Category Archives: Black Forest

Black Forest Wander Day 5 + 1. Postscript.

Left early for the big city after nicest breakfast of the trip. Leaving Baiersbronn we had a near miss experience with a run (yes, an actual run) across to the connecting train platform. Herr Covid was livid!

Gasping for breath we threw ourselves through the closing doors of the train, to the cruel amusement of a group of older women sharing a morning Prosecco and pretzels.

Our next connection was a little easier and brought us to Freiburg where we installed ourselves in the lovely Hotel Barbara (dating from the Wilhelminian era, which is code for no lifts in the building. We wandered in search of coffee, were ignored by serving staff in a typical German cafe, left a nil points review, and found ourselves in a typical German Lebanese restaurant where we ate an unfeasibly large amount of food.

Back for a snooze before hitting Feirling Biergarten. Sat and recuperated in the warm early evening sunshine over a couple of Inselhopf Helles biers.

Off for classy evening meal of sausage, interrupted by a fire alarm at our new favourite pub and brew house, and a sleep before two long travels tomorrow.

Journeys end.

Black Forest Wander Day 5: (and then there were three)

After bothering me all night, John Rose and I decided to take Herr Covid for a hike. He complained of course, dragging us back from time to time, slouching in teenage irritation at the audacity of it all. But we fed him electrolytes and gave him an occasional kicking so he mainly gave up his chesty whinging. The result was that we completed our planned day five, all 20.6kms and 2,150ft of climbing.

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Here’s the story: we left the hotel at 9.00 after a healthy, bread free breakfast, given we are both breaded out-the Germans eat a fierce amount of it. A quick, steep climb out of the valley was rewarded after an hour or two by the sight of the most beautiful, natural and undisturbed lake of our whole trip, whose name we are keeping to ourselves/have forgotten.

Such a peaceful setting took our breath away, which got Herr Covid all jealous. Compared to day three, where we had bumped up against the tourist hustle and bustle of Mummelsee, this was solitude personified. All day we were surrounded only by birdsong and the sound of water coursing down a myriad mountain streams. Indeed for a while we were following a path labelled ‘the Romantic Weg’. “Flats or heels?” we wondered.

After a stiff 500+ ft climb we arrived at a picnic spot with outstanding views back down to the secret lake. We ate a fine lunch prepared by the good people at our previous night’s hotel.

Then we were off again, across a peaty bog to the ‘summit’ cairn. After that we continued our solitary way gradually making our way downwards again to a beautiful stream that we followed for some miles down the valley.

Like all walks, there was a sting in the tail and we had to negotiate an unwelcome climb over a ridge. Herr Covid got even more grumpy but he had to take his punishment and we made it. During this day of wandering we encountered many signs to our destination Baiersbronn, many offering intriguing variations in distance. Though tempted at one point to shorten the route by taking a tarmac road, we stuck to the longer path and approached our destination through a lovely wood and contoured path above Baiersbronn. The additional climbing really got on Herr Covid’s nerves. The view over the town however, soon shut him up.

We arrived, hot, tired and happy to a greeting from the receptionist akin to a welcome afforded a long lost expedition. And
.we got upgraded rooms! We spent the early evening cosseting ourselves in the hotel’s jacuzzi, steam room, sauna and pool, as well as a special jungle shower room complete with simulated weather, of which the Caribbean lightening storm and accompanying birdsong was quite something.

Retired to the same pub as our first night for some hearty German food.

Here’s hoping Herr Covid will keep his head down tonight, he now knows what manner of man he is dealing with.

Black Forest Wander Day 4 Part 2

Given the circumstances we binned the walk in favour of buses x 2 and a train, suitably masked up. This also helped relieve John Rose blistered feet. So a rest day was not unwelcome.

We actually had to ‘alter’ a previous bus ticket to continue our free trips, which is a right of all tourists, albeit the Biker pub man did not have any to give. Therefore, with some anxiety that we would be challenged and asked for our papers, we set off. Happily the inspectorate did not appear and the bus driver could not have given a monkeys.

Whilst waiting for the bus change, Rose discovered a shelter from those suffering from a rare disease, which he is well known to have taken to the next level: ‘Eidelitas’.

On the second bus, the views were beautiful as we drove under a clear blue sky, passing a gorgeous lake – damned but not busted – on our way to the little town of Forbach, which was mostly closed.

After coffee and a pretzel at the local gas station, we found an interesting all wooden enclosed and roofed bridge to gawp at before eating boiled baby for lunch.

A short three stop train journey brought us to SchönmĂŒnzach and our hotel for the night. Being a four star German hotel it had a ‘salty sea room’ consisting of neither sea nor salt. So we had a lie down, got bored and left. Expecting to watch Leeds v Southampton we headed to the Sky Sports Pub which, like most things on a Sunday in Germany was shut.

John picked up some string for his chickens and I tried a child’s piano on the way home. To explain, this whole village has turned itself into a giant (free to anyone collecting) car boot sale. Outside every house is a pile of discarded furniture, toys, lamps and so on.

Our evening meal was taken at Pizzeria Da Bino where portions were hearty +++ and I went for a Chilli-Cure-Covid pizza. We await the results in the morning.

Black Forest Wander Day 4 Part 1

So it transpired that the heavy cold I had been brewing was none other than our old adversary Covid-19, which does rather explain the overwhelmingly fatigue I had felt on yesterday’s hike. (And yes, I do carry a self-test with me at all times).

Today’s posts, therefore, are rather different. It’s a Spa Day for John Rose who aims to get his nails done, and a sleep and rest day for me.

But first, to the tail end of yesterday evening where we watched the local lads attempt to travel ten-up in the back of a pick up. Two fell off. Alcohol was involved. The most legless of the lot resisted his friends’ attempts to lever him back but eventually by some deviousness or other they managed it. Given he was one of the tumblers, it will not just be his head that hurts this morning.

We had also been informed as a ‘top tip’ by the woman who showed us to our room, that the local clientele sometimes mistook our room for the bar’s toilet and consequently we should always lock the door.

So ironically, on the only night during our trip that we were sharing a room, Rose, myself and Covid-19 were all locked in, together with smelly walking boots and socks. The boots and socks went outside on the windowsill, which did not really solve the problem since we were trying to maximise the room ventilation to keep Covid on my side of the room.

With windows open and a light breeze blowing we were frequently joined by the evidence of our malodorous companions’ existence. Let us just say that we have had better nights’ sleep.

But the sunset was lovely.

Black Forest Wander Day 3

A day of mixed fortunes on account of 65th birthday celebrations stretching beyond midnight and into the wee hours, coupled with the emergence of a nasty cough and the development of a blister. Not forgetting the after effects of 14 miles or so yesterday.

Nonetheless we awoke to a beautiful scene looking down the valley in the sunshine.

After paying our substantial bar bill
.we took the only bus available at 10:45 which transported us back to the nearest spot on the trail.

We were then confronted with a devilishly difficult decision. Four euros to ascend hundreds of feet on a single seat chairlift or struggle up on foot. John Rose solved the dilemma by giving me the birthday gift of elevation.

We dismounted with difficulty and hit the trail. For the first time we were surrounded by other people, this being a very popular spot for the weekend. At first the path was well trod and easy but after a while it became a rock strewn boggy morass which was taxing and tiring in equal measure.

We arrived at Mummelsee to see the beautiful lake besmirched with pedalos and litter louts. We left equally quickly on a tedious three mile track to our lodgings for the night at Zur Grossen Tanne, a biker hut in Untersmatt with idiosyncratic bar meals.

We each had a ‘Brizza’ and John also curried sausage. I was expecting the wĂŒrst, but it made him happy.




Black Forest Wander Day 2

After the Singh family’s (from Punjab) wonderful five course Indian set meal last night, we awoke and stole out of the hotel for coffee in the local cafe and foraged for the day’s luncheon.

Happily, Herr und Frau Singh had prepared a fulsome Germanic breakfast of meat and bread products, with eggs, fruit and yogurt on the side. We ate heartily because John Rose feared the trauma of a treacherous ascent. He had misunderstood the map.

Rather than retrace our steps of yesterday we took another route, initially steep but soon levelling out to a gentle climb to the ridge we had left yesterday so precipitously. We were treated to wonderful panoramic vistas over the Black Forest, and of course a brief downpour. However, this was a short interlude in the general fair weather walk.

We had lunch overlooking the valley before leaving the trail to head down the valley, off piste, towards our evening family run Gastof Blume hotel. This was a five mile detour, necessitated by the intransigence of the National Park hotel who would not let us stay for one night only. How fortunate for us.

Hotel Gastof Blume proved to be a gem. Set in a quiet valley (excepting the rush of water in the river alongside the hotel) we feasted without restraint on venison, spĂ€tzle, dumplings and hot cherries washed down in Rose’s case with a carafe of RosĂ©. I preferred two large glasses of German Weisbier.

Tomorrow is another day. Today, however, we covered 15 miles, ascended 1,300 feet, and descended 1,500 feet of beautiful Black Forest countryside. It has exceeded all expectations.

Black Forest wander day 1 (for the observant among you, there was no day Zero).

Woken at 5:15 by birds singing. We had an early start in clearing mist after a skilfully prepared big breakfast.

Despite at least four different navigation aids after one kilometre we had taken the wrong path which meant we made contact with/took evasive action to avoid a German patrol of tree fellers (although there was actually only one) up into the bracken while the mechanical log thrower passed below us and we were able to continue on our mission 

 to the lake.

Sankenbachsee was beautiful in the sunshine. Then a stiff climb to the spectacular Sankenbach Wasserfall and up further to crest the ridge between the two valleys. By 10:30 the rain had arrived, mostly drizzle, occasionally in torrents. Rose, muttering, “there is no bad weather just bad clothing” but looking like a soggy lettuce with less shelf life than Liz Truss, looked in envy as I dressed for dinner in my Goretex evening wear, looking quite the Pierce Brosnan, albeit with twice the body fat percentage.

In the middle of the woods we found a scene from the Brothers Grimm as a witch tried to entice John Rose into her gingerbread house, closely followed by a wooden menagerie of forest folk, including a Hare, which was was naked on account of a local shortage of Haredressers.

A treacherous descent followed down a slippery steep slope, made even more troublesome by the fact it had turned into a babbling mountain stream. Feeling relieved as we reached the bottom we sheltered in the Elbachseehutte to consume Pierce Brosnan’s body weight in ham and cheese sandwiches, boiled eggs and doughnuts.

A final meander alongside the river Ellbach through alpine meadows brought us to the village of Mitteltal where for the first time ever on one of our wanders we experienced the rejuvenating effects of a steam room, jacuzzi and swimming pool. Happily the family Singh who run our hotel prepared a delicious curry for tea đŸ€”đŸ˜‹

And here is the route

Black Forest Wander Day Minus 1

Why take one train when three will do!

Beautiful final leg from Rastatt to Baiersbronn down the Murg valley after a morning wandering round Strasbourg.

Entered Germany at Kehl after crossing the Rhine. Had a refreshing beverage at the Rose Hotel (yes, really!) and then stocked up with vitals for tomorrow.

Walked up for dinner at FlĂ¶ĂŸer-SchĂ€nke Baiersbronn, pub with better food than its name might suggest before heading to our accommodation for the night, a self contained apartment in ‘Haus Schneider’.

Mappa Muddli part II

Modern consumer capitalism purports to provide the 21st century person with an array of choice in all manner of areas. However, melding choice with competition actually results in something called ‘choice paralysis’. For sure, monopolies do exist. But in many areas of our lives it is not a monopoly that constrains us, but the time it requires to select a single product from the bountiful shelves of plenty.

Of course, at this point we should acknowledge that for many global inhabitants choices are severely restricted by economic inequality, culture and circumstance. All the more galling then when we allegedly fortunate ones are confronted by a proliferation of spurious alternatives, requiring us to engage our intellectual energies in unnecessary activity. All those resources expended on producing 50 different types of tins of bean when for most people, beans are beans are beans.

In actual fact, Rose and I have somewhat limited intellectual energies. At our age, we much prefer to receive that which will sustain us with very little thought on our part. If it does the job, let’s leave it there. Give me a tin of beans and be done with it.

So, what has all this got to do with maps? Well, it appears that since we took possession of ‘The Garmin’, the field of online navigation has become rather congested. Navigation apps on handheld screens are now ubiquitous. Multiple companies provide opportunities for us to gawp at the way a little blue dot seems to be pointing us in unwanted directions over indeterminate terrain. Provided your phone batteries keep hanging in there.

Why not just use ‘The Garmin’ and be done with it? Good question. Sure, who wouldn’t want to pack their knapsack with a house brick? Granted it has a nice big battery, hence the weight. But it also needs a special charger and special spectacles (its screen is tiny). The Garmin system is great for planning walks on a computer, but you do not actually need ‘The Garmin’ to follow these routes. So, our routes remain in the virtual world and ‘The Garmin’ in the desk drawer.

When Rose first pitched the idea of a walk in the Deutsch woods, he found our wander on an app called Komoot. Using Komoot you can discover crowd sourced wanders completely for free. Rose loves this concept. However, like most similar products, Komoot sucks you into the world of ‘in-app purchases’. In the free version, the maps are basic, and you cannot use the app to actually navigate. Even buying a one-off reasonably priced total world map pushes you further to annual navigation subscriptions and other unnecessary accoutrements. Nonetheless, with a route and the online map you can use Komoot to wander. Hello little blue dot.

As observant readers will note, we have in fact purchased a real-life Kompass paper map with folds and a waterproof cover. A map that will flutter in the breeze and blow away in a gale. Goodbye little blue dot. 

However, the good people at the Kompass Karten Company have responded to competition from the online navigation and map providers by replicating their paper maps online themselves. Their maps come with a QR code that once scanned uploads your purchase into their own app. You can even import routes from elsewhere and overlay them on their online map. Welcome back little blue dot!

Enter ‘Pocket Earth’, an app recommended by a travel agency for their self-guided walking holidays. It does the same as the others, is free, and allows us to download our routes (thanks Garmin and Komoot). The embedded map is quite good too. This one has a little blue arrow!

And of course, we have omitted to mention the granddaddy of them all – Google Maps. Renowned for taking east European lorry drivers and unwary holiday makers up impassable alleys and one-way streets, it is nonetheless helpful on a macro scale. Rose and I are, nonetheless, somewhat nervous about being told to jump off 200m high cliffs by the good people at google as a means to shorten a 50m path detour. Plus, you cannot upload a .gpx file to google maps.

Ahh – the .gpx file, the currency of modern navigation. Readable by almost all navigation and mapping apps, we have copied, constructed and liberally dispersed our own .gpx files all over the various mapping products described above. Here it is! We now find ourselves in the (un)enviable position of being able to flip from app to app, from little blue dot to arrow, from blurred to detailed online maps. 

We can even unfold our paper version, should we wish to go all retro.

It seems to us, therefore, that most of our wander will be spent peering at our phone screens to see how close our various blue signs are to our intended route. We can imagine heated conversations extolling the accuracy of Komoot, Kompass and Pocket Earth. We may even part company and follow our own preferred pathing app, swapping navigation notes at the end of our days wanders. 

Or we can stick together, follow the signposts and look at the scenery.