2016-02 Brocken in Snow & Wind
After seemingly endless weeks, it was finally time to get going again. This time I set off on a winter tour with three acquaintances in the beautiful little Harz town of Schierke.
We started on Saturday in Schierke, and at the beginning of this tour I had a queasy feeling - after all, it was the first tour since my climbing accident - but I still decided to come along. Unfortunately, some others had to cancel for various reasons.
A small tour with four people isn’t too bad, after all. So off we went into the Harz winter wonderland!
This time, by the way, I only took pictures with my phone. I wanted to test what you can still get out of a phone camera. I’m positively surprised - the pictures do seem quite usable!
Every tour has a beginning, so out of Schierke and up to the Brocken - after all, we’re not here for fun!
The trail is wonderful, the snow cushions every step, and in the "winter boots" you walk as if on clouds. It was simply glorious, this winter wonderland. I knew what I had been missing all those weeks on the sofa!
Mine rescue, a picture for our buddy!
The poles and the condition of the trail allowed us to make quick progress - the Brocken was almost within reach!
But on the way there, the trail gave us a wonderful fairy-tale landscape. Among the dense trees, even the sleet on the stone slabs didn’t matter much. Quite the contrary - it was a great way to regulate your body temperature.
Seeing this sign, which was bursting with information, I had to think of the tour with Bimbi again. It seems to be in fashion in the Harz not to display any information anymore.
But with a view like the following one, this information deficit is quickly forgotten. Instead, joy prevailed!
Once at the Brocken, I wanted to test the poor photo conditions. Backlight, in a dark hut, plus fog and gusts of wind up to 75 km/h. The East Frisians would probably rather say "a bit of wind", if they would say anything at all... 
So this was the view from in front of the hut, by the way. This was my fifth ascent of the Brocken and it won’t be the last, but so far I have never seen anything. Same again on this day.
After the Brocken had been conquered, we had to go back down to reach our sleeping spot. In the fog and wind, it wasn’t easy at all to notice passing cars. One even had to honk before four people flinched at the same time 
The visibility was again well described as "moderate". The Brocken is just the death zone from which the only thing that mattered was getting out.
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So it was time to leave the road and continue towards our camp for the night.
A little later the time had come. Dusk was setting in and we were approaching our destination.
The photos are still acceptable in the twilight, which pleases me a lot. I personally wouldn’t have expected that.
When setting up the camp, you could see the limits. Without additional light, acceptable photos were out of the question, yet honestly I didn’t trust either the camera or my hoof that much.
The photos are still acceptable in the twilight, which pleases me a lot. I personally wouldn’t have expected that.
The night was peppered with temperatures just above freezing, high humidity, shifting wind, and lashing gusts.
Spray without end, a kingdom for a bivy sack.
The next morning the camps were quickly taken down and we headed back to Schierke. Walking quickly warmed everyone up again. However, differences to the previous day soon emerged. There was no more snow on the trees, and the paths in the snow looked more like streams of water. Well, pictures are known to say more than 1000 words, so see for yourselves!
Where there was still snow yesterday, everything is already melting today... too bad, winter seems to be over.
All the better that I got to do at least one winter tour!
On the way back you could clearly see the masses of water coming down the mountain. The thaw is in full swing!
The rain had partially frozen on the steep trail. Good thing my Microspikes for my shoes were at home...
All in all, a wonderful tour.
Thanks to everyone involved!
It was an honor to spend this time with you!
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