Jutta

It's amazing how much the autumn foliage shines, sometimes in such a way that even in bad weather you think the sun will shine - like on my tour today in northwestern Rheinhessen. Due to the rain the roads were not very good, especially from Laurenziberg to the Peace Cross in the ascent and descent, but in dry weather this should not be a problem.
My first destination, the Friedenskreuz above Ockenheim, was built in 1952 by a returnee from Ockenheim for his return and commemoration of all victims of the war. From here you have a magnificent 180 ° view over the plain across to the Binger forest.
My second destination, the Jacobsberg Abbey, is currently undergoing renovations, making many areas inaccessible. However, the pilgrimage church is open, dedicated to the 14 saints, and their simplicity is striking both inside and out.
I finally arrived at my starting point and at the same time my third destination, the Laurenzikirche in Laurenziberg, via the nicely laid out lookout point Johannisberger Turmchen. One almost believes that one is in Upper Bavaria, so baroque this little church comes along.
All in all, despite the drizzle, this was a very nice tour, because of the bright fall colors as already said, because of the goals anyway, but also because of the many different prospects, whether across the Nahe or Rhine Valley, across to the Taunus, the Rochusberg , to the small winegrowing towns in northwestern Rheinhessen.

A sunny autumn day, a lovely stream valley, light-flooded forests, endless meadows and fields - perfect ingredients for a wonderful hike in Solmser Land.

Fantastically beautiful and promising trail at the northern end of the German Wine Route.

The first time I was on the Prinzenberg on a cold, hazy December day. At that time I had decided to come here again in good weather. Today was nice weather and I have implemented my intention.
It was a wonderful track, a lot of trails (even partly through Eberstadt), dirt roads with great views, beautiful forests ... just perfect!

For the last day of my little Südharz break I had again put together a tour away from the big destinations. The path took me first over the flower mountain east of Bad Sachsa through beautiful beech and maple forest. The Priorteich, a picturesque forest lake, was the first of several ponds along which the path led me. All these ponds were created in the 12th century by the monks of the Cistercian monastery Walkenried for fish farming. Partly they used this by Erdfall with water full pits, they partially lifted the ponds themselves from the marshes.
Past the monkey pond I reached Walkenried am Alten Bahnhof, a magnificent building with a stone facade and a tin roof. And another small attraction lay on the wayside, a lovingly prepared garden model railway.
Over the railway line, I reached the largest fishpond area. Already the monks had created dams between the ponds, and over these one can still walk between the ponds today. Above the ponds runs the Höllstein-Klippenweg. At its end is the Saxon oak, an 850-year-old natural monument.
Not far from the Helbing Hut, I came across the first dwarf holes that lay on the edge of my route. These are swelling cavities caused by volume increase in the conversion of anhydrite into gypsum by bulging upward.
At the dwarf caves a few hundred meters further on, my first self-made lap was over. The path marked on the komoot map did not exist or not, but not far away there was an alternative, namely a turnstile railroad crossing. Beyond the railway line, a trail led me to the last stop of my tour, the castle ruin Sachsenstein. From the castle there is almost nothing left, but the detour is well worth it: from here you can enjoy a breathtaking view of the Sachsenstein cliffs.
The way back to the parking lot at the Friedwald once again led past ponds, this time actually to full-blown Erdfallgruben.
It was again a round that won with simple beauty, a perfect end to my little break.

Today was my "tourist day", that of course hiking, but just too frequently visited places in the area.
My starting point was Scharzfeld, more on that later. From here, several circular routes lead to the three main destinations, which I had chosen for today. The parking lot under the B 243 was already well filled and I prepared for masses of hikers. More or less in the crowd it was so over a serpentine path up to the stone church, an impressive rock cave. This was probably already known in the Paleolithic, in the Middle Ages it was actually used as a church, but then fell into oblivion and was only rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century. But not only the huge cave is impressive, but also the magnificent view over Scharzfeld across to the southern Harz foreland.
From the Turnvater-Jahn memorial stone I was then alone on my round, and that should also - apart from the people who visited both the Einhornhöhle and the ruin Scharzfels - remain so.
A steep path led from the Steinberg down to the campsite in the valley of the Bremke and beyond the creek first on a forest road, then again steeply on a trail up to the Rottstein cliffs. Imposing falls here a steep wall rugged to the valley. Be careful at the edge of the cliff, because there is no railing.
There was still a little slope up to the Einhornhöhle. Unfortunately, one tour had just started, and until the next one I would have to wait over an hour, which did not really fit into my schedule. So just take a few pictures and continue to the ruin Scharzfels.
As I said, between the cave and ruin were really several strollers on the way. Just as steep as the path led down into the valley of the Hasenwinkel, it rose again on the other side. The castle, whose ruins are found here, must have been huge once. It is still easy to see how the rocks were integrated into the walls.
As a descent, I had chosen a ravaged old forest path, which although very steep, but wonderfully beautiful, led back down to Scharzfeld. Scharzfeld itself really only seems to be a good starting point for hikes to the caves and the ruin. Otherwise, this typical street village has nothing to offer. Pretty and well maintained is the small Thomaskirche from natural stone.
All in all, this tour was a very nice round, especially because it was almost exclusively on dirt tracks.

The 659 meter high Ravensberg is, so to speak, the local mountain of Bad Sachsa, and from there the official access road leads up.
When I arrived at the parking lot below the tower, I was in the middle of the clouds and my car was the only one wide. Yesterday it certainly looked very different here, but today probably no one would like to start a hike from here. But it was right for me, I would have the forest for myself alone.
Past the tower and the mountain inn, I came to the donkey trail, a small path that took me down to the Dreiherrenstein. From here I followed the Grenzweg in a northerly direction. Unmistakably storms had raged up here, wide areas are shaved and the wood piled up massively left and right of the way. Wherever the forest still stands, the clouds made sure that I could vividly imagine why so many stories of witches and forest spirits have arisen here in the Harz Mountains; it's really a little spooky ...
At the Stephan hut I turned left on the Bocktalstraße (here is all road, in reality, but there are forest roads), which brought me down in the valley of the Steinaer Bach. Meanwhile, the clouds hung over me, not good, because now it was drizzling, though not enough, to throw over the cape, that I had already lent out to the outside of the backpack as a precaution.
After about one kilometer, the climb to Hasselstein branched off to the right. I was not sure if I really wanted to get up there, because all the forest workers of the southern Harz had ridden on this forest road, and the rain of the night had also turned the way into puddles and ankle-deep mud. I climbed up, knowing that there would be no prospect, but apart from mud and scraps of debris, the path was beautiful.
Back on the Steinaer Bach, I continued on the Steinaer Talweg downhill until after about 1.5 kilometers, the Nesselweg branched left. He followed me upwards and after about 500 meters I had the choice: follow the forest road and have to cover four kilometers to the Ravensberg or choose the Harz construction path, which is steeper, but saves 2.5 kilometers path length. I decided for the Baudensteig and that was good. It is a narrow path that winds up the western slope of the mountain, steep, but easy to walk and safe for the inexperienced.
Back at the Dreiherrenstein, I decided to take the access road back to the parking lot for the rest of the way, because it was raining more heavily now, and the road was the shortest way. After all, I have seen the ski lift on Ravensberg - even if only dimly - because even more than hikers the mountain attracts winter sports enthusiasts.
All in all, it was a very, very nice round, with a lot of leisure, to look right and left in the forest, to enjoy the silence, drifting into the world of myths and fairy tales.
Two people met me on the round, the forester and a forest worker.

I had decided today for a tour off the well-known destinations, because the weather was probably hopelessly overrun. Actually, I had planned a tour around the Oder reservoir, but despite low tide the Oder was still too high to get over them at the Emmabrücke dry feet, and I really did not want to have wet clothes in the cold. So I turned back on Kunze and walked back the same way. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful tour on a panoramic path, which allows again and again different views of the lake.
Incidentally, the Oder reservoir is only half as big as the much better known Oker Reservoir. The dam was originally built as a pumped storage power plant, but is now used as a storage power plant; see also :
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odertalsperre

On the day of my South Harz hiking and wellness vacation, of course, I have once looked at my location for the next few days.
The melting pond is adjacent to the spa park. His name is program, because he regulates the meltwater from the mountains and protects the town from flooding.
If you leave the spa park and walk towards the city, you'll notice the beautiful Art Nouveau villas, some of which are screaming for renovation. In general, Bad Sachsa seems to have its best time behind it and is now looking for a new start. There is the flattened promenade, the lovingly created small city park, the contemplative Philosophenweg along the Uffe, but in the side streets it sometimes does not look quite so proper.
Incidentally, the namesake of this round is perhaps more familiar to many under its pseudonym Stefan Wolf, author of the children / juvenile crime series "TKKG". He visited the boarding school in Bad Sachsa, and many scenes in his "thrillers" can be found in real life in and around Bad Sachsa.