Volume 2, Days 91-92
I couldn’t go to the Black Forest without actually seeing the Black Forest, so with a bit of research, I found that there were plenty of hiking trails in the area, some connecting to other cities (even as far as Switzerland), but with the most accessible and spectacular views on the Schauinsland Mountain.
So, after a very truncated coffee and study session, I set out for a day of hiking with a bottle of water, an apple, and a half pack of bulgur salad. It was exciting to wear my trekking pants for actual trekking. Fortunately for me, I was able to loiter at the public wifi hotspot for about ten minutes on the way to the tram station so I could fill my phone with podcasts. God help me if I had to walk through nature with nothing to listen to.
I rode the S-bahn to the end of its line, which also happens to be the bus stop for the one rural bus heading out in the direction of the mountain. Based on my research, it is all within Zone A, so it only cost the base fare, though that wasn’t put to the test. I alighted with all the other hikers at the base station of the cable car (bergbahn). Of course, I didn’t want to pay close to 10 euros to ride a cable car to the top of the mountain, but I didn’t know where else to start hiking. After a bit of looking around, I found a hidden path leading from the parking lot across a field and up the hills.
It took about 1:45 to reach the top by foot compared to the roughly 20 minute cable car journey. It was a nice walk, but not particularly scenic and often difficult to figure out exactly which way I was supposed to go. Though the mountain is covered with trails and paths the signs aren’t completely helpful. For a large section of the way up, I was seeing signs saying that this was the scooter track that people could race down. While the signs helpfully said there were better footpaths, they didn’t indicate where to find said alternate routes. Nonetheless, I reached the top without ever encountering the a scooter racing downhill, though the few times I had to cross the mountain highway, there was always traffic.
I had a short picnic when I reached the top and followed the path to the tip-top, where there is a tower one can climb for the ultimate views. Off in the distance to the south, I could see the snow capped Alps, but the haze was too much for my camera phone to shoot them clearly. One could also almost make out Basel in the distance and the invisible border between Germany and France lay somewhere between where I stood and another range of hills to the west.
In my ambitions, I figured I would hike all the way back to Freiburg, a distance of 10-12 km, since most of the path was still in the mountains and gently sloping back towards the river valley. The first 20 minutes of the walk where the best with alpine scenery of rolling grass meadows with small groups of lazy cows rocking their cowbells in between the copses of fir (?) trees which make the Black Forest “black.”
Unfortunately, I was so taken by my alternate urges to yodel or burst out with “The hills are alive…” that I missed the telltale white road signs for the foot paths and found myself outside a guesthouse looking at a sign telling me the way to Freiburg was in the direction I had just come. I retraced my steps to find where I missed my “turn” and kept along the path.
I seemed to have lost the way again and found myself on a dirt road used by logging trucks. It had been used after a rain, so the tire tracks cut deep into the now dried mud. The road lead downhill quickly, but I didn’t realize quickly enough that I had made another mistake. Fortunately, I was able to trace the thin outline of possible paths in Google Maps and found myself in touch with the yellow mountain biking road signs before long. Eventually, the white signs for the foot path showed up again out of the blue and I stared back up the path, wondering what faeries had hidden it from me when I needed it. For the most part, the proper footpaths were small and most scenic.
I eventually emerged into a town who road led to the valley, the rail line and the highway connecting back to civilization. As I reached a bus stop, the once an hour bus also arrived before I even had time to read the route information. A briefly contemplated just jumping on the bus as the driver looked at me questioningly, but I let him go on. I would have had to ride it to the end of its line and transfer to get back to Freiburg. It was only another 6km and the weather was fine.
Along the valley, I was able to mostly follow the bike path, apart from the railroad and traffic, so other than staying out of the way of the two-wheeled commuters it was a nice walk into the blinding, setting sun.
I came across an Aldi in the town right before Freiburg and popped into to buy some stuff for the wine party the Australians and I had brainstormed the previous night. I was feeling fancy (and hungry) and decided to go for some Sekt, aka German champagne.
Ten minutes later, I was walking along the river where many people were stretched out on the grassy banks or splashing in the shallow water. It looked refreshing, but I carried on back to the hostel, stopped in the kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal, then went up to shower and put on clean clothes. I bumped into L in the room, but she disappeared before I was out of the shower. I was ravenous and no one was around, once again, so I reheated a second portion of the shakshuka with three eggs and a hefty chunk of “fladenbrot” (not very flat flatbread). After finishing, A showed up in the kitchen asking for dinner recommendations. I suggested he go to the Aldi.
He was back in about 20 minutes with sandwich materials and a bottle of Riesling and after he finished his meal, I cracked open the sekt to begin the wine party. He went to shower immediately L returned and after a surprising amount of stage direction, people started to congregate around the table. I had called a German guy with a radler over to join and a few other Germans — some guests, some volunteers — and a girl from Spain also joined. It was a good little impromptu party, but when the subject of ages came up, it was a bit shocking to find out that with the exception of the one hostel staff member, everyone else was 19 or 21 years old. All the wine went as did the packages of mini chorizos and cheese cubes. Despite walking 40,000 steps with very little food during the day, I made up for the calories and then some at night. I also tried a package of something called Jaffa cakes (also sometimes “soft cakes”) where a bit of spongecake with fruit jelly is coated in chocolate. They reminded me a lot of “dominos,” a Christmas time treat.
| Tram | 2.4 |
| Aldi Snacks (2 wine, cheese, sausage, Jaffa cakes) | 10.45 |
| Total: | 12.85 EUR (100.23 RMB) (USD 14.09) |
Running Total: 33095.6 RMB (USD 4651.09)
Daily Average: 363.7 RMB (USD 51.11)