Trip to the Harz mountains, Germany

[knoefz]

2 weeks back we took a short trip to a national park in Germany called the Harz.
A very beautiful and green area, we enjoyed camping there alot.
Took some pics I wanted to share with you guys, hope you enjoy a peek to a different part of the world.

This was on our way there, in the Teutoburgerwald. Somewhere in the 18th or 19th centure these rocks were 'molested' with some caves and stairs to make the accessible ... crazy or what?

Guinness is looking for sticks... he can't choose which one is best

View from out spot at the campsite in Altenau

This place makes me zen... wish we had forests this big in the Netherlands...

Guinness was zen too

Mountain rescue team was practicing their rope skills.

So many trees....

 

[knoefz]

So many trees....

Did I mention there were lots of trees? Some of the trails we used were not used alot.

Light in these forests was beautiful.

I know you want to see some gear So this is a lunch break.
Making tea, using the Esee3, Core 4 stove and a big firesteel.
Foldable cups and a Triangia 0.9l kettle.
Just outside the National park... fire's not allowed there.

Guess who was enjoying the sun the most?

Weather was different every day.

 

[knoefz]

foggy... rainy... sunny..

Could hardly find our campervan at the campsite in Schierke

Trail up the Brocken (highest mountain in the area, 1142m). Back in the days Germany was split up in east and west this mountain was a no go area in eastern Germany.

Some nice streams

Storms knocked down loads of the trees

Some parts of the forest clearly had issues... we'd seen this on many places there. Wonder what caused this.

Still some snow leftovers when we got above 1000m

The trees blocked most of our views. This is one of the very few we had

We enjoyed our time there alot. Hope these pics inspire you to get out there

 

[mete]

Very nice area , thanks !
"crazy or what ? " Look up the City of Petra and see what can be done by carving rock , in this case sandstone. In America' south west , Indians did similar things for secure living !

 

[22-rimfire]

Weather was different every day.

I especially like this picture. Looks like a real nice area. I bet the cable crossing on the stream would be a bit troublesome in high water judging by the clearance during low water.

 

[lambertiana]

[/QUOTE]

Very nice! I, too, especially like this picture.

 

[knoefz]

Thanks for the kind words guys.
Appreciate it.

The colors in the picture above make it very attractive imho too.

 

[Herlock]

Very nice! It looks a beautiful area , never heard of this before. Thanks for sharing !

 

[HornyToad]

Just curious. Knife laws over there. I though you got in trouble with a lock blade folder in the city. I guess a sheath knife is allowed for camping.

 

[knoefz]

Just curious. Knife laws over there. I though you got in trouble with a lock blade folder in the city. I guess a sheath knife is allowed for camping.

Daggers, gravity knives, automatic knives and butterfly knives are illegal afaik.
Locking folders and fixed blades over 12 cm have restrictions iirc....
The Esee 3 (carried in my backpack) is smaller than that (assuming they talk about blade/edge lenghth, not over all length).

Restricted-use knives may be carried if transported in a locked, sealed container, or if there is a commonly accepted legitimate purpose for carrying it, such as participation in a historical reenactment, sporting use (i.e. hunting), or as a necessary tool in a trade or business.

But I'm no expert.

 

[22-rimfire]

Very nice! I, too, especially like this picture.[/QUOTE]

 

[22-rimfire]

It is the kind of picture I use for wall paper on my computer.

 

[silvaticus]

Just to answer your question as to what caused the dead trees: That would be a tiny (~2mm) bark beetle, called the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus). More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_spruce_bark_beetle
It looks bad right now, but generally these forests regenerate nicely from such episodes of mortality...

 

[knoefz]

Just to answer your question as to what caused the dead trees: That would be a tiny (~2mm) bark beetle, called the European spruce bark beetle (Ips typographus). More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_spruce_bark_beetle
It looks bad right now, but generally these forests regenerate nicely from such episodes of mortality...

Thanks!
More people pointed out to me the damage was done by beetles, appreciate your link, very interesting.

 

[Mikel_24]

Could hardly find our campervan at the campsite in Schierke

Great pictures!!! But you DEFINITELY need to ditch the 2.4D and get a 2.5TDI... XD XD

 

[jmh33]

Very NICE pics!! Thanks for sharing!!! John

 

[knoefz]

Great pictures!!! But you DEFINITELY need to ditch the 2.4D and get a 2.5TDI... XD XD

Lol... wish we had that kind of engine... don't laugh when I tell you it's a 1.8 gasoline engine in there. We travel uphill very slowly

Very NICE pics!! Thanks for sharing!!! John

Good to hear you like the pictures John. It was even better irl

 

[Mikel_24]

Lol... wish we had that kind of engine... don't laugh when I tell you it's a 1.8 gasoline engine in there. We travel uphill very slowly

Holly cow! I didn't even know that 1.8 gasoline was an option! A friend of mine has the 2.0 gasoline (110bhp) in a Syncro Caravelle (now with all the innards of a totalled California) and I drive a 2.5 Syncro TDI... I was expecting your van (according to the front end) to be a 2.4 or even 1.9TD... You have plenty of VW vans in Germany (mine is german!).... you need to do something about it!

My sister has been working in Austria for 3 years now (Wells), and I drove all the way up there two years ago for a 2 week trip. That's the closest I have been to Germany (not counting flights landing in Frankfurt and Munich in my way to other destinations).

Keep posting pictures, they are great!

 

[John A. Larsen]

knoefz, I wonder how many HP that 1.8 produces? I had a new 1977 VW van (not a camper) with the new BIG 2 Liter engine producing 67 HP! It took my wife and I plus other 3 kids from Massachusetts to California, to Texas, back to California and returned to Massachusetts and never missed a beat. Not sure I could handle a VW with 110 HP! John
PS That foggy weather in the photo, it must have been nice to have that camper to return to.

 

[knoefz]

Holly cow! I didn't even know that 1.8 gasoline was an option! ....You have plenty of VW vans in Germany (mine is german!).... you need to do something about it!
...
Keep posting pictures, they are great!

Lol, I live in the Netherlands... but germany is pretty close. Don't want to invest in another engine... the van is from 1995... we just take it slow. We use it for vacation, no need to hurry anyway glad you enjoyed the pictures!

knoefz, I wonder how many HP that 1.8 produces? ...
...
PS That foggy weather in the photo, it must have been nice to have that camper to return to.

If I remember correctly this engine has 67 horse power
It was nice to get back in the fog and rain and turn on the heater