PatrickDD

Since, as in the previous week, a scenic hike 👁 wouldn't have been the best choice today due to the gloomy weather 🌫, I opted for this route ♻️, which I had originally planned for the summer, thus continuing my week of exploring my local area. The winter version 🥶 was still the perfect decision

Today's overcast day was the perfect opportunity to continue my loose series "Follow the River." Somewhat surprisingly, the Sebnitz River won the tour, joined by the Lachsbach stream for the first few kilometers. The S-Bahn (suburban train) got me to Bad Schandau quickly, allowing me to even afford a

After a few failed attempts, we finally managed to meet up for a hike today. "We" are Evi, known from "Evi and the Seven Dwarfs" or "Home Alone," but especially for her signature role as "Roadrunner" whenever you hand her hiking poles. Beep beep. Also, of course, my divine presence and... wait... oh

The recent snowfall ❄️ certainly caused a rush on the downhill and cross-country ski slopes 🛷⛷️ in every corner of our country (even around Bitterfeld 😆). Since I'm not at all into skiing 🎿, I opted instead for the most beautiful mountain range in the world 😍, the snow-covered Schrammsteine

For professional reasons ☎️🚨, just like my final tour in 2025, the first tour of the new year has "only" become a walk 🚶‍♂️‍➡️ through Dresden, or rather around the Laubegast district ♻️.



I would have loved to share some wintery impressions with you again ☃️. BUT!!, although it looked quite promising

⛰️↗️ 66,000 meters of elevation gain in 2025 ↗️⛰️



On my final ride of the year, my main focus 👁 was on reaching a nice round number for my total elevation gain. As mentioned before, I hadn't really paid attention to this metric throughout the year without a specific elevation gain challenge ↗️⛰️🚫, so

65,680 m



Spurred on by my sudden discovery last week of the 2025 elevation gain challenge, I initially had many tour ideas in mind, but in the end, it became a German-Czech mix of three of them.



My first idea was to hike a section of the trail in the footsteps of Caspar David Friedrich, which was chosen

Today

Actually, a completely different tour to... around... and on... was planned for today, but since the early bird woke me up too late, I spontaneously decided on a consistently wonderful loop through the Bielatal valley. I wasn't deterred by the completely melted snow in Dresden and packed my shoe spikes

Despite being on call ☎️, I simply had to take advantage of the beautiful weather 🌞 and, after finishing work, headed straight out on this short hike ♻️ to the south of Dresden. Equipped with a hat 👒, gloves 🧤, and a headlamp 💡, I was, of course (as always 😉), professionally prepared for the later