These Sweet Adventures

Days 16 -18 - Althütte, Germany and Surrounding Areas

Edon had to work this week, so only did one activity with me. He joined our friends (minus Kyle) and me to find the mysterious second arm of the Strümpfelbachtal. We did not succeed. He did accompany Kyle to the gym a couple of times. Kyle stopped on the way home after one gym trip and got a cooked, hot pizza from a vending machine.

The rest of the week, I kept busy doing a variety of activities close the house. Vanessa, Miles, and I made a short shopping trip to Baywa in a nearby town. Bayway is like Lowes + a little bit of Walmart + a liquor store. Miles got a filter for his fish tank and a sundew. I picked up 3 bottles of cheap wine to use for cooking.

Next, we headed to Kaufland. It is a giant grocery store. Unfortunately, we went during lunchtime, so I ended up shopping hungry. It is very common for there to be food trucks outside of stores here to help people avoid this problem. I didn’t get anything at the food truck, so I ended up buying way too much food at the grocery store. I also bought a bottle of Havana Club 7 Rum, as requested by Edon.

Also this week Kyle brought me on a walk to his favorite spot, a nearby hill with 360 degree views of the area. It has benches, including one with a handle you can use to spin the bench. It offers especially gorgeous views at sunset.

Miles and I went on a bike ride around town and to his lake. Trying to show Miles how easy it was to ride a bike down a small set of stairs I fell off my bike and tumbled right into a raspberry bush. A thorn went into my thumb and my legs received quite a few minor scrapes.

That evening Miles and I tried again to find the missing branch of the Strümpfelbachtal. No success again! On th way back we lost the path and ended up walking through a field of tall grass. It hid the stinging nettle from our eyes, but not my legs or Miles’ arm. Ticks were also in the grass and found Miles. My legs were quite the sight that evening!

Vanessa, Miles, Kyle, and I went to Murrhardt Falls, by car this time. We parked further downriver than I had walked the other day and planned to hike toward the waterfall. Vanessa read the warning sign posted, similar to the one I couldn’t read the other day, and it informed us the barefoot path was closed. It was not exactly clear which path that was, but we had boots and shoes and weren’t walking up the stream, so went on our hike. The hike to the waterfall was muddy in places, but beautiful - running along the stream and surrounded by towering trees. Kyle and Miles opened the gate for the waterfall. Then, we headed back to the car. After dinner I went for a walk to the scenic hill and caught a bit of the sunset before the rain clouds rolling in sent me home.

It was a full and enjoyable 3 days!

Day 15- Althütte, Germany and Surrounding Areas

Had breakfast and did some housecleaning in anticipation of our friends returning this evening.

The hike yesterday resulted in very sore legs and I did a short Yoga for Backpackers session on YouTube.

For lunch I had leftovers and the vegan “Nutella” on bread.

I repacked the backpack. After stepping outside into the cloudy and cool day, I changed into jeans and put on a long-sleeve and grabbed a jacket.

Heading out for my hike, I noticed that the sky looked dark and it seemed unlikely that the rain would hold off until 19:00 as predicted.

Determined to find the other branch of the river trail in the Strümpfelbachtal, I headed there.

The Strümpfelbachtal was as mossy, green, and beautiful as two days ago. There were some rocks piled along the river that may have led to the section of the Strümpfelbachtal that I was trying to find, but I was unsure and kept walking. Did I mention that you walking along streams and rivers is my favorite?

I had no luck finding the path to the other section of the woods and found myself at the far end of the Strümpfelbachtal. As I looked at Google Maps to figure out how to get back to Vanessa’s, I noticed a different wooded area marked on the map that I had wanted to visit. I was planning to be back to the house fairly early so I could have dinner prepared, eaten, and cleaned up before our friends returned home. Visiting this new area, Schmalenberg, would put me a few minutes behind schedule, but since the schedule was actually a bit arbitrary and I really had nothing else to do for the time being, I decided to head towards this new area. It had a waterfall listed at one end of the natural area. As I really love waterfalls, that became my destination.

Google Maps again provided questionable directions for walking, but eventually I made it to the waterfall. It was a long uphill climb. Fortunately, it was through a pine-canopied forest. When I got to the waterfall, all I could find was a pond with a small aeration bubbler. There was a craggy cleft in the hillside nearby, but no water. A bit disappointed and confused, I turned to head back to Althütte.

Google had shown a path through this area that followed a river, although that wasn’t the path I had taken to where I was. I believed I saw a way to the river path and set off toward it. The new path headed downhill, a good sign since the river was down in a valley.

The path I was on did indeed follow along the river. The path was often squishy, squelchy patches of mud. The river ran over rocks and had some small waterfalls. Both the river and and surrounding forest were gorgeous. There was a restaurant that was closed that seemed to be a converted mill. There was also a strange abandoned and dilapidated old building, perhaps a former pump house. The strangest thing about this path was that it also seemed to be going uphill. It was heading the correct direction, so I kept on.

The forest path ended and the path continued, adjacent to a main road. Then, the path abruptly ended. To get back to Vanessa’s, I needed to walk along a busy highway with no shoulder and cars speeding by.

I made it to the part of the road where the sidewalk began and then was guided by Google to another uphill climb. I was regretting the choice of long pants. Again the path ended and Google dumped me out on a busy road with nowhere to walk. There was even a warning sign for drivers to drive cautiously along this narrow road. Walking along here for long was just not an option. I came upon a trailhead parking lot!

Next problem, Google said there was a path I needed to follow that didn’t exist. Obviously I looked confused because an older couple stopped to help me. Despite my total inability to speak German and their very limited English (the least English-speaking couple I had yet met), I was pointed in the correct direction.

After successfully making it back to the house, albeit 40 minutes later than I originally planned, I prepared a simple pasta dinner. My wanderings had taken me almost 11 miles.

Edon and I ate and tidied up. Our friends were running late, so I even had time for a shower before they arrived.

They arrived safely home and we stayed up too late filling one another in on each other’s weekend’s adventures.