16 August - Katzenbuckel

We got up bright and early to catch the train to Heidelberg this morning and meet with this hiking group. We then took the train to Eberbach to hike over the Katzenbuckel and through the Wolfschlucht to Zwingenberg. The 626 m high Katzenbuckle (cat hump) is a volcanic cone on the Buntsandsteinhochfläche.

The first part of the hike was probably the hardest since we had to ascend 550m. Obviously it wasn't straight up, but it was a lot of walking uphill. We got to see the castle ruins of Eberbach and Skylar impressed everyone with his climbing skills, while I impressed them with my steel nerves. We continued up for a while and stopped in a meadow for a snack. Once we got to the top there was a magnificent 18m tower which we climbed up the narrow staircase to see the view from the top. It was extrodinary! You could see Osenwald and the Stuttgart Tv tower all the way out to the Black Forest.

On our descent down the other side, we happened along a little lake festival and stopped for lunch and apfelshorle, which is a common refreshing drink made of apple juice and fizzy water. Germans love that fizzy water! Then we walked down to the lake where Skylar promptly took off his shoes and waded in a bit to cool off. Temps were about 32 degrees (90 F), so it was hot!

We continued on and were so grateful upon coming into the forest again by the creek where it was considerably cooler. We were in the gorge Wolf. The scenery was beautiful and had the feeling of an Amazon forest with overhanging trees and lots of greenery. We hiked down the creek for a while and then back onto the paths in the woods. We cut out of the woods and into a small neighborhood at some point and then back into the woods. We came to the Castle Zwingenberg which overlooked the Neckar. It was just a short hike from there into town.

We stopped at a cute little restaurant for lunch and refreshments along the Neckar. The group was very diverse and had some people native to Germany and some from Iran and even an army guy who was recently stationed there. It was fun trading stories and chatting with all the different people.

We parted from the group at the train station because they were going back to Heidelberg and it was quicker for us to go on to Heilbronn from there. Well it would have been quicker if we didn't get mixed up again somehow. Not sure what happened, but we had to catch another train when our train reached it's final destination. We're getting used to it and the trains are nice and relaxing where we read our books and/ or I knit, so we don't mind anymore.

A full day and 10 miles! Wow! I was so impressed with Skylar. I had originally thought we might part from the group and go back, but there was no need. He complained a little, but had no problem keeping up. Actually he was usually ahead of everyone.