Hiking on a Very Hot Day

Saturday, the 8th of August, was a very hot day (again) with the thermometer rising to about 35 C (95 F) during the day. Not exactly hiking weather - unless you know where to go.

We started relatively early and chose a circuit that would take us almost exclusively through the woods. The circuit is called Gertelbach-Rundweg and is relatively short at just under 10 km. Its first part is an almost constant climb, often rather steep, alongside a little stream that splashes and tumbles down over and between boulders and rocks. The sound and sight of the water alone made for a much fresher, cooler feel. See for yourself:

View from Wiedenfelsen towards a hotel popular for weddings:

There was a wedding party on the large rock, the bride teetering on her high heels in her gown, the photographer struggling for a good camera position.

It was almost precisely 12:00 - lunchtime! - when we reached the Hertahütte ("Herta's Hut"). At that moment, we were on our own, and decided to have our packed lunch in the shade of the open-faced hut, enjoying the beautiful view:

About half way through us munching away on our sandwiches and other good things, a family arrived. We said hello when they entered the hut, but only one of the women said hello back - the others behaved as if we were not there. Such impoliteness is annoying, but what can you do other than shrug it off - it is not worth it getting angry, especially not on such a fine day. We left soon afterwards.

One or two km from the hut is a beer garden and restaurant, Kohlbergwiese, in the middle of the woods. We stopped there for a shandy, and although the drink itself was a very welcome refreshment, the many wasps were not. More than once I jumped up from my seat and ran a few paces away, since they just would not leave me alone, whizzing around my ears and eyes and hair instead of concentrating on finding food and drink at someone else's table.

We managed not to get stung and walked on:

It was about 2:00 pm by the time we reached the parking lot that marks the beginning and end of the circuit.

Before we drove home, we took our shoes and socks off and played in the stream for a while - that was so much fun! It reminded me of when I was a child; my sister and I often went hiking with our parents, and whenever there would be a beck or stream along the way, we would stop and play there, building dams or just paddling about in the cold water.

We were seeing friends at a beer garden in town the same evening, but it was still early afternoon, and we decided to try and find a way to a castle (Burg Windeck) we'd seen on a hill on our way. The signs were clearly pointing us in a certain direction, but at one point, there were no signs anymore, and we ended up driving a road that was going uphill but obviously not the right hill. No matter, it was still a beautiful spot for a view across the Rhine valley:

Back home, we had enough time for coffee and cake and then a rest before it was time to freshen up and change into different clothes. We cycled the roughly 9 km into town to the beer garden where we were to meet with friends. I had feared the wasps would bug us there, too, but it wasn't too bad - probably because they were truly spoiled for choice there! And after sunset, they were gone anyway.

We spent a nice evening before riding our bikes home in the dark. Arriving at the cottage, we saw that some of the neighbours had brought garden chairs and drinks out and gathered around the fountain at the side of the village road; we joined them for one last drink before finally calling it a day.