We've been hiking a lot lately but I haven't been posting any of it... but today we took a lot of pictures so I have enough for a blog! We started off in Hauenstein, went up to "Dicke Eiche" then to the "Hühnerstein" and then back down into Hauenstein which we had to walk all the way through in order to return to where we had parked. It was a great hike - not too much "up" (~200 meters) and I'd say 6-7 miles long. And, even better, it was a perfect fall day. The colors aren't quite at peak yet but they're getting there.
The first few miles of the trail were a nice flat stroll through the woods:
Then there were some steep switchbacks for maybe 20-30 minutes and then we were at Dick Eiche already. There was a nice view from there.
...and they had the best cake I've had at one of these forest huts yet. Definitely worth a return visit. In the picture below the cake in the foreground is called a "Bienenstich" and it's amazing wherever you get it from. The top layer of it is like a hardened honey sort of thing and when you combine it with the fluffy creme filling and the angelfood cake it's just perfect.
We also ran into a group of people singing at this hut while we were enjoying our lunch and cake. This is the second time we've run into a group of people hiking and singing so it must be a thing here. The singing groups have both been pretty good too:
Did you know that Hauenstein is like the home of the shoe? Well, it seems to be. I found this article online that summarizes all the shoe-related things that go on in Hauenstein: https://www.kaiserslauternamerican.com/satisfy-your-shoe-fetish-with-a-trip-to-the-german-shoe-museum/
And below is a picture of a big shoe outside the hut that we ate lunch and cake at. We were also hiking along the shoe trail, which was blazed with a yellow square with a black shoe outline in it. Shoes everywhere!
We then wandered on to the Hühnerstein, enjoying some more forested paths along the way. Then you had to climb up a fairly long ladder in order to enjoy the view from the Hühnerstein, which was fun.
And then we walked back down into Hauenstein. Here's Martin enjoying the view over the town on the way down.
