This morning should be another 4:30 am challenge but without torturing my family, it became 6 am. The time was right, and we been the only people at the Beutenfall parking lot, where we started this hike. Originally I planned this tour to be around 8 kilometer, but all went a bit different as planned.
The first part of the hike was over a wide forest road mainly uphill. Until we reached the massive rock formation of the Affensteine (monkey stones) – the Morsche Zinne. The monkey stones are an elongated, strongly jagged rock group of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. As already said in another article, the area is also known for endless climbing options. The tour I planned included yet another part which leads up a rock wall over metal poles. A sign “only for experienced climbers” made us suspicious. When we hike deeper, we saw the rock wall in front of us.
This was just not the way for us, and we chose instead to go back where we came from. Unfortunately we did not have the time to hike around the whole Affensteine. With that said, we only saw the first part of the area. This was a bit sad but the avoidable shortcut was unfortunately again a via ferrata. So be careful when planning hikes in the area, what are you really up to.
Nether the less, the way back lead us over small romantic paths. Including amazing views into the Schrammsteine. Just a quiet morning hike in nature, without anyone on the trails. The only person we saw was a biker, which used the bike trail through the national park. So even not every plan works out, we always need to make the best of every situation. Just enjoy the views, the flowers, the silence or the small paths. Whatever brings happiness in every moment.
