When I spend the weekend at my husband's, we are often too busy to go hiking; there is usually stuff to do around his mother's house and garden, or we are invited to some event or other, or there is something to do with the village band etc.
But last weekend, amazingly we had NO appointments at all, and because temperatures were forecast to be very high during the day, garden work wasn't advisable unless one would start very early in the morning.
Instead, we got up at 7:00 on both days and were out of the house by 9:00, when it was still wonderfully fresh.
Our hike on Saturday (8 August) was a repeat of one we'd done twice before; funnily enough, once on Saturday, 8 August 2020, and then again on Sunday, 11 August 2024. Clicking of the dates will take you to my posts from back then.
The Gertelbach waterfalls weren't exactly down to a trickle, but there was a lot less water coming down the steep rocky slope than in previous years. It still was very nice to be there, though; even just the sound of the water is refreshing, and since most of the hike is in the woods under the shade of trees, we were fine.
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| A six-legged cow? |
As before, we stopped at the Herta-Hütte to eat our sandwiches, and later for a shandy at the beer garden.
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| View from Herta-Hütte (Herta's Hut) |
Instead of driving straight home afterwards, O.K. suggested we have a look at the Schwarzenbach Talsperre and drove us further up into the Black Forest to that special place. A water reservoir was created there exactly 100 years ago when a dam was built and the farmers and other people living at the bottom of the valley were resettled to other places. Now the wall is in need of repair, and to achieve that, several months ago the reservoir was let run empty, and the work is now in full swing.
It makes for a strange and fascinating place, seeing the bottom of the lake and the entire wall, normally underwater on one side. We weren't the only people to have a look! Boards with information about the work 100 years ago and what is now being done line the path, and we found it all very interesting.
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| Water-side of the dam |
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| All this is usually under water! |
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| The other side of the dam, after we'd walked across. This side is never under water. |
We still didn't go straight home after this but stopped in town for ice creams. Back at the cottage, we were ready for an afternoon nap, and later went across the road to my mother-in-law for a drink and a chat on her terrace before we retreated to our own terrace for a sundowner. It was, by the way, our 3 months wedding anniversary :-)
Sunday (9 August) was forecast to be hotter, and we opted for a much shorter hike. This one, too, was a repeat; in October 2023 we did this tour from Reichenbach to the Martinstein ("Martin's stone") (with slight variations) before.
Parts of the tour were in the sun but there was still plenty of shade in the woods, and we had started early enough to be back home before it became too hot.
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| Martinstein |
Back home, we had coffee after a rest. While we were napping, a few drops of rain fell, but evaporated almost as soon as they hit the ground.
In the evening, we enjoyed a nice meal of merguez with fried zucchini (courgette) and yellow pepper plus couscous, out on the balcony.
It's refreshing to have time without appointments sometimes. Your walk took you through beautiful countryside and it is so interesting to see the bottom of a reservoir. It's difficult sometimes to realise that these were place where people lived. How hard it must be to be uprooted forcibly and have to make your life somewhere else. It's for the greater good, I know, but hard nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteYes, this uprooting must not have come easy. According to the information boards there, the few farmers and other people (3 houses in total) were given new, modern accomodation, built specifically for them. That may have made things a little easier.
DeleteAt times, around 2.000 workmen were on the construction site for the wall!
When filled, the lake is over 2 km long.
ReplyDeleteVery picturesque hikes & you seem to have it all to yourself . There’s something fascinating about dried up reservoirs. We visit one for walks here near Harrogate & when very dry the old village appears , cottages , village paths , the mill & even the old church . Very atmospheric.
Wendy in York
There were other people about, but few and far between - mostly, folks are on holiday right now, and those who haven't gone away are looking for other pastimes, such as going swimming.
DeleteI have heard about the old village at the bottom of the reservoir, and if I remember correctly, once read a work of crime fiction about a skeleton found in one of the old houses during a dry summer. So far, I've not seen that place for myself, though.
Yes you’re right . It was a Peter Robinson book . He changed the name of the reservoir though
DeleteWendy
I recall having read this book too - long time ago.
DeleteInteresting to see the inside of the reservoir. Did you look for old buildings showing themselves? You do a lot of hiking together. As I am not a hiker I wonder at how you spend the time together, do you talk as you walk and do you both go at the same speed with the same requirements for rest?
ReplyDeleteWe didn't go down to the bottom of the reservoir, but as far as we could tell from above, and also according to the info on the boards and on wikipedia, of the three houses that once stood there, nothing was left when the work began.
DeleteWhen we're hiking or walking, we're usually at the same speed - only on the uphill bits I need to slow down whereas my husband goes at a much faster pace. We usually want a rest and eat our sandwiches at around the same time.
PS: We talk, but not all the time - we enjoy the quiet and the sounds of where walk, with birdsong or the rush of water and so on. We talk more over our meals.
DeleteThose steps and that rope bridge would have been too much for me, I think. You and your husband sure are good strong hikers. How lucky you are to be able to explore such beautiful places.
ReplyDeleteLonger and steep uphill bits take the breath out of me, and long steep downhill exhausts me mentally when I need to focus hard on where I am putting my feet with each step, but it's all part of the parcel, and as long as it's not too much, I'm fine.
DeleteWe really are fortunate to have the Black Forest so close by!
Even if you were out early, it looks really hot to me. One can really see from your photos how dry it is everywhere...
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely in the morning but became hotter with every passing hour, of course. No green pastures anywhere; farmers are already feeding their livestock the hay that was meant for winter.
DeleteYour first photos remind me of the North Georgia mountains so much! And in very high heat, isn't shade the most wonderful thing?
ReplyDeleteIt is, Kay, as is a little breeze and cool water from a flask.
DeleteSun hot 2020 but you saw a change in the Gertelbach Falls.
ReplyDeleteI see the urgency in the dam's wall being rebuilt. Strange, to see it drained.
I could see the dam in the last scene of Zhivago. Alec Guinness - * Ah, its a gift ! *
I now have an image of Gertelbach-Rundweg, a steep climb of 10 km. Hard going.
You look splendid climbing the steps, crossing the brig. Glad to see Herta-Hutte !
Do you both take precautions against deer tick bites ? Does O.K. bring a compass ?
The Black Forest. Nature's inexhaustible bounty. Two-thirds the size of Wales.
Six times the size of Hong Kong. Twice the size of Luxembourg. The uber forest.
Silva Negra. Mittelgebirge. Tonight I'll dream of the Swabian Jura & Danube Valley.
Pere Teilhard grew up in the Auvergne. Geology & landscape meant a lot to him.
Karl Barth got him slightly wrong. Nature not Gnosticism haunted Teilhard's theology.
A beautiful photo of you and your mother in 2023.
Neither of us carry a compass, since our mobile phones have map apps should we lose our way, but in most cases the paths are well signposted or are familiar to us anyway. I don't always spray myself with anti-mozzie and tick repellant, but carry it in my rucksack. When the first flying thing buzzes around my head upon entering the woods, I get the spray out.
DeleteIt's been around three decades since I last had a tick.
The Black Forest is still wonder- and beautiful, but it needs help.
Beautiful countryside, despite this summer's dry and hot conditions! It's interesting to have an opportunity to see the reservoir drained.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's not everyday you get to see the bottom of a lake.
DeleteThere have been several wildfires in and near the Black Forest these last couple of weeks, some of them hard to get under control.
That picture of the dam hits it home just how much effect the drought has had.
ReplyDeleteOh, but the reservoir is not empty because of the drought, it was emptied on purpose to carry out the necessary repairs.
DeleteOh I see. I must have read that bit too quickly!
DeleteThe first walk in particular looks ideal for a hot day, with plenty of shade. I had to look up 'merguez' - and I have to say I don't fancy it! I'm not a sausage lover - but I appreciate they are traditional fare in your area.
ReplyDeleteMerguez feature on my blog every now and then, and I think in one older post I have explained what they are; that must have been before we started to read each other's blogs.
DeleteGetting a completely free weekend with zero appointments sounds like absolute heaven, and getting out early to beat the heat was such a smart move! It must have been so surreal and fascinating to see the normally underwater side of the Schwarzenbach Talsperre reservoir completely empty for those dam repairs, and happy three-month wedding anniversary to you both after a lovely sundowner! That Sunday hike to Martinstein for a chilled shandy followed by merguez, couscous, and fresh veggies out on the balcony sounds like the absolute coziest way to wrap up a hot summer weekend.
ReplyDeleteIt was a very nice weekend in spite of the heat, which we managed quite well. Three months into our married life, it had all those things we enjoy together.
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