As fall is approaching in Germany, I wanted to make the best out of the probably last sunny and golden days this year and go out hiking the area a bit. First of all, because of efficiency and less logistical hassle, I wanted to stay in the area. So starting right at the doorstep of my parents house and also finishing here would have to be the cornerstones. The woods and low mountains in Thuringia are somewhat my hood and as over the run of the summer I explored the area quite a bit by various hikes, I came up with a different idea. This time I wanted to avoid the Rennsteig, that is the popular long distance trail that runs the length of the Thuringian Forest and that I hiked/cycled/ran quite a bit during the last months. So, a new challenge was very much needed: I came up with an individual route through the area that would last three days, combine three major water reservoirs, would cross the ridgeline three times and would make me hike over 30 kilometres ever day.
This turned out to be an excellent multi-day-hike. It was fun to eventually combine the Schmalwassertalsperre, Ohratalspere and Lütschetalsperre (all water reservoirs) in one hike. As I crossed the ridge, it brought me not only to the highest peaks of the area, but also to areas where I barely been to before. Having grown up on the north side of the Thuringian Forest (low mountain range in central Germany), we almost never made it to the south side. Germany once has been subdivided into many tiny, little „Nationalstaaten“ (nation states), there weren’t and surprisingly still aren’t many close bonds between people lived and living in different valleys and different sides of the mountain range. Therefore, even though it is only about 12 to 15 kilometres as the crow flies, I very rarely hiked those trails on the other side of the mountains. However, I was even more amazed to eventually scout the southern side of the area and to enjoy the views over the landscape that is more hilly than the landscape to the north. After three days I arrived back happily, a little sore though, but with another 105 kilometres in the books.
It was so much fun to explore the area on trails less hiked and nice to have a lot of solitude. I even spotted a huge stag that was crossing over right in front of me. It is always worth to leave the beaten path, to expand your view, push your limits, do things your style and – most important – do things that do you good.
