Sunday 10 August 2014

I'm Walking

Well, not today, not that much anyway. Today all I'll be doing on foot will be the short distance from my house to my parents' place, where the first guests for my Mum's upcoming birthday will be arriving this afternoon from the south of France.

But I did go on a good long walk on the first Sunday in July. I was on my own that weekend, it was very hot, and I knew I needn't ask anyone else whether they felt like joining me; at temperatures of 30 Celsius and more, most people are reasonable enough to keep cool somewhere at home or in their gardens.

I meant to walk all the way to the "Grüner Heiner", covering a distance of about 12 km (one way). Taking a bottle of water and something to eat with me (and of course, my mobile phone for emergencies, and my camera), I left at around 11.00 in the morning.

Part of my route pretty much covered the same route as "The Longest Walk", which you can find here for comparison. The hen was rustling about on her own along the path next to a farm; I am quite sure she wasn't meant to be there, but there did not seem to be any immediate danger coming her way, so I just stopped for a chat and a photo and then walked on.

The nursery never ceases to fascinate me with its strange "architecture" and unusual vistas:

Some wildflowers - not sure whether they are the result of the farmer not using as many chemicals on his fields anymore, or purposely sown there to give his farm and its produce a "greener" image, but they look very pretty; the pictures don't really do them justice. And the first pumpkins!



Isn't it strange how strong winds and thunderstorms affect fields? How come the fields are flattened at exactly that spot, and nowhere else?

From here, I had the first good view of the "Grüner Heiner", the hill with the windmill on top you can see in the distance:

The next stage of my walk was to take me through the woods. I'd been there before (by bike), but it was years ago, and while I knew the general direction I'd have to take, I had no idea which of the paths criss-crossing the wood was going to be the right one for me. So I simply walked in and let my feet decide which way they wanted to go.

I hardly met anybody; as I said, it was above 30 Celsius (and lunch time on a Sunday). There were only a few people walking their dogs, a family on bikes and an elderly couple walking in the woods hand in hand.

It was 1.00 o'clock by now, and I was ready for a break. Coming out of the woods at the other end, I found this bench where I rested a while and ate my sandwich and tomato.


From behind the fence along the path, I could see the "Grüner Heiner" again - and realized that it was still rather far, and I did not really know how to proceed from here.


With the contents of my water bottle rapidly dwindling and my food all gone, I dediced to be reasonable for once, and give up my original plan. Instead, I explored a slightly different route for my way back, one I had not walked before.


At this point, my new route joined the old route again; the wood in the background is the same one I walked through earlier:


Can you see the bus stop? This is about half way home now. It is the only spot during the entire walk where I have to cross a normal road open to all traffic:


Past the nursery again - I couldn't resist to take one more picture:



Nearly 4 hours and about 16 km later, I was back home. It had been a good walk, nothing too strenuous for this kind of weather, although I was slightly disappointed with myself for not having reached my original goal. I simply had under estimated the importance of preparing well; I had been sure of remembering the right path once I would be out there. I have not given up on my plan of walking all the way to the hill with the windmill, though, so - watch this space!

21 comments:

  1. It was still an interesting walk and I am glad you got home safely....
    My kids set off on a strenuous walk recently and didn't take enough water for the heat - one of them was quite ill afterwards and was lucky to get home safely. A sobering lesson!
    Love the shaped trees :)

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    1. I was never in any danger, Fi, but thank you for your concern. I knew how much water to take, and had I really needed more, I would have never been too far away from other people to ask for help. I hope your kids recovered quickly after their hike!

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  2. It sounds as if you found some new things to see though, so it was a day well spent - and you still have that walk to look forward to! I went on a walk yesterday too. It was only about 10 km but there were a couple of very steep hills. I was surprised at how tired it made me. But it was well worth doing, and I am so glad we had nice weather, such a contrast with today which is pouring with rain!

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    1. Yes, it was time well spent, and I enjoyed exploring the path that was new to me. I may even go on that longer walk next weekend, as I will be on my own again. Just need the right weather for it, and it has been very unrpedictable here lately.

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  3. PS I agree that the nursery is intriguing. Perhaps it is because the plants are "out of place" if you know what I mean...?
    Oh and I hope your mum's birthday goes well!

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    1. I know what you mean. The plants are all lined up in such a systematic way as they would never grow on their own, so to me, the nursery looks like a combination of man-made "building" and nature.
      Thank you! We are confident that the birthday will be great!

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  4. This seeing the windmill in distance but never can reach it reminded me of Franz Kafka's novel "Das Schloss".

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    1. I must admit I have not read "Das Schloss", but I know about it. When Steve and I went there by bike, we took a wrong turn once or twice, too; but I was certain I'd remember the right path once I would get to Kallenberg.

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  5. What I want to know is, who took the photo of you? You went for this walk on your own. Or have you got a clever camera?

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    1. My camera is clever. It has a self-timer, and nearly all of the pictures you see of me on my blog posts are done that way, Frances. There are only a handful taken by other people. All my "fashion post" pictures are self-portraits.

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  6. The topiary nursery is fascinating; but the wildflowers I like best. How bout a little pocket compass for these and other epic walks? Lovely countryside and so close to you. Happy Birthday to your mother too.xx

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    1. A compass wouldn't have helped - I did know the direction, I wasn't totally lost, just did not know exactly which path to take. My mobile phone can be very useful on such occasions, but I didn't feel like making use of it this time.
      Thank you for your birthday wishes! The "big day" is tomorrow :-)

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  7. That is a long hot walk! You are a better person than me! I love the 2nd to last photo with all the green "pin cushions" shrubs!

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    1. Those shrubs look great, don't they! They are really big, too; about my height!

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  8. A beautiful walk, even if the day was a bit hot!

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    1. It felt good, and really hot days are so rare here that I was happy to make the most of that one.

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  9. Well done! A good long walk and some lovely pictures too. I like your fashionable walking outfit - you look lovely in it! Who took it by the way? Was it the hen?

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    1. The hen was miles away from where I took the photo! My camera is so ultra-modern it even boasts a self-timer. Very useful, for nearly all pictures of me are taken that way.

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  10. I clicked on the link you gave us and also saw this same walk in much different weather! Only thing, I forgot that I was looking at a different post and kept thinking how strange that it looked like wintertime! HA! I am such a silly one.
    It was interesting to compare this walk to a different season. I feel as if I could walk it with you now. Only thing, I wonder if I could walk that far. I'm not sure, I might be forced to crawl the last few miles of it!

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    1. Hey, you've been up and down the monadnocks and along all those trails, I am sure if you put all the miles together, you will have walked a lot more this year than I have! And "my" walk is nowhere near as steep as going up any of "your" mountains!
      He he your wondering about the wintertime look of the pictures made me giggle - it is the kind of thing that happens to me, too :-)

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  11. What a lovely sky you had on the day of your walk. I'm so behind with catching up on other people's blogs (and even my own!)... But I enjoyed glancing through these pictures today (while the rain is pouring down outside my windows!)

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