Ultralight Hike
All the weekends since my move had been fully booked so far. Friends and family as well as the renovation work on the apartment took up a large part of my time. That's why it took a few weeks before I could go on tour alone again.
Now the time had finally come; it was the first weekend without appointments
Only the question of the destination remained to be settled. First I looked at Outdooractive for inspiration. There my choice fell on the Rimbach trail. Since it was too short for a whole weekend, I decided to extend the trail a bit along the way.
After work I started on Friday afternoon and headed for the Palatinate. When I arrived in the Wine Route region, I couldn't believe my eyes. After all, I couldn't see the mountains behind it. They were all hidden in a dense band of fog and clouds. I just thought - this is going to be a tour - and drove on to Dimbach,
Arriving in Dimbach, I found that the weather was exactly as I had pictured it in my head before - grey in grey!
Dusk was already falling. Since I didn't plan to spend the night on the trail, I left the Rimbach trail shortly after to look for a spot for dinner and a place to stay for the night, far away from the busy hiking trail.
Around seven o'clock I got out my cooking utensils at a lovely spot and prepared my dinner.
There was baguette with reduced tomatoes/peppers/carrots and onions. At first I was a bit sceptical whether this generous meal would fit into my small pot, or more precisely, into this cup.
Thanks to the baguette as a side dish, the small pot was enough for this meal. In future, though, I will pack the baguette airtight. Because of the high humidity it became very hard during the six hours until I ate it.
After the delicious meal I looked for a quiet little spot for the night.
According to the weather forecast there was supposed to be a lot of wind but no rain that night. I relied on this statement and slept outdoors without a roof.
In the middle of the night I was woken by a marten that was hanging around near me. After being woken like that, I noticed that the clouds had cleared and I had a view of thousands of stars.
At that moment I thought of my better half, who, a little over a year ago, had taught me some constellations under a similar starry sky.
I proudly noted that I recognised these constellations again that night.
I played around a bit with my camera to capture this beautiful moment, but before I had found the right settings, the sky had already clouded over again. So it stayed with one picture.
Should I ever find myself in the position of wanting to take pictures of the starry sky with this camera again, I will use the following settings: 10-20 seconds exposure time, aperture of F2, ISO 800, manual focus on infinity.
The next morning I first went to the castle ruins of Lindelbrunn. The view from this castle seemed to be magnificent, at least if you can see a bit further and not just into this grey fog soup.
After I let the Palatinate Forest work its magic on me for a while, I set off towards Darstein to get back onto the trail.
For the first kilometre the trail was still a hiking highway, but then gave way to narrow paths and eventually small trails, which gave the route a lovely charm.
Over the 18 kilometres the trail offered quite a few metres of elevation gain, which varied depending on the source from just under 600 to over 1000m.
The path leads past numerous red sandstone formations that are supposed to offer breathtaking views. Unfortunately, weather-wise, these views were not granted to me.
Just before Schwanheim I left the path because of forestry work. A short time later I also realised why the forestry work had to be done.
Apparently at least one tree had fallen into a high-voltage power line. The force had even been enough to twist the power pole. Only a carabiner had ensured that the line wasn't lying on the ground.
At that moment I was once again aware of how dependent we are on the power grid. Later the sky cleared up a bit and visibility improved. The Palatinate showed its most beautiful side.
The path also continued to lead past many red sandstone formations.
At the next break I wanted to prepare Kennth's Avocado-Chocolate Pudding: Unfortunately, I messed up the recipe several times. On top of that, the avocados could only be mashed moderately with a spork. So it turned out to be more of a chocolate soup with avocado chunks. It didn't look anywhere near as appealing, but it tasted extremely delicious and was very filling!
After the hearty meal I continued to Schwanheim. There I was able to refill my water in a small café and prepare for the next climbs.
The view from the Hockerfelsen was impressive, and the narrow path along the edge of the rock reminded me of the climb to Pico Ruivo in Madeira.
After letting nature work its magic on me for a moment, I continued towards Gossersweiler-Stein. On the way there I discovered a very large and beautiful burl. It would make a great kuksa or bowl.
At the next rock, some children or other young-at-heart people had apparently let loose and built a snowman.
The night was very foggy and chilly. So the next day I made myself a delicious coffee at the next sheltered seating spot and let the past hours pass in review.
After the little refreshment, I headed back onto the Rimbach trail in light snowfall and from there back to the car.
The weekend had passed in a flash, and so I set off home again. Despite the moderate weather, the trail was very beautiful and will remain in my memory for a long time.
Maybe in summer, in good weather, I will repeat it as a day tour to see how nature awakens.
