Freiburg and vicinity photo dump

Elias joined us in Freiburg eight days ago, and tomorrow he and I start an 8-day hike to the Bodensee. We'll be following the historic Querweg most of the way. Created in 1935, the route is typically hiked in seven or eight days, from Freiburg to Konstanz. We're adjusting the route at the end by taking a ferry from Wallhausen to Ueberlingen, where Stefan will pick us up. By dropping Konstanz and crossing the lake, we'll save him about an hour of driving.

Unlike the weather forecasts in Bayern 3.5 weeks ago, the forecast for this week in Baden Wuerttemberg is looking sunny--and quite warm. I'll be trading out my long-sleeved shirts and jackets for sleeveless Ts and a lot of sunscreen.

E and I took several beautiful hikes this past week, most of which were longer than most of our Querweg days, so we're feeling decently prepared. 

These included a hike to Staufen...

We saw mounds and mounds of dandelion floof en route to Staufen

Measuring the dandelions...

Komoot told us to go 20 meters past the bridge, cross the creek, then backtrack
20 meters on the other side to meet the point where the bridge crosses the creek.

But why...?

Alchemist Dr. Faust perished when he blew up his hotel room in Staufen.

Burgruine

...and a hike over the Rosskopf to Sankt Peter...

I climbed the first flight of stairs for proof of
concept; Elias climbed all the way to the top.

Green energy atop Rosskopf

E says in the U.S., these would be Little Free Libraries...

...and a relatively short but strenuous hike up the local mountain, Schauinsland.

Beware: tree branches can fall in the woods.

When there's a good view down, E does this thing...

...where he tosses rocks in the air and takes photos of them.

The trail was pretty steep in places. We ascended 0.7 miles over ~9.5 miles.

I climbed halfway up this lookout tower, which was
possible due to a complex loophole in the Rules of Acrophobia. 

View from the restaurant at the top.
Germany often has restaurants at the tops of places. 

Stefan took the Seilbahn up.

We took the Seilbahn down together. There are detailed rules
about cable travel too in my unwritten Rules of Acrophobia.

One other hiking highlight of the week: fabulous tree sculptures by Thomas Rees on the Skulpturenpfad WaldMenschen between Freiburg and Guenterstal.

Bayern hike photo dump 6: Wertach to Immenstadt

Wednesday 4/27

Sunshine! My goal for the last day of this hike was to meet Stefan at the Immenstadt train station at 12:55pm.

A German pun that doesn't translate well: "A cow makes (says) moo; many cows make a lot of work (moos)":

More promo material from the local dairy industry:

This sundial explains that it doesn't need winding, runs quite accurately, and is only precise on the hour. (It doesn't mention that it doesn't work when the sun isn't shining, but there are only so many words one can paint on a wall...)

Looking down into the valley; Kempten is on the horizon.

Trails in Germany often run through farm fields:

Acrophobe House of Torture: a Sessellift (chair lift, vs. a gondola lift): 

Heading into Rettenberg:

Griass Di!

This Rettenberg church listed its WW2 war dead inside, rather than outside with the rest of the war dead.

Getting close to Immenstadt...

Another winning lone-tree-on-a-hill:

This sign is not going anywhere:

Caught in the act of dandelion snarfing:

Cowbell decor. Cowbells aren't tuned to anything, so this probably can't substitute for a marimba or xylophone, even in a pinch. 

On the edge of Immenstadt, there be ruins! I only learned this on Tuesday evening, so I altered my route to include them, and I neared them with lots of time before Stefan's train was to arrive. I liked the view from the underpass, which framed medieval stonework with modern: 

Can one ever get enough ruins? (Well, OK, the answer is yes; but still...)

Komoot wanted me to cross this bridge to get to the ruins. Unfortunately, the bridge was still mostly blueprints; only a few meters had been built on either side of the river, and I had neither wings nor a hard hat.

I searched Komoot for an alternate way into Immenstadt. The only nearby option was a bow-and-arrow Parcours trail that was in use. Didn't seem like a great idea to tromp through...

I texted Stefan that the bridge was out, and he texted back suggesting I try wading across the river. Not an option.

So I backtracked and found a trail paralleling the freeway, presumably beyond arrow shooting range.

After cutting through a suburb, past some massive power pylons, and around a water retention basin, I was delighted that the next bridge Komoot recommended was fully functional.

Shortly after I crossed the bridge, Stefan's train passed by. We met up in the Altstadt's Marienplatz for lunch. Check out all the palm trees...

After lunch, we visited the truffle on the way to our hotel.

On the side of a building, a mosaic of St. Christopher, patron saint of pedestrians in a world built for cars:

After an hour's pause, we headed out for another walk, to Buehl am Alpsee.

Can you spot the three paragliders?

We decided to see if Stefan's leg was in good enough shape to get him up to the ruins. Nice views on the the way, but too much walking for one day, so we cut the hike short.

Ta da! 13.7 + 4.3 miles

Bonus reel: we hiked up to the ruins on Thursday morning before catching the train back to Steinebach. What took me six days to hike took two hours to undo by train. We're hoping to return to Immenstadt in June to hike the rest of the way to the Bodensee.

When we got back to Steinebach, naturally we went for a walk...