Black Forest, Germany

[gebuesch1]

Just some pix taken during the last 10 years in the northern part of the Black Forest in Germany. You can´t compare it to the Rockies or AK but it´s nice.

A little lake created by the last ice age:


Another lake:


View over the foothills, the Rhine valley into France and the Vosges Mountains:


Easter 2008:

[Peanut]

Hello !

Next time I'm hiking in the Vosges Mountains, I'll bring my camera along and try to get a picture from Black Forest, seen from France, across Alsace (weather and cloud ceiling permitting ...)

Last time I was in the Black Forest, was in 1975, based in Achern...

Regards.

[gebuesch1]

Hi.

So I guess you lived in the barracks in the Illenau in Achern. The picture was taken near the B500 close to Hornisgrinde and Mummelsee right above the Acher valley. Without the fog in the Rhine valley Achern would be visible on the right.

Did you have to clean and take care of the Turenne monument in Sasbach when you were a soldier? I remember that French conscripts always had to clean the area around the monument in fall.

[berntboater]

Beautiful! I have fond memories tromping around the Black Forest as a youngster. Thanks for sharing.

[Peanut]

I was Air Force.
IIRC, our base was an old (?) psychiatric hospital.... and the soccer field was used once in a while as a landing spot for the colonel's chopper ...
;o))
We also had a listening post somewhere higher in the forest.

I remember spending a whole week-end, at the side of a small lake, for a sad mission : waiting for the corpse of a fellow conscript, to come up again (after he drowned in that lake)..
It surfaced again a few months later ...

[gebuesch1]

The old psychiatric hospital is called Illenau and some parts of it have been used as a night club called "Psychiatric" for about 10 years.

The picture was taken about 1.5-2km away from the old French listening post which was located close to the peak of the Hornisgrinde mountain. The remains of the listening post are used as a look-out tower for tourists nowadays.

Maybe you remember the big television tower on top of the Hornisgrinde which is visible from the Rhine valley?

[Peanut]

Hornisgrinde .... that name does move my memory cells ....

If I want to go hiking in that area some day, when in Alsace, do you think I'll get problem when crossing the border at Kehl, with my backpack and the "few" knives it contains ?
Bad question... I guess border shacks have totally vanished ...

[gebuesch1]

Well...sadly enough it is a good question. Although there aren´t any German custom officers at the border waiting for you and your knives but on April 1st gun/weapon laws got changed in Germany and you aren´t allowed to carry a fixed blade knive with a blade lenght of over 12cm or a any folder that can be opened and locked with only one hand regardless the blade lenght in public without a "good" reason like being on a hunt. So be careful what you take with you.

[Sawtooth]

Great pics! This brings back memories for me as well. I spent quite a lot of time further south, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and beyond. I also have some old (early '80s) pics from both the Austrian-German border and also a lot from where I was stationed in Mainz. I did a lot of backpacking in the Taunus mountains and backpacking and climbing in the Alps. Not too many responsibilities back then, and plenty of piss and vinegar. Sure spent a lot of time and effort immersing myself in German culture. Thanks for the photos.

[Peanut]

well... is hiking a good reason ??
all my folding knives are one hand opening and have a locking system.
I do have an small old Opinel, but I never use it. Just a collection item.
And IIRC my "camp knife" is a Cold Steel SRK with a 6" blade...