Serendipity

 

Lots of reasons to be cheerful today. 

A few days back the forecast was suggesting that we might be sheltering from a thunderstorm and heavy rain all day. Given that part of the day seven walk was advertised as being inadvisable in or after heavy rain, it was looking like an indoor day.

However, the thunder storm arrived last night before dark and deposited about five minutes of rain. We woke up to a day around 10 degrees cooler than we’ve been used to, and cloudy to boot. 

Breakfast was much the same as the others, except that they offer a baked Topfen thing (curd, delicious in a strudel) and also Kaiserschmarrn (not as good as I’ve had in Vienna - it’s kind of scrambled pancake).

We filled our bellies (and our pockets) and nipped back to Neckargerach on the train to resume our trail. This started above and parallel to the rail tracks which gave us a view over the river before climbing as usual.

This time, though, we had a really enjoyable scramble up a very steep and atmospheric gorge. It turns out that this is the section to avoid in wet weather, and you can see why. It was bone dry today, but the various branches, and even whole trees, that were strewn about were evidence of just how violent a torrent can plunge down at other times.

We hairpinned back and forth to reach the top, and when I say it was steep, we had to use our hands in places to pull up on tree roots, or metal handles placed for that purpose. In one place we had to duck right down and squeeze under an overhanging rock, so we were glad not to have our packs with us. Joff had generously offered to carry our water and food, but that was much lighter than his usual load.

The rest of the trail was much less dramatic, though pleasantly varied. Yes, more woodland tracks, though with a change in underlying geology we had many more oaks, hornbeam and hawthorn, plus some lovely wildflowers. 

And also some open areas where we skirted fields. This was another reason to be thankful for our only cloudy day, as we spent a good portion of the walk out in the open.

At one point we had to cross a quiet road running into a village, and I was delighted to be greeted by one of those speed checker things, telling me that I was travelling at 5km per hour, and being rewarded with a digital smiley face.

Despite the cooler temperatures we were still pretty warm and tired as we entered Mosbach, imagining it was for the first time, and laying claim to another celebratory ice cream.

Mosbach is about the same size as Taunton, but rather more picturesque. The old town, in common with the other places we’ve passed through, is really lovely, and on a grander scale. After a rest and a shower we took advantage of the cooler temperature to have another pootle around, every corner turned revealing another impossibly lovely building.

It almost looks like a film set, but these are definitely 16th and 17th century buildings.

We spent a pleasant hour over a cold drink, watching the world go by, then headed to a Lebanese restaurant for dinner. It was ok. The only slightly bum note in an otherwise harmonious day.

Em x