The Bodetal Hike

This was the second serious hike of the trip, through the Bode River valley. It's called the Grand Canyon of Germany, apparently, and when we started out on the Treseburg end of the hike, honestly, I didn't see it. It was pretty. Lots of trees, some elevation gain, though we were already pretty high up.

The trail was mainly dirt and some roots for a while, then we hit the rocky part (see picture at some point). I was glad we had our poles with us, because it was sort of rough going. We didn't see many people, as we started early (apparently), and were going the opposite way from most hikers, who start in Thale and go to Treseburg. It's an in and out, not a round, though you can make it one if you climb up to the ridge line one way or the other.

At one point, we hit a series of switchbacks that brought us through a fairly significant descent. We had passed a handful of other hikers (coming from Thale) by this point, and as we were coming down, saw a few take a look at the trail (for them a steep ascent) and turn around and head back to Thale.

It was after this part of the trail that I could see why people nicknamed it the Grand Canyon of Germany. High canyon walls, nice river at the bottom. Still very green though. Dramatic scenery, enough to inspire Goethe (yes, him again), whose presence there is marked by a carving into the cliffs. That though, will probably be in a later set of pictures.Read more