Trees, and a well deserved compliment

I wrote in a recent post that I was hoping in the weeks that followed for more nature, more walking, and more time away from the scientific method (‘Wise words. Thank you Fil!’, September 19th 2020). That was more than a month ago. Things didn’t quite turn out that way, for reasons I shan’t bore you with.

Yesterday I could at last get back to that milk run of mine – the 14 kilometre walk across the Kaiserstuhl to Endingen. The route I use is the most straightforward one: first up the Böselsberggasse to the Kastanienplatz, then onto the crestline path – the Gagenhart-Höhenweg – to the pass at Vogelsang, then up onto the grasslands, then finally along the Neunlindenpfad to Endingen. Yesterday it had to be different: there was serious tree-felling being carried out along the first part of the Höhenweg. A very large and very official notice warned me that in accordance with such-and-such a paragraph of such-and-such a section of the Landeswaldgesetz I would be fined for going any further.

Fortunately there was an alternative. (If you’re at all at home in the woods on the Kaiserstuhl you know there is always an alternative!) This involved taking an initially unsignposted path that leads first down towards Liliental then cuts up to Gagenhart on the far side of where the felling was being carried out. This path was magnificent to walk along yesterday, with its thick carpet of beech leaves. I could also enjoy the multiple carvings on the tree trunks, for this is undoubtedly the path on the Kaiserstuhl where the art of carving your message on a tree has been best developed and preserved. The oldest carvings I’ve ever found here date from 1934. The most elaborate – probably also from the 1930’s – is a highly detailed picture of Jesus on the Kreuzweg. How long this must have taken to cut, and with what care, I can hardly imagine. This is not your usual ‘John loves Mary’ stuff!

Left: the start of the carvings
Centre: the Kreuzweg tree
Right: the Kreuzweg tree in April 2020

Back on the Höhenweg I was accompanied by small flocks of tits and (I think) finches. These were flitting continually in and out of the understorey, which now – in mid-late Autumn – has lost much of its foliage. There’s more light along the path too, as the main canopy is also partly bare. Most noticeably, the colour palette is different from that of only a few weeks back: there are still greens, but the reds have mostly given way to browns and yellows.

Left: looking E towards the Fuchsbuck
Right: looking SW from the grasslands towards Totenkopf

The walk on the grasslands was as good as ever, with an initially excellent view over towards Totenkopf, with the Vosges in the far distance. The sky began to cloud over, however, which persuaded me to head on fast. I reached Endingen in record time.

And the compliment? Regular readers of theendtoendblog know that I haven’t had many good words to say for the Deutsche Bahn. Understandably, I think. So what a pleasant surprise it was to run down onto the platform at Endingen, to see my train to Gottenheim about to depart (with a 30 minute wait for the next one), to wave to the driver, then to see him smile and unlock the doors to let me on. Thirty seconds later we were away. Thank you, sir!

Comments are closed.