What's the Westweg? You might not know so I'll give you a bit of a description. It's a 285km (177mi) trail that runs through the Black Forest here in Germany. It starts in Pforzheim and ends in Basel, Switzerland. Elevation change can be a bit drastic as it runs from the valley up onto the ridge and then back down. In the final stages you cross the highest peak in the region at 1410m. While not a well known trek internationally it is a local favorite and over 100 years old. And that in brief is what the Westweg is. But I'm not good at being brief so allow me to go into some detail. If I'm going to be honest, which I should and will be, the Westweg is an old man's trail. Most days so far have been a bit like what a long walk through the woods to your grandparent's house would be. It's friendly and charming with a bit of coziness on top. And I love it.
When Ennio first told me about it I knew it was something I'd like to do. But in line with my plan for this trip, which is to have no plan, I found myself winging it right from landing in Munich. About all I really knew was that the trail started in Pforzheim and that that's where I needed to be. So I hopped on a standing room only train to Munich central station and was soon standing at a big red automated ticket booth looking for Munich to Pforzheim. To my dismay the 23:50 train I had been in a hurry to catch cost €75. The 3:30 train was only €29. "Time is money", or something like that. At 23:50, as the train departed, I was sitting on a bench eating a cheese and tomato baguette watching it go. I found myself with 3.5 hours to kill. Most of this I spent eating but eventually I felt brave enough to peak outside the station. What I saw were many intoxicated individuals, a few police, and a lot I wasn't ready for. So I returned to the safety of the station and plopped down on a bench at platform 19 to wait on my ride. Around 2:30 it pulled in and soon after I hopped on. This train would take me from Munich to Stuttgart where I had 8 minutes to hop on the train to Pforzheim. That's how I found myself at the Pforzheim station, a bigger city than expected, wondering where exactly the Westweg was.
I now know that right from the station you can find and follow the Westweg's symbol, a red lozenge, to the start. Not knowing this at the time I instead decided to loiter about a bus stop and cause an elderly woman much anxiety. Eventually coming to the conclusion this was getting me nowhere I headed off and stumbled across a tourist information center. Here a helpful man looked at me and said "I'm no wanderer" when asked about the trail. Luckily the next man in line behind me stepped up and told me to head for Birkfeld. Which is then how I found myself at 7:20 in a sea of school children hopping on and off busses. After a short wait I managed to part the sea to board bus 717. After using my excellent detective skills, and a couple visits to the town map, I was finally off on the trail.
Stage 1: Pforzheim - Dobel 25km
What a joy it was to finally be in the trees. Iceland had next to none and our hikes in Norway didn't take us around many. What wonderful things trees are. Jazzed up on trees and excited to be on the trail I tried to not let my combined 4 hours of plane/train sleep slow me down. I promised myself some nice sleep somewhere. This part of the hike took me in and out of trees, outskirts of towns, and into Dobel. Along the way I would find apple trees for snacks and plenty of fountains for water. Often there were signs that potentially said something interesting, but in German. Some signs which were closer to Dobel I'm glad I could not read as they depicted witches, goblins and mean looking gnomes. One young kid, that must have read the signs, turned around immediately and ran to town at the sight of me. Once in town, after stopping at a market, I headed for the information center. Unfortunately it was closed but it was warm and had bathrooms and an electrical outlet. It's here I was sitting when an old man missing two front teeth shuffled in and slid into a seat. He began speaking to me in German but looked excited once he learned I spoke English. He to speaks a bit of English as he worked and lived in New York for two years. We talked for a while and I learned he collects currency so I gave him some from Norway, Iceland and the US. Pleased with my offering he offered to show me a bit of town. I had been thinking of walking on but I couldn't resist this opportunity. This is how Wolf and I became friends and I ended up staying in Dobel. After a visit to the market where Wolf bought a large quantity of beer for a 78 year old man we headed to his apartment. He showed me his wonderful collection of stamps, some as old as 1800s! I also got to see his currency collection which included many German bills predating both World Wars. One of these from 1914 he let me take as a souvenir. We'd eventually move on to a restadurant where I tried, and enjoyed, Flammkuchen. It's a bit like pizza. Before returning to my hotel room, which felt like a king's suite, I got Wolf's address. I've promised to send him a postcard from the end of the trail.
Stage 2: Dobel - Forbach 25km
I woke up early this day to head downstairs from my room and get breakfast. It wasn't the most exciting, bread cheese and jam, but it was free with the room. So I ate all I could and then headed out onto the trail. The walk to Forbach was very nice. Once again in and out of woods but this time with some elevation gain. My favorite part by far was towards the end as Forbach came into view. It is one of the most beautiful towns I've seen. The trail once again took me by some apple trees and eventually a small garden with benches. Sitting in that garden with the trees and flowers watching the town and hearing the church's bells will stay in my mind a long time. I arrived quite early though in town and had spent some money the previous day so passed by, after buying 3 Berliner donuts in a bakery. Exiting town my mind was set on camping in the wild to save money. This is of course not legal in Germany. However after going up and up and up I found a small hut which seemed somewhat inviting. It had a biblical feel with the crucified Jesus figure on the wall and a bible placed inside. It also had an upstairs which seemed fitting for sleeping in. So here I sat and waited until near dark before climbing up and placing a board with a log ontop over the entrance to prevent unwanted visitors. This night I woke up many times and each time I looked to see if my "door" was still in place. The rising sun was a welcome sight. Definitly after my realization that it had been a full moon that night.
Stage 3-4: Forbach - Alexanderschanze 45km
I woke up in my creepy hut ready to get a move on. Off I went. This time I felt more out in the wild than before. The feeling of isolation was a bit stronger. Either I really was out there or the previous night got to me. Either way I was still enjoying the scenery and my walk in the woods. Often it got steep as the trail went to Hornisgrinde, something like 600m above Forbach. It was around that point I began to notice more and more people. At first not an unwelcome sight until reaching Mummelsee on the other side of Hornisgrinde. At this point I had been hiking for quite some time and was quite tired. The mass of people at Mummelsee was overwhelming. I stumbled into a shop, bought a coke, and made it back outside to a bench. There I drank the coke and was revived. Fueled by soda and eager to leave people behind I pressed on. From here it was relatively flat and I made good time. Nearing the end of stage 4 I found a place to hide my tent and crawled in to sleep. Now I'm thankful to have completed those two stages that day. But, I don't have much desire to walk 26 miles while carrying a 30 pound backpack again. Not for a while anyway.
Stage 5: Alexanderschanze - Hark 17km
Stages 5 and 6 are shorter than must and usually the two stages that people combine to save time. I had it in my mind that I may combine these two also and get to Basel much eadlier. However upon encountering my first incline of the day I realized that may not happen. My feet were a bit unwilling to do much of an effort. It had also been a while since I had found a market so I was running a bit low on food. By the time I reached Hark I was thankful for a place to rest and eat. So here I fell into the lap of luxury in a guesthouse/dairy. I was the first to arrive and thought I'd be alone. Slowly though many Westweg wanderers began trickling in. My room was soon shared by a German and two guys from Israel. We all got along quite well and soon had made plans to go see about dinner together. And lucky for us we had a real German with us to translate the menu! On the way up we first had to pause and let the cows stroll by with their bells ringing as they headed into the barn. We joked that dinner was walking by, and in a way it was true. The cows produce some great milk for cheese. At dinner I learned a lot and had a great time chatting with three new friends. Some of my favorite things I learned about Israel are: They have great vegetables there, Israeli women are difficult (at least if you're an Israeli man), there's a mountain in Israel that gets a little snow each year, and when this mountain has snow people flock to it with shopping bags to use as sleds for their children. The visual I was given of the "snow", which is mostly mud, and kids being pushed by overzealous parents in the name of fun was hilarious. I'd love to see it one day. We all went to bed that night well fed and happy.
Stage 6: Hark - Hausach 20km
In the morning we parted ways as our Israeli friends were hiking Basel - Pforzheim. But not until after eating a wonderful breakfast with yogurt, milk and cereal. Burkhard and I would hike together until reaching Hausach. Along the way we saw of course lovely trees and the German smokey mountains. Mist rising up out of the trees gave it all a magical touch. The highlight of the stage however came from a small hut that we decided to see about resting at. As we approached I noticed the smell of breakfast and heard voices. Eventually we'd be greeted and asked to step inside. Thankfully I was with a German speaker or I may have missed this entirely. Inside this quaint little hut was a cozy atmosphere created by two grandparents and their granddaughter. They come up to the hut every weekend to spend time and greet wanderers. We were promptly offered cake, citron tea, and some liquour made of apples from the region. My German friend of course did most of the talking and I sat and enjoyed the environment, tea, and cake. Before leaving we signed the guestbook and got a picture in front of the hut. I've learned a lot about the kindness of people and this was another great example. When we reached Hausach Burkhard helped me locate a place to stay before heading to his own accomodation. I have his contact info but we'll likely see each other again on the trail. 5 days to go.
So here I am in Gasthaus zur Eiche, full from dinner and in a bed. No, I'm not exactly "roughing it" out here in Germany. I've done a bit of that and I'll probably do some more before the end. After all it saves money. But I will take advantage of these lovely guesthouses a few more times too. I get to meet more people, take a shower, and get breakfast in the morning. The Westweg can be pretty luxurious if you let it be. Onwards to Basel.
Sincerely,
Zeb
P.S. I know my last few posts have been huge, sorry about that. My access to internet has been a lot more infrequent and a lot happens!
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