descent
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This post is about a 25km walk from Hinterwaldkopf to Merzhausen. I lose almost 1000m in altitude on my way down towards Freiburg.
Even though my thermarest had turned into a bouncy castle, it had been a surprisingly relaxing night. I fell asleep to the call of an owl and woke up to the singing of birds.
Then I changed my shoes to a new pair with a fresh profile. Two bananas and an apple with peanut butter later I was on my way down from the mountain.
the way down
At about 1100m in altitude, my bivouacking spot on Hinterwaldkopf had been in one of the highest regions of the High Black Forest. I wanted to go to Freiburg, which was located almost 900m lower.
So the way down went relentlessly down. The Caboose had no brakes, and I had to lean against her with my butt as gravity was pulling us down the serpentine road. I figured that it had been a smart idea to change my shoes.
Sometimes we would meet cyclists on their way up. Almost all of them had electric bikes, and still it looked like a sweat-inducing ascent.
Baden
When we reached the plain at the foot of the mountain I could feel the descent in my knees and thighs. I lay down in the shade of a tree and did my exercises. Had some bread with tomato spread and a bell pepper. Watched a bit of Futurama. Then I continued on my way.
We had long since left Swabia and entered Baden, a Grand Duchy until 1918 and a Republic within the German Reich until 1945. Sometimes it was easy to forget how late Germany had become a nation state, and how everything had been so thoroughly fragmented for such a long time.
around the city
I ended up not going to Freiburg after all. A friend of a friend had offered me a place to stay, and he lived a bit south of the city. So I walked along the hills, past a refugee home, past a park and a lake, and past a monument for Freiburg’s war dead of World War I and World War II.
World War I, when Baden had still been a Grand Duchy. World War II, when Baden had been a Republic within the German Reich.
pictures
the walk from Hinterwaldkopf to Merzhausen:
the profile on my old shoes is down
new shoes (I always carry a backup in the Caboose)
I sit at 1100m in the High Black Forest.
the Caboose on the way down from Hinterwaldkopf
down, down, down
farm house at the foot of Hinterwaldkopf
creepy decorations on a Black Forest house
confused lama
the flat land near Kirchzarten
AGAINST ANY ANTISEMITISM
refugee home near Freiburg
pavilion at Waldsee
monument to Freiburg’s war dead from WWI and WWII
the ribbon on the right is from Freiburg’s mayor
nightly way to Merzhausen