Another popular but totally worth wile tour in Saxon Switzerland is the hike up to the Kuhstall. In order to avoid the crowds we started the tour around 8 am at the Lichtenhainer Waterfall parking lot. At that time we were the only car. It is important to start this tour early, as there is not only a huge parking lot but also the last station of the Kirnitzschtalbahn. The train…
As Czech is around the corner from Bad Schandau, we decided to do one hike in the area. Luckily many European borders are open again, including the one to Czech. It is interesting that as a European we do not even think about crossing borders anymore in Europe. It is just a given for years that we can just go from Germany to Czech, or to another European country. Seeing during…
Wald-Geißbart Find the right way Glockenblume 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…
One hike that cannot be missed in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains are the Schrammsteine. There are hikes in various lengths leading up to this iconic rock formation. The Schrammsteine are an elongated, strongly jagged rock group of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. It is located east of Bad Schandau in Saxon Switzerland and lies in the district of Ostrau. In the north they are bordered by the Kirnitzschtal and Hohe Liebe, in…
Sumpf-Vergissmeinnicht Purpur-Storchschnabel As the overall area around Bad Schandau is not wide, it is possible to start nearly every hike in the surrounding area. Same is true for the towns of Altendorf, Mittelndorf and Lichtenhain. All towns are tiny and mainly quiet, away from the crowds in Bad Schandau. The Malerweg, a long distance hiking trail is connecting all the trails in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. The trail is 112 kilometer…
After months in home office, cabin fever got to me. I knew I needed to get out for a few days. As big travel plan will not happen this year, at least not internationally, I needed an alternative. Even that starting from the 1st July most of the European borders are open again, I made a list in my head where I wanted to go in Germany and never did. One…
Natternkopf Disteln Essigbaum (Vinegar Tree) As a kid I found my tiny hometown in the Saale Valley mostly boring. I had no eye for the surrounding nature, neither the appreciation for the silence the countryside is offering. I somewhere heard something like "First you have to see the world in order to appreciate your home". For me this is totally true. With being away from home now for over 20 years,…
As summer is approaching Germany with high temperatures, we did another 4:30 am challenge in order to take an early morning hike. The last two weeks we got temperatures around 30 degree. For my taste this is not really hiking weather. In order to enjoy hikes anyway, early mornings needs to be used. In the morning the air is still fresh, the temperature is mild and the birds songs are the…
We started this day again at 4:30 am, in order to enjoy the morning atmosphere in the woods. Our hike today lead us from the Monbach Valley in the Monbach Gorge to the Wolfschlucht. The Monbach Gorge was created around 350,000 years ago. When the Nagold river cut into the sandstone of the Monbach Valley. The Gorge was developed in 1901 and is part of the Black Forest East Trail. Moos…
This morning lead us again in the North Black Forest. In order to avoid once more the crowds we set our alarm to 4:30 am. Hikes are more intense in the morning hours, quiet nature only broken through by bird singing. On the way to Kaltenbronn we saw an amazing Sun Rise. The sky was bathed in a soft pink color. Even that a sun rise start every day, it is…