At the Hildesheimer Wald: Fog, mud and apple cake
Once again thick, monotonous grey lies above the city. It is a dark and heavy haze which lies above all, swallows all the light and makes this day gloomy and dull. In case slight mizzle is added to this scenery the misery is perfect. I had enough of this wheather situation by now. Only one thing can help: looking for a hiking destination, inside the car and off we go.
A bridge across the warme Beuster
Until now only the kalte and warme Bode of the Harzer Bodetal were known to me. I have not heard of the river Beuster so far. That should change today, as we want to cross the same on a wooden bridge today. We start our 20 km long tour at the district Hildesheimer Wald near to the Boschgelände. After some time on a tar road we reach the edge of the forest and thus the Rennstieg. Unfortunately the ways are quite torn and muddy due to the works of Caterpillar-vessels. It feels like we are walking crisscross through the woods, there is not much to see besides trees. After a while, about 8 kilometres, we arrive at the wooden bridge that leads across the warme Beuster. The combination of crossover, the moss and the thick layers of leaves on the ground makes an impressive picture.
After crossing the bridge we walk uphill for a while and turn then to the right. We see a signpost to the Haus Escherde with the symbol for “Eat & drink”, also known as “Klosterstübchen”. Sounds tempting but unfortunately we have to keep this tempation on the sidelines. We move on towards the Hildesheimer Aussichtsturm. There should be a woodland restaurant. Hopefully it is open.
Where is Kötschach-Mauthen?
At first we pass by a bank with veneration of saints, we then come to a crossing where the Forstgemeinschaft Himmelsthür eternalized itself with a memorial stone. We are a little bit irritated by the destination boards, leading to Paris, London, Copenhagueen and Kötschach-Mauthen. Where is Kötschach-Mauthen? Through the internet we learn that the place is located in Austria, more exact at Kärnten. Still we do not get the connection between the cities. Is it that Kötschach-Mauthen is probably the twin town of Himmelsthür? Who knows. Further down the way we come across the memorial stone of the Forstgemeinschaft Sorsum. The stone shows the wood masters of the last 175 years. Just a few metres further down we see the Hildesheimer Aussichtsturm and the corresponding restaurant. And we are lucky the restaurant is open. We enter the place carefully and there it is: we meet Gustav and are in love instantly.
A dog called Gustav
Gustav that is the sweet and trusting dog that belongs to the restaurant. We sit down in the cozy and nicely decorated and well-temperatured room. Oh that is so nice to look from the cuddly warm room into the murky cold outside. We order our drinks and then it comes: the best apple pie that I have eaten for a long time. It is a huge piece of it, opulently spread with butter crumble and slices of apples. Underneath there is a layer of cream cheese and a wonderful shortcrust. Fantastic! Gustav comes by from time to time. The minute a friend of him enters the room, a Saint Bernard, he completely freaks out.
Outside the sun has set. It is time though to leave the cozy restaurant as we have to walk back throught the forest to our starting point. And we did not expect such a steep descent. Armed with a torch we move carefully through the wet leaves. After this adventurous valley line we arrive at the tar road safely and still wallowing in the apple pie coma.
