A slightly different tour in the Black Forest
What does a freebiker do when he's not allowed to ride a moped and the sun is shining after a drizzle?
He looks for one of the many side valleys of the beautiful Nagoldtal and sets out on foot to explore the area. Only a few kilometers from the tipi, in the middle of the reserve, there are many of the small gorges and valleys that make up the northern Black Forest shape. A small forest path usually leads between bushes into a wonderful, enchanted landscape in which one tries to look for hobbits or elves behind the rocks.
The path is sometimes steep, sometimes flat, sometimes nice and flat and pleasant to walk on, and sometimes rocky and covered with the roots of fir trees. But I enjoy every step in the silence, which is only disturbed by the gentle bubbling of the brook.
Somewhere a small spring emerges from a rock face and pours into the stream. Here we can refresh ourselves and continue on our way.
After every bend in the path, this landscape looks a little different. Our goal is to hike through the valley up to the top and after the darkness of the forests and the silence around us to step out into the sun again and experience the vastness up there. The path goes past old moss-covered sandstone walls and ancient trees.
The path goes up the mountain again and gets rockier until we pass an old beech tree in which a couple probably carved a heart when they were young. We can only guess at the letters. The beech cannot tell us whether the two are still a couple. Maybe they both died in the last century. Only the heart still adorns the old beech.
We set off again and I light a cigarette, actually a shame given the good air and the freshness that the Black Forest stream whispers.
A small waterfall pours over the stones and some caddis fly larvae cavort in the water. Otherwise it's peaceful. The thick roots of the ancient fir trees wind around the stones like huge constrictors and we are enchanted by the beauty of this small valley
This nice someone also thought of putting big stones in the water when crossing the creek so that we could get over it with dry feet. Large roots of the ancient Black Forest firs form natural steps to gain some height on the other side. The path is also a bit flatter again and there are fewer stones and roots on the path. But that's how it is in real life, sometimes the path is even and flat and sometimes rocky and steep.
The path leads us on slabs of rock around a thick boulder, we are excited to see what awaits us after the bend. We bravely circumnavigate the boulder and find a beautiful landscape in front of us.
Further up the gorge we can see that someone who wanted us to go the way had built us stone steps into the inclines to stairs, so that we could move forward more easily. We are thankful that we have a better time to go.
After about 3 kilometers we arrive at a bridge and a second trail joins ours. We think about which way to go, because the other way is easier to go and after 600 meters we even have a pleasant beer garden.
But this time we decide not to take the easy route to the beer garden, but want to pursue our goal and go up this valley.
The path gradually flattens out, the water calms down and the sun is already shining through the treetops. The path is sometimes narrow, sometimes wide, but it always leads us to our goal.
A little squirrel is sitting on the path further up and dragonflies are flying through the air. We feel good. After a bend we come to an old tapped spring, the well troughs are covered with moss and the water is clear and fresh. Here we take a short break and I treat myself to another cigarette.
Slowly the path gets wider and the sun shines more and more through the trees and we are somehow happy to see that we will soon reach our destination.
A few more steps and the sun shines in our faces standing at the edge of the forest and feeling that an old Indian can feel at home here. We are proud to have made it and not lost sight of our goal
We will probably not soon forget this afternoon in the beautiful valley of the Nagoldtal, it taught us a lot.
We hope not to have bored you too much. The only moped we heard about here from the nearby road leading up the mountain, guess it was a half liter single cylinder.
WAYS
Paths - demand movement, make us move, are well-trodden or new. They lead us to familiar places or into the unknown, they give us hope and contain excitement. Paths branch out into ways out, detours, wrong turns, straight or winding paths.
At the end, however, you should say:
I DID IT MY WAY !
Greetings your Indian
ps for those who would like to experience this valley, it is the Monbachtal near Bad Liebenzell.