Inside devil’s kitchen at Bad Salzdetfurth

Christina/ May 10, 2021/ The daily grind

This panoramic loop above Bad Salzdetfurth has it all: Wild animals and other dangers are lurking on this breathtaking hike which is 26 kilometres long and one has to manage nearly 800 metres of difference in altitude altogether. And: look out for the devil’s kitchen!

At the witchhouse
Today’s hike is called: Around Bad Salzdetfurth. The tour is supposed to be 21 kilometres long with a difference in altitude of 610 metres. Well, that’s not enough for us – we extend it in both directions.

We start at “Klein Düngen” a small village located at the river Lamme. The weather is perfect today. From that place we cross the B243 and turn into a country road until we reach the edge of the forest. Just a couple of minutes later we reach the gliderport of Bad Salzdetfurth. Due to Corona the place is completely empty. We move on towards “Waldfrieden”, a nearby restaurant. To our surprise there is witchhouse behind the place, as known from the fairy tale Hansel und Gretel.

At the devil’s kitchen
The adventure goes on. From the witchkitchen we reach the devil’s kitchen via a Yoga paradise. What a journey! And the devil’s kitchen lives up to it’s name as we meet some kind of a strange and fierce looking person wearing camouflage clothing carrying a grundog with him. Jesus, I think to myself, hopefully that beast is not hungry!

At the cool Gehlenbach
We walk a little bit downhill and reach the Erlengrund. That is a very nice Picknick spot located a river. It looks tempting to us but we still have some kilometres ahead of us. Just behind the rest area a rampant awaits us – now our calf muscles are being tested. We reach the Adolf-Stoffregen-Turm and climb it: 111 steps and a height of 21 metres.

Afterwards we award ourselves with a lunch break on a nearby bench. We start an interesting discussion about “wingmen” and “sidekicks”, two terms I have not heard of before. That’s why I listen closely, to learn something new.

At the resistance
We arrive at Detfurth and go for some coffee-to-go. The owner of a kiosk tells us that masks are not necessary as we are alone in the place. We are puzzled. Then Frederik draws my attention on two stickers: “Masks – no thank you” and “Corona – no thank you”. I see this is the resistance.

After the refreshment we move on and climb up to the next challenge. We take the Katerstieg up to the Saubergshöhenweg. It is a ridgeway which is really nice but also very sunny today. We are sweating and our water supply runs short.

What is the weight of an ant?
While thinking about chances to get some water another attraction catches our eyes. We pass by some anthills and streets. We observe the little creatures how they carry its loads. Suddenly I wonder what’s the weight of an ant and is possible to weigh them at all as they are so tiny and small. We puzzle over it a little bit and later I find out that ants weigh betweeen 6-10 milligram.

Adventure Golf
We still do not have enough water. Our hope is on the golf course laying before us. We are adressing to a nice Golf couple and ask for water. They tell us that there is a water tap close to the clubhouse.

Our joy about the cool water running in our bottles and over our necks and legs is indescribable. Now we just have to make it safe back to our hiking path which is not that easy on a golf-course. We observe the players and watch out for their hits. Fortunately we make it to the other side without being hit and move on.

On the gallows
Our next goal is the Turmberghöhe and that one is a doozy because it is steep. Lucky enough the sun is hidden behind some clouds by now. We take a short break on a bench before we embark on the next ascend. We arrive at the outlook “Schöne Aussicht” and look out on Wesseln and Detfurth. We take a deep breath, we already made it. We descend from the hill and pass by the Passeiche and reach the gallows, well a point with that name.

We then reach the ridgeway at the forest’s edge and have our destination, Klein Düngen, already before our face. The path itself is nice but some kind of flies are bothering us all the time – nasty little creatures.

Reaching the end of the ridgeway we descend back to Klein Düngen. We admire the flowerage of a cherry tree and a little dog behind a fence. Finally we reach our car after 26 kilometres and a difference in altitude of nearly 800 metres. What a hike!

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