How curiosity turned into an addiction of exploration
Explore hiking in Germany.
Only a week after going out for the first sun rising, and before the clock change, I wanted to look at the sunrise again. On the Lilienstein above the Elbe very nice, but unfortunately also many others know that.
For the second time on foot I was crossing the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. The view down the cliff was well worth it. For the first time I saw, a group of deer ran past.
“You are crazy!”When getting up early at four, hiking through the dark forest in the rain and climbing rocks to watch a sunrise is crazy, I like it to be, because I was also rewarded for it!
At some point came this crazy idea to me, just go hiking a few days in a row. Every day a piece, every day a little further. So I picked out a route: 8 days, every day between 10 and 20 km. So: Oneway Aue – Karlovy Vary, please. Over the Ore Mountains, through forests, passing lakes and even through an industrial area (wuää), down to Karlovy Vary. While the first three days were in constant rain, we could look forward to a little better weather from the fourth day. It does not have to be 30 ° C when hiking, but it does not have to rain either. The last two days we were allowed to enjoy sunshine, which made the low temperatures very pleasant.Every morning when I woke up, my legs felt heavy, hurt and I thought that I would not be able to get through today’s kilometers. But to my surprise, the pain disappeared after the first few meters and I could continue happily. True to the motto: A rolling stone gathers no moss.
When I first heard about such crazy people hiking 50 km in less than 12h, I wanted to know if I could do that too. So I put on my shoes, packed things and went to the planned route.
The Heilige Stiege is, with 903 steps on 190m altitude difference, the climbing system of Saxon Switzerland with the most stages (Wikipedia). Exhausting, but just as beautiful and worthwhile is the view. If you also want to experience something different: The hiking trail that leads past Satanskopf to the south passes right through a rock. But with a bit of climbing and crawling not too difficult to master.
Too early in the morning and too late in the evening. Unfortunately, we could not visit the ruin in Frauenstein, but it was still a very nice route to hike. In the forest and between fields the way led up and down, again and again, as it is normal in the Ore Mountains.
Even if I have to admit, that I prefer to hike without kids, sometimes I start with. The Graben Tour is very well suited for this because the track is not quite as big and there is still a lot to see and discover.
I had laid out a route of 30 km. However, one should choose his companionship wise. I had not achieved the actual goal to find out how far I can go, but it was also very nice for the first time not to be hiking alone. But at least for the first time I could cross the 20 km border.
You don’t always have to go far away to discover beautiful places. The Tharandt Forest itself offers just as beautiful corners and as our local forest not too far away.
