, haha.

Brandenburg in the morning

The plan to stick to the track Google maps had suggested failed straight away as I found myself 10 minutes later at a wooden path leading through a former millitary area that was now a nature reserve. "Enter at own risk" the sign said due to some munition and chemicals left in there. Errrrr... no.
The same track was loaded onto my GPS device but I used it instead to look for a way around the path and easily found one.
After feeling a bit stiff at first I was surprised how easy I was going again. Almost like yesterday didn't happen. But I was convinced that I would tire sooner so I wanted to reach Beelitz as soon as possible.

Around 10am I reached Trebbin and had a first short break eating the other half of my chicken and some more peppers sitting on a bench under a tree. I already felt that kind of flow you get into when you're hiking for several days were you just keep on going and going and going.

I followed the signs pointing me to Beelitz and turned off the GPS. This way it was far easier. Passed through a small village every now and then and was lucky for the fairly new cycle path next to the road.

Arrived in Beelitz - which is very famous for its aspargus - shortly before 12 and walked around for a bit before I settled into a small café and had a cappucino and a piece of very delicious swedish apple cake. With Beelitz being very close to one of the main roads - the B2 - leading in and out of Berlin traffic had increased severely all of a sudden. Gone was the solitude of quiet country roads.
Followed the B2 for a bit on another cycle path next to it before I veered east to Caputh which sits right at the lakes Schwielowsee and Templiner See. Followed the shoreline and entered Postdam with the sun now blazing relentlessly from the sky.
The city has been one big building site for decades with old 18th century architecture sticking out of it. It was no different today and with all the buzz and fuzz going on I just passed through as quickly as possible heading towards Berlin Wannsee. I was still unsure if I wanted to drop out and take the train there and wanted to decide just when I reached the station.
With a huge beer garden right next to it I spent my money for a large alcohol-free wheat beer instead and decided to cycle the remaining 20km. I just like to see things through. Followed the signs of the cycle route to the city centre leading me through parts of my hometown I've never seen before.
After another short break for a bowl of ice cream in Kreuzberg I finally arrived back home at 4:30pm.

Wow. What a fun tour that was! 230km and 6700 calories in two days! The weather was absolutely perfect and I felt satisfied knowing that I can do such a tour and even go a few days longer. My posterior hurt some and my knees but cycling to work the next day was very much okay. Only my Achilles tendon still hurts a lot when I cycle.
So I'll buy some more bags to get rid of my backpack and maybe I'll do some more cycling in the future.

A Late Summer Day in the Saddle

Distance: 118.1 km
Time on the road: 6 hrs
Time total: 8 hrs
Calories: 3500

I set off not as early as I wanted to but still early enough at 9am. With roughly 100km ahead on my bike I wanted to take it slow to preserve some energy for the even longer track of day two. Unfortunately I had to take the bigger backpack due to the sleeping bag's size. Damn. I really need a rack and some additional bags.
I started nevertheless and headed south-east towards Erkner. Since I live quite in the center of Berlin that took as long as and hour, but with such a fine late summer weather, little traffic and a cycle path the going was fairly easy. I took a short break, had some fruit and an egg before the next stage that should lead me to Bad Saarow having accomplished two thirds of my tour then.

Erkner

I switched to my iPhone navigation since the maps I had printed were just a rough guidance. The sun was warm in my face and the roads mostly deserted as I passed through typical Brandenburg scenery with woods, now-empty fields and meadows, the scent of resin, moss, herbs and... well... summer in my nose. Brandenburg has its very own charme and I have to admit that I felt very attracted to it. Infact I always did. A pity that the few small villages I passed through didn't belong to the more beautiful ones. So I was looking foward to a longer break in Bad Saarow hopefully with some ice cream and coffee.

Somewhere in Brandenburg

After 4.5 hours and a few detours (No, a road bike is NOT suitable for sandy paths!) I finally arrived... only to be very disappointed that there was no village at all at the point where I entered it. After a quick study of the map I decided against taking another detour to see the village proper and have my break in Storkow instead, only another 6 km away.
Upon entering its vicinity I spotted a nice place out of the corner of my eye through a gap the the bush directly at the shore of a big lake with some benches on the green and even some rails to tie my bike to. Wow! It looked like a secret spot, haha. Had some more food and relaxed a bit in the sun drying my sweat drenched shirt before I approached the last third of today's tour.

Lunch break at Storkow

I was determined to reach Teupitz - my destination - without another break as I passed by an ice cafe in Maerkisch-Buchholz. I couldn't resist and had a nice ice cream bowl and a cappucino, dwelling in childhood memories of my dad taking us on tours outside of Berlin and making us only go when promising some ice cream, haha.

Ice cream break at Maerkisch-Bucholz

A door on the other side of the road

Just keep on going

Eight hours after leaving home I finally arrived at the Teupitz campsite direcly next to a lake. The place was small but quiet and the woman at the reception was very friendly. Still I think 9 EUR for one night in my tent including a token for 4mins in the shower is a bit too much. Pitched my tent, had the first half of my chicken, made good use of my four-minute-shower and sat on a bench at the waterfront for the better part of two hours waiting for the sunset. Didn't feel that exhausted but hit the sack as early as 9pm after reading for a bit due to a headache setting in.

"Relax Camping" Teupitz

Flee you fools! Don't linger near a hungry cyclist.

Teupitz

More relaxing

Sunset. Wow.

Time to hit the sack

Taking a ride

Two days off. Tomorrow and Friday. And the weather is going to be very nice and warm like propper late summer weather should be. Spending those days at home would be a waste of fortune so I decided quite spontaneously to take a long ride on my bicycle.
I normally only cycle to work and back which is like 6 km each. But I've done a 60km and 90km ride on two consecutive days last year so I know I can do more. This time I have 220km on the paper! Now that's for a challenge!

Since I own a roadbike I've always had issues with luggage. With just 8kg overall weight it's simply ridiculous to put say 10kg additional weight onto a rack. But carrying a backpack all day is not something I look forward to. I checked with a local bike store and ended up buying a smaller bag to be fastened onto my handlebar and still taking a small backpack with me. For the ideal setup I will get a lightweight rack that will only be fastened to the seat post and another small bag to put on it. That should rid me of the necessity to wear a backpack on a two day tour in the future.

Bags are packed and maps printed and loaded onto my GPS. As always nutrition is something I have to put some thought into since I avoid carbs. I bought a whole free range chicken, a battery of eggs and some vegetables and fruit. Hopefully that'll be enough to make up for the lost calories, hehe.

Stay tuned for some pictures and a map of my route tomorrow night.

Pictures

I still owe you some pictures from our Friday adventure. Unfortunately the wi-fi on the bus wouldn't publish my post with pictures so I just uploaded the text. Back home now I can provide you with visible proof :). So here you are.

Strathfarrar

Two more and some adventure

Went to Strathfarrar yesterday to climb another munro on our last day. The valley is only open at certain times and only for a limited number of cars. 25 cars would've been allowed and we were number 4. The valley was really beautiful and we began our ascend of Sgurr Fhuar-thuill with a nice mix of sun and clouds. The path went along a small river with countless waterfalls ever going up to a traverse along a slope up to a pass.  Up there heavy winds set in as we climbed the last bit up to the summit cairn.
Down we went to the next hill and had a quick picknick break with bits and pieces just being blown away by the heavy gusts. At the next minor hill the group split. While the guide and the majority of the people started to go down me and six others went on to bag the next munro. Down and up the path wound its way.
Along the ridge we went and the heavy gale force winds were really dangerous when maneuvering the narrow path. We reached the next summit quickly but had not much time since heavy clouds came in and 10 minutes later we were caught and a heavy fog.
We stayed close together and cautiously worked our way back to where we were supposed to get down. In the thick clounds and heavy winds we decided to just trace back our steps and go again over the first munro's peak since there was no view at all and it could soon go from serious to dangerous. We were totally caught in the thick clouds and really had problems navigating. At the last hill before the munro we had climbed first all of a sudden the path was gone. Shit. No one was sure about the direction we should take.
We had the map our guide had given us before we had split up but it was pretty useless when you could only see a few meters ahead. When you're travelling with a group why should you take things like a compass or gps device with you? There we stood at a rim of the ridge that shoudn't be there. We decided to go back to where we had lost the path climbing up that last hill again when one of us remembered that she and her husband always tracked our day's walk with their mobile phone.
We could see our mistake on the gps track and traced our way back to where we had strayed from our track. Headed out into the right direction now and double checked with the recorded track every 100 meters. Eventually we found the path up the munro again and everybody was cheering with relief because now we should not encounter any difficulties anymore.
We quickened our pace again as much as we dared because by now we were sure to be late enough to be missed. Checked our cellphones to call our guide but there was no chance of getting a connection.
Luckily the path that led down the traverse was marked with a cairn big enough to be seen in this weather. Another cheer went up and we could finally leave the ridge, the heavy wind and drop out of the clouds.
We were sure that our guide must be sick with concern by now so we hurried down the muddy slippery path. Out of the clouds and the wind I felt the fatigue now in my bones. Two thirds down we found our guide sitting on a stone hoping for any sign of our group.
We were not sure if he might be angry with us because we had not taken the way down he had said we should. But under the circumstances we had just done everything right by going back exactly the way we had come take some extra time but be safe. His relief was written on his face and he was just too happy to see us back safe and sound.
At the parking area I stopped the recording of today's "workout" on my watch. The whole walk up and down had taken us 7 hours and I had burned more than 4000 calories. Whoa!
On our way back to the lodge I reflected on today's events. We were in no real danger but we had learned some lessons. Weather can really change within  a few minutes. Never go without decent means of navigation even if you're in a group and just want to quickly go over to the next munro in clear conditions. Always have some food with you.
This day is one I'll certainly remember. It was fun after all and it was really great that all of us in our little group kept thinking and coming up with ideas and we made our decisions together. No crisis.
What a worthy last day of my Scotland holidays that was! There's two things I realized: I really enjoy the challenge of hillwalking be it just the ordeal your body has to go through or the demanding going in bad conditions. And if I do easier walks I'd rather go alone or with just one or two people. After enjoying that on the Kerry Way and Beara Way earlier this year I was a little stressed out with so many people around me even if it's such nice company.
Heading back to Berlin on Monday morning. It's so weird to think of being back there in this big city. I know right now that my mood will darken as soon as I'll take a seat in the S-Bahn and my mind will go back to Scotland blocking all sensory input from my eyes, showing me pictures of my time in Scotland.