A hike through Germany: Oberpfalz

Statue of St. James

Preparing my thruhike this passage has been the most difficult one. I had to connect the Frankenweg with the Goldsteig and did not know how to. In the end I decided to change from the Frankenweg to the Jurasteig and then continue on the Jakobsweg, which is one of the pilgrimage trails that eventually lead to the famous Camino and then on to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

The weather continued to be absolutely fantastic and another highlight was coming up in Oberpfalz: A visit of Ute, an old friend of mine in Weiden. The 50 km or so on the Jurasteig were nice, but uneventful. The Jakobsweg turned out to be remarkably well marked which came as a bit of a surprise as there is only one hiking guide for it and I had had a hard time finding gpx tracks for it. But pilgrimage trails are very popular and therefore well maintained even in Germany. It was amazing that most people I met on the whole trail would generally ask me whether I was on a pilgrimage trail - not whether I was hiking. The Jakobsweg provided another generous amount of pilgrimage churches, chapels and Stations of the Cross, especially since the Oberpfalz is predominately Catholic.

Old Forest road

I was a bit nervous about my stay with Ute as she has 3 kid living with her - and I have no clue whatsoever about children and how to deal with them. But things turned out great: The kids taught me everything about rabbits which they had as pets and even let me use their computer to update my blog. Ute and I spent hours talking and I even had a rest day mostly spent in front of the computer. It even turned out that I was leaving on Ute's birthday (about which she had not told me anything in advance). But this birthday led to this stage's culinary highlight: Ute's kids had baked her a cake and made a very generous amount of Tiramisu - both of which was served for breakfast! I had never tried Tiramisu for breakfast but be assured that it tastes as good in the morning as in the evening... I was very well fed and rested when I left Ute.

Ticks lurking everywhere

But unfortunately, the Oberpfalz also had a very bad surprise for me: ticks!!! I ran from one tick hotspot into another one and was picking about 100 ticks off my body - 30 of which had unfortunately already bitten me. I was getting more and more worried. In Germany ticks transmit 2 diseases: Meningitis (FSME), against which I am vaccinated and Lyme Disease (Borreliose) against which there is no vaccination. According to my internet research about 30% of German ticks are infected with Lyme Disease.

A hike through Germany: Franconia

Waymarking on the Frankenweg

 I was almost sad to leave the Swabian Alb and continue on the Frankenweg through Franconia. The Frankenweg itself is over 500 km long and I had already hiked the whole trail in long weekend sections when I was still working. Now I was only re-hiking a 170 km long section of it. To my big surprise I had almost no recollection of the trail although I had hiked it less than 6 years ago. The Frankenweg is not as spectacular as the Swabian Alb. The landscape consists of rolling hills, lots of forest and fields and many very pittoresque villages. Again there is plenty to see: Museums, churches, castles...

Maria Brünnlein

Most interesting was the amount of pilgrimage churches all along the way. Almost every day I would come across a pilgrimage church founded because someone had had a vision of the virgin Mary, had been cured of gout or rescued from a thunderstorm. Most fascinating was "Maria Brünnlein" (Mary Fountain), that actually has a fountain inside the church and people are queuing to fill their containers with "holy" water. Even I have never had the chance to fill my water bottles inside a church! Inside the pilgrimage churches you can see a lot of "Votivtafeln": These are pictures donated by people who have been helped which describe the circumstances of the miracle. It was interesting to see how these circumstance have changed. Whereas people 200 years ago were usually rescued out of thunderstorms they nowadays survive accidents on German autobahns with Mary's help.

Hiking on the Frankenweg

But there was much more to see than churches: I visited a Roman museum (the Frankenweg crosses the Limes, the old border of the Roman empire), a spa for a much needed general clean up, and plenty of old Jewish cemeteries. And of course there was also a culinary highlight: Bratwurst! Bratwurst in Franconia is a tiny little thing -which is very good for frying in a pan on a camping stove. The whole sausage burns within seconds and after the cooking the bottom of the pan is completely burnt. Still it is worth it as I think it tastes great - especially after a yearlong diet of American Lipton side dishes and Australian Continental pasta!

A hike through Germany: Swabian Alb

View from the Alb

 After Rottweil is was climbing up to the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Alb) which is a 300 km long escarpment. The Schwäbische Alb Nordrandweg follows this escarpment for its whole length on the Northern side, whereas there also is a similar trail on the Southern side. Although this escarpment is not pronounced all the way it is quite spectacular for most of the way. The escarpment is up to 300 m high and therefore the views are fantastic. The high plateau is not very populated for German standards as the soil is very poor - but it is ideal for hiking. The trail itself is very old and has been created already 100 years ago. Although it is fairly well marked and there is even a specific map set and a somewhat outdated guidebook the trail is not very popular. I hiked it over the Easter holidays and there were a lot of day hikers out there (this is very close to the urban centre of Stuttgart), but I did not meet a single long-distance hiker. It is a shame that this area is not more popular as it has been a real highlight.

Lichtenstein

Beside the views and nature there is also a lot of cultural stuff to see. Wherever there is a mountain the Germans built a castle and therefore there was castle after castle along the escarpment. Of course most of them were mediaval castles in ruins, but some have been restored and can be visited - and some are even still lived in. My favourite is Schloss Lichtenstein (which has nothing to do with the tiny state of Liechtenstein!). Lichtenstein had been built in the middle ages and fallen into disrepair.This castle still played a little part in the history of Wuerttemberg during the reign of Duke Ulrich von Wuerttemberg who was expelled in a civil war in the 16 th century and had to hide in a nearby flowstone cave. The cave can be visited as well and I of course did it, too. He later restored his reign and became famous for introducing protestantism into Württemberg. Three centuries later in 1826 the German author Wilhelm Hauff wrote a novel about the (in)famous Ulrich von Wuerttemberg and called the book "Lichtenstein". One of the descendants of Ulrich von Wuerttemberg was so impressed by the book that he decided to rebuild the castle in the Neo-Gothic style at its old location and call it Lichtenstein again. The castle was really rebuilt in 1842, damaged again at the end of WW II, restored again and can now be visited. Of course I did that and even bought the novel "Lichtenstein" which is now my latest reading material. Literature does have an influence!

The escarpment is still moving and only 10 years ago 30 meter wide and a couple of hundred meter long stretch collapsed after heavy rainfall. The whole area has been converted into a protected geo park where you can see the bare layers of rocks and nature regaining the bare soil. Sign posts warn you everywhere not to stand to close to the edge...

The Swabian Alb also brought another culinary highlight: Maultaschen. This is a sort of giant ravioli filled with either vegetarian or meat filling. I was told that the dish was first introduced in the middle ages when people were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays. Therefore they developped Maultaschen, were the meat is hidden inside the dough and God could not see what they were eating.... Maultaschen can nowadays be bought in any supermarket and are ideal hiker food. You just put them into boiling water, let them heat up for about 2 minutes and then they are ready to eat.

A hike through Germany: Black Forest

My actual hike started on Monday, April 18th when I took a train over the Swiss border to the German town of Waldshut-Tiengen in the Black Forest. The Black Forest is traversed by three long-distance trails (all about 250 km) which all start in Pforzheim in the North: The Westweg (West Trail) which ends in Basel and which I had hiked before, the Ostweg (Eastern Trail) which ends in Schaffhausen and the Mittelweg (Middle Trail) which ends in Waldshut-Tiengen and was my first stage on this trip. Hiking is very popular in the Black Forest and therefore I already encountered a big hiking trail sign post right out of the the train station. Weather was perfect: blue sky, sunshine and nice temperatures!

I hiked the Mittelweg three days up to St. Georgen where I met my old hiking friend Ursula. I had first met her on the PCT in 2004 where she completed her Triple Crown 4 years earlier than me. She had also paddled the Yukon River and had hiked through Great Britain before and therefore she was a great source of information for me. She is now living with her new partner in a huge farmhouse close to St. Georgen complete with a watchdog, chickens and a well. Her partner has given up farming and has leased all his farmland and sold all the animals (except the chickens). He still owns forest and was a great source of information and German forest law. I learnt that German forest owners are extremely restricted in what they can do with their property. Clear cuts are only allowed up to the tiny size of 100 m with 100 m and have to be immediately replanted. Beside that only selective logging is permitted. For hikers this is very good news: It means that if the maps shows forest, there will be forest (and good wild camping) unlike in the US where huge portions of forest can just be clear cut.

Ursula also provided me with the culinary highlight of this section: Black forest cake! I had already eaten this fantastic cake in every cafe I came across but hers from the local baker was definitively the best. Real Black Forest Cake consists of a lot of whipped cream - real whipped cream and not the sort of bloated sugary foam you very often get in the US. The cake base is soaked with cherry schnapps which gives the cake a great flavour. And the top is sprinkled with real chocolate flakes! Absolutely delicious!!! But even I had to give up after two pieces - very filling...



After St. Georgen I left the Mittelweg and changed onto the Querweg towards Rottweil. Weather was still fantastic and all the orchards along the way in full bloom. What a lovely picture! I really started to enjoy my hike through Germany. Still I must say that the Black Forest is a bit overrated. Yes, it is nice, but it is not as spectacular as I had thought. But see the next section.....

A hike through Germany: Start in Switzerland

My hike through Germany started actually with a planning weekend in Switzerland with my paddling partner Adrian. I flew into Euro airport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg - a very interesting airport as it is situated in the corner of three countries. Depending on which exit you take you enter Switzerland, France or Germany. I was headed into Basel and therefore took the Swiss exit where a tram took me into Basel centre within 20 minutes.
I had been to Basel before: Once when I had hiked the Westweg through the Black Forest and ended in Basel and in 2008 when I had cycled through on my bike trip through Europe.

Door of Basel Münster

Basel is a very pretty town with plenty of museums and a spent a pleasant day strolling through town before taking the train to Adrians place. Adrian picked me up from the train station and a very efficient planning weekend started. It did not take long and outdoor equipment, gear lists and laptops were strewn all over Adrian's place. We discussed gear we need for our Yukon trip, compared gear lists and discussed resupply strategies. I had not seen Adrian in 4 years and had been wondering how we would get along - especially since we are planning to spend 2,5 months in one boat! Everything went very well, all questions were discussed and we genereally had a fantastic time. Now I am even more looking forward to our Yukon trip.

But the very best were the culinary highlights: I had asked Adrian to make Raclette for me - a sort of Swiss National dish. In the modern version of Raclette you put slices of cheese on a little "shovel" and put it into a table stove to melt. When melted you put the cheese over boiled potatoes or other vegetables and eat it. Swiss cheese is absolutely delicious and the meal was fantastic, but very filling. Next day was even better because Adrian made cheese fondue. You melt cheese together with garlic and white wine in a fondue pot. You then cut bread into cubes, dip the bread into pear schnapps and then into the melted cheese and eat it. Delicious is an understatement for this dish! I usually don't drink hard liquor, but the taste of the pear schnapps (of which you use only a little glass per person) is the very best of this dish. Adrian even told me that you can buy pre-made cheese fondue mixes in Switzerland and said that he might bring one for our Yukon trip!

A hike through Germany

Why hike in Germany? Well, after travelling around the world twice it has been a while since I have done any extensive hiking in Germany and I have simply gotten homesick a bit. I have enjoyed or "suffered" through camping in swamps, deserts, limb-dropping eucalyptus trees and tropical jungle - now I just want to be in simple German pine forests. No 40 Celsius temperatures, no 90% humidity and please, no tropical thunderstorms. Just normal German spring weather.

It also fits well into my schedule. I need some time to prepare my upcoming trips. The time window for the Yukon thrupaddle is very narrow, too - we do not have much choice other than to start around June 1st. And that left me with about 1 1/2 months time before flying to Alaska. Not enough time for a long exotic trip, but definitely enough for a little hike through my home country. And then other things fell into place as well: I wanted to visit my Swiss paddling partner for a long planning weekend. He lives close to the German border which then became a natural starting point for my hike: Waldshut-Tiengen. The finishing point was easy as well: I want to visit an Austrian hiking friend of mine (whom I had seen last at the very beginning of all my travels back in May 2008) and so I wanted to end up as close as possible to her in Germany which meant Passau as the finishing point.

Having decided on the two termini of my hike I now just had to find trails between them. Actually this turned out to be easier than expected. The first point of consideration was that I would be hiking in spring and therefore all high alpine routes could be excluded. Instead I would go for the low mountain ranges in Southern Germany. One website proofed to be incredibly helpful for planning this trip: http://www.wanderbares-deutschland.de/ This website not only describes almost all longer hiking trails in Germany, but also shows them on an interactive map. For most trails there even is an English description. I just had to link existing trails together. When I planned the whole route in Mapsource for my Garmin GPS another website came in very handy: http://www.wanderkompass.de/ On this website you can upload gpx tracks for almost all long trails in Germany - for free! This was kind of a new approach for me: Before I had just embarked on one long-distance trail about 1,000 km or longer. As most long distance trails worldwide are maintained by some sort of voluntary organisation trip planning has generally been very easy. Just get in touch with the relevant organisation - mostly just through their website - order maps and guidebooks there, ask them all the questions you have and off you go. This time was different as I had to piece together my own route and consequently planning took much longer. Still it was a fun process and now that I have the practice I will do the same thing for my UK thruhike...

But back to Germany - this is the route I am planning to do and it can be downloaded here in wikiloc:



I will start out in Waldshut-Tiengen on the Mittelweg up through the Black Forest to St. Georgen (100 km) and then go eastward on the Querweg Lahn-Rottweil to Rottweil and then freestyle up the the Swabian Alb (40 km). There I connect with the Schwaebische Alb Nordrandweg and follow that almost all the way northeast to Harburg (323 km). This is where the Frankenweg starts and I will hike that about 150 km up to Holnstein where I change onto the Jurasteig. The Jurasteig is followed eastwards for about 70 km. Then I connect to an old pilgrimage trail for 50 km before eventually joining the Goldsteig, which will lead me 253 km through the Bavarian Forest all the way to Passau. Garmin mapsource tells me that this route is exactly 972 km long! This will take me about 1 month and depending on how much time I have left (that means how many people / castles / museums I will visit on the way) I will even continue into Austria. There is a new long-distance trail along the river Danube from Passau to Grein called Donausteig that would be another 140 km. And in a last push I could continue on to Krems a.d. Donau where my friend lives on the Waldviertel Weitwanderweg (130 km). I definitely want to get to Passau, anything further than that is an extra bonus. But after reading about (and remembering!) the famous Austrian sweets like "Marillenknoedel" or "Kaiserschmarrn" (I won't translate that - have a look at the linked website or even better: you just eat it) I have a great incentive to continue hiking.

Two more weeks of fattening myself up in Germany - and then my tent will be my home again.

A lot of work back in Berlin

I am back in Berlin and have 5 weeks to prepare my next adventures. As usual the first problem has been logistics. Luckily friends had found me a place to stay and even bought and installed a laptop for me. It still took almost a week before everything was running smoothly: Get the bare necessities out of my selfstorage unit, find a German SIM card for my cell phone and lap top to be able to communicate, download programmes onto the new laptop, get health insurance for Germany etc.

It is amazing how many little things have piled up in the 14 months that I have been away and that have to be done now: I had to go through the mail of 14 months (luckily not that much), do my tax declaration (I even got money back from the tax authorities) and look after my bank affairs - and seeing several doctors. The dentist could not find anything, my eye doctor said I am still seeing fine and the yearly cancer screening was negative, too. My biggest concern was a constant pain in my right hip that had been accompanying me since the road walks in Florida and that got worse after I had stopped hiking. Being a hypochondriac I could already see the end of my hiking career due to osteoarthrosis, but luckily my friend Wulf directed me to a chiropractor. I had never been to one and actually had never believed in them either. But this guy examined me, performed a completely painless joint reduction and now, a couple of days later, the pain is almost completely gone! Well, my shoulder is hurting now instead.... but never mind. Seriously now: My visit at the chiropractor's has been an epiphany for me. Before, I had only consulted orthopedic doctors and they usually gave me bad news. One recommended glucasamine injections into my knees (which I had luckily declined and the pain went away anyways) and others have predicted an artificial hip joint at age 65 (I am only 43 now, so we will see...). Only the chiropractor had actually done something that brought immediate relief.

And now I am mostly sitting in front of my computer. It feels really nice and decadent to be inside all the time even when the sun is shining outside and half of Berlin is sitting in an open air cafe. But there is a lot of planning to do for three different trips:

• hike through Germany (about 1,000 km)
• thrupaddle of the Yukon River (about 3,000 km)
• hike through the UK (about 2,000 km)

For the two hikes I had to download maps and plan the routes in Garmin mapsource. Because I am mostly piecing together existing long-distance trails  I can often download gpx tracks from the internet and link them together. But I do not want to rely in my GPS device alone in the field. In 2010 two devices broke without warning and left me standing in the rain. Therefore I will carry guidebooks and/or maps for my European hikes, too. And this is why I have been pilferring my existing maps and guidebooks and bought a lot of new stuff. Some maps I had to print out. Of course everything has to be lightweight and so I cut out pages and copy on back sides of print outs and so on.

Equally important are logistics: Where en route are grocery stores (especially my favourite Lidl!) and outdoor shops in order to buy new gas cannisters? How do I get to the terminus and back to Berlin again? Is there anything interesting to see along the trail? Are there any friends and acquaintances that I could visit? Are there any potential couchsurfing hosts for rest days? All that involves a lot of internet research.

Then there is gear maintenance and replacement and here I have been especially lucky: First of all Colin, a British UL hiker whom I had met on the AZT, has asked me to "test hike" his new UL back pack - and therefore I will get a brand new and very interesting new back pack for free. And then even more amazing I was given an almost brand new Tarptent as a present! I had been posting on a German UL hiking forum and when a forum member realised I was about to buy a new TT Rainbow he offered to give me his as a present - just because he likes what I am doing! And I had never even talked or seen this guy before...thank you so much! Still I had to do a lot of research and buy new gear especially for the upcoming paddling trip as I do not have any paddling specific equipment like neoprene gloves or life jackets . The room I am living in looks like a mess: guidebooks, maps and hiking equipment are strewn all over the place and even I sometimes lose orientation.

Preparing the upcoming trip is almost like working again, although I love this kind of work. But I also do some recreational stuff and visit or call all old friends and family. Being culturally deprived after 14 months on the road I love to visit theatre plays and museums. And the very best is that I can go shopping at my beloved Lidl and Aldi (which are just 2 blocks from where I am living now) every day and eat German chocolate, real bread, cheese and butter all the time. I definitely have to go hiking soon or I will become overweight.