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.