Bielefeld, St. Marien

Right now I’m in the west, so the closest unfinished trail is the one through Teutoburger Wald. As I felt a little antsy and restless the past days, I checked the weather forecast which showed 3 consecutive decent autumn days. So I decided to continue this hike after a two year break.

Got up early because it takes a 2.5 h train ride to the entry point. But there was delay and missed connection (of course 🙄). Giving in to the circumstances, I tried to make the best of it and enjoy the landscape passing by. Watching the sun rising and coloring the fog that hovered over the scenery was really pretty!

At 10:30, with one hour of precious daylight lost, I finally started the hike in Halle. The profile of this tour was something different from my latest walks through Uckermark. Up and down with three summits, in total more than 400m each uphill and downhill. I hardly did breaks on the way and arrived in Bielefeld a bit after 3pm.

These days there is guaranteed daylight between about 9am and 4pm. That’s not much time for my typical distances (~25km on flat terrain, ~18km with elevation). But besides the daylight hours challenge, I really enjoy walking at this time of the year. Temperature today was mostly below 10°C, perfect. Only in the end I had a sunny 12 °C, which for me is that mean grey zone of too-hot-for-jacket but too-cold-for-tshirt 😅 No moskitos anymore, also very nice. Another challenge worth mentioning is the forest floor which is now fully covered with fallen leaves and a layer of muddy soil underneath. Quite a slippery melange.

The walk into Bielefeld was a pleasant surprise, it went straight through a zoo. How cool! The guesthouse is not that great but the room is clean and the bed comfy. What more do you need.. After a short rest I had to step out and get some food. And to another pleasant surprise: that wasn’t an issue whatsoever. The past hikes I could hardly move my feet. And today- no problem, yeayyy! So with a vague plan I walked into town and landed in a cute little cafe/bar with nice electronic music, good queer vibes and a yummy chicken salad. Fine ending to a fine day!

What was most astonishing, you ask? Those mountain bikers on paths I hardly manage on foot!

What was second most astonishing? The way I sprinted up that third and highest summit of today’s trip. Naice 😎

My thoughts while walking, you ask? Well, at first none. Everything was drowned out by the noise of my heavy breathing ☺️ Later I got into a rhythm and remembered my first days of this trail. Two years ago I was super eager to learn more about the history of this trail, this area, the historical figure of Hermann aka Arminius. And now it’s totally different. After these two years of pandemic, madness, lies and hate everywhere I long for peace and quiet. I still think all around here is historically relevant and worth exploring. But I am annoyed by walking a trail named after war and violence. I see this as a celebration of past conflicts and even identity created from those long gone battles. The naïve me hopes we can outgrow this already in my lifetime.

Audiobook of the day, you ask? Actually, I didn’t need it today. But I have brought two for this trip: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (almost finished already, I love it!). This Much Is True by Miriam Margolyes (no idea if it’s any good but I can’t imagine it being less than phenomenal and cracking funny)

Km walked today: 18.8Read more