Ultralight Hike
It was that time again - Bimbi had invited a small circle of friends on a tour to the Palatinate. Unfortunately, three highly valued forum members had to cancel due to illness. So once again Geri got the chance to move up.
The group harmonized very well in this new line-up too. But enough of the prologue - off to the adventure!
The alarm clock shows an ungodly time - it’s Saturday morning and it’s not even 6 o’clock. What was I thinking, getting up this early today? A tour can’t be that nice. Through the open window I can hear the rain pounding on the roof. The weather really is as the forecast predicted - rainy!
So off to the shower, using the pleasant sides of civilization one last time. Then off I went with Bimbi to the station and by train to Bruchtal for the Spatenparty.
From there we sailed on with his boat "Golf" to wonderful pirate music, further into the Palatinate to meet Konradsky and Geri.
Once in Schönau, we set off directly to find the start of our hike.
So we set off in rainy weather with visibility hardly better than on Madeira. But the loudmouths present ensured the best mood despite the poor visibility and many meters of elevation.
At the first castle, a narrow blue streak appeared in the sky. Our thoughts revolved around the weather, because we hadn’t seen much of the promised view of the Vosges. What could be sensed made you want more! That was guaranteed to be a plan to lure me back to the Palatinate in the future.
The way from the first to the second castle had no particularly many meters of elevation, at least compared to the first climb.
At the second castle the sky cleared up a little and offered a breathtaking view of the Palatinate. Damn, you can lose your heart to this region so quickly. Next time I come here, I expect a sign with the following text - "Warning: the region visible here can trigger strong, positive feelings despite the rain!"
The Palatinate not only showed its beautiful face to hikers, but also let all its charms play for climbers. No wonder a strongly pronounced desire of "I want to get back on the rock!" spread inside me.
Rocks! 
The French border was crossed in no time. Since a quick look at the clock told us we were well on time, we first stopped at the bistro at Fleckenstein Castle and enjoyed not only a few cold drinks, but also the opportunity to warm up a bit again.
We simply skipped the next castle, which can only be entered for a fee. There are still a few more castles on the Seven Castles Tour 
A little later I had to take a forced break. A stick between the legs is not good with a broken hoof. After the foot had calmed down a bit, we continued on foot.
By evening we had reached the last castle of the day. What a beautiful place for a long break. This sandstone in the Palatinate is simply gorgeous - you have to see it with your own eyes.
We continued before dusk - after all, we still needed a spot for our night camp.
We did find our camp for the night.
The next morning we continued. After all, not all the castles had been conquered yet. The weather couldn’t make up its mind. Sometimes it drizzled, sometimes the drops were a bit bigger, and sometimes it cleared up for a few minutes.
But since weather is, after all, neither more nor less than weather, we kept marching. That I kept falling behind every now and then to take a few snapshots goes without saying, right?
Soon we reached the first castle of the day and enjoyed the view once again, while others were more like faster, higher, further...
We used the next castle for a short break again. The thought that this was the last castle and thus the imminent end of the tour was approaching was not nice. I’ll have to come back, whether I like it or not.
If only to be able to harvest a little fatwood in 10-20 years.
From there we went back to the car to say goodbye to each other in Schönau over coffee and cake.
PS: Guys & Bimbi, it was a pleasure being on tour with you, and Spati? You probably haven’t reached the end of your backpack’s weight spiral yet *hehe*
