Feldberg - Black forest´s highest peak.
Schwarzwald i.e. the Black Forest is a wonderful place to trek. And this weekend I trekked for two days in Süd-Schwarzwald. I spent the night at a Youth hostel or Jungendherberge and inflicted my nascent German on the some more locals and also my two-word limited edition Japanese on a very sweet Japanese woman.
Almost three months in Germany now, huh, and I couldn't not have trekked for so long, and so I had to trek through a forest, and I was told they don't come any better than the Black Forest :) But first things first, I needed some maps, so I went around Konstanz hunting for a map of Schwarzwald on the day before the trek. Here is a hint - look in any book store, you will find maps from here to Timbaktu. I picked up a Wander-und-Radkarte #771 Schwarzwald Südblatt (www.kompass.at) The resolution was 1:75000. It was the first time I was using a map while treking :) so I thought 1:75000 would be good enough. But while treking I realized that I needed something better than that! Oh yeah - to answer the usual desi question - I paid 7€ for the map.
The scoop about Feldberg - if you need it - It is the highest peak in the Schwarzwald - approximately 1550 meters above MSL according to my GPS unit. It had some good places to ski - begininers slopes - so it is a good place to visit in winters. You can get here from Barenthal by Bus - and to Barenthal by train, haha. There are plenty of hotels over here, so you can stay overnight etc, etc. If you are trekking - plan on getting to Feldberg by afternoon - so you can have something to eat at the numerous eateries. The view from Feldberg wasn't exactly breathtaking, but you do get some - gasp, wow - sorta points along the way while trekking.
The story of my trek isn't compelling enough to blog about - so this is what I shall do. I shall copy paste from an e-mail I sent out after the trek ;)
caught train (changed three trains in 2 hours)
reached Barentahl
start climb with enthusiasm
back at railway station in one hour
realized i went around in a circle
decide to inflict my german on the locals
locals use sign language to get me on the right direction
walk
walk some more
and some more
am hungry
out of water
walk some more
see a hotel! yay!
eat and drink!
choose to climb a 70 degree gradient over the cable car... (its supposed to be walk remember)
curse myself
curse some more
sleep for 10 minutes
see dude and dudette cycling up the gradient
go into "i am not a wuss" mode
start climb again
see crazy signs
click snaps
realize i am late for the 6 pm deadline at youth hostel
so break into a brisk walk
doesn't last long
keep walking (or try to)
see the town after 2 hours
takes another 45 mins to reach hostel...
hostel run by a German gent and his Japanese wife, so I do the Nihao routine.
get asked - your name like Japanese dish? I nod yes like a car doll.
take bath.. eat.. read the book and sleep
wake up... find a lot of people at breakfast.. where were they yesterday??
eat... and eat and eat...
leave for brandenburg after saying Arigatho to Mrs. Sumiko of the Youth hostel
climb down..
inflict german on more locals
hear motorbikes roar down in the valley... heart breaks into zillion peices...
hear more motorbikes... heart breaks somemore..
see sign saying beware of stray german shepards... wtf?
keep climbing down...
and down
spot wild deer and wild rabbits...rather they spot me... they bolt... foliage rustel... i look... i catch a fleeting glimpse types
mr. newton kicks in... what goes down must come up... (or maybe that was the other way around) so start climbing up...
still climbing...
out of water
reach a section which i did yesterday... wtf?
curse the route for 4 extra hours of climbing down and climbing ups
see a hotel...
drink 1.5 liters of apple juice... (what was i thinking???)
walk some more...
and more...
after 8 hours of walking/climbing i am still 5 kms away from the nearest railway station...
spot a bus spot
give up and wait
catch bus
catch train
walk home
upload photos
and bore you with my account...
This is a retrospective post. Almost a month old.
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