So my friends, Katie and Patrick AND their daughter, Morgan, invited me along on a hike up Brocken mountain - the tallest mountain in northern Germany (by the way, northern Germany is pretty flat! ;)
Here we go....onward and unfortunately for me, upward...
Very pretty forests....I have to say that Patrick kind of...well, lied! He said it wasn't a 'hike' it was a 'walk' - this coming from the guy who had just finished a week-long HIKE in Sweden, I should have realized some things are relative ;)
This is how I would have preferred to have gone up (especially when I was a sweaty as could be), THE TRAIN! Yes, there is a train that will take you up and down, I just wanted it for the up part....but oh well...we got the opportunity to hike a mountain....hmm... ;)
Pointing to the height, we're almost there....granted, this part, with paved road was easier - thankfully...
Almost to the top and WHAT A VIEW! Now we're coming to the part I love! I love, love, love VIEWS from high up! (I joked in an earlier blog post that I think it's a sign of my meglomanic pride - I love looking down on things from heights! :)
That below is the town of Wernigerode - you can see pix of Wernigerode on an earlier post on this blog)...
So we got to the top and saw this sign - Berlin, 'thaddaway'! ;)
We made it to the top, over 3700 feet high! Woot-woot!
Brocken mountain had always been associated with witches and devils and that is why the whole area has 'witches' as decorations everywhere...
But what a pretty view...it reminds me of Fairbanks, actually...
Patrick said that 'they say' the climate on top of the mountain is near to an arctic desert...again, Fairbanks! LOL
Patrick said that Brocken means 'lump'. Patrick's dad upon seeing this picture said 'look, it's a lump on a lump' - I'm the other lump! ;) (I thought it was funny! :)
Brocken had a radio and TV sending tower from before WWII, but the Soviets used the area big time to listen into West Germany during the Cold War.
Another view....this is north-ish...
Goodbye views! I think you're wonderful!
And down the mountain we go. Katie is a trooper! She carried Morgan up and down! And here I am trying just to carry my own carcass around....
That in the distance is Braunlage, a West German ski resort! So odd that East and West were SO close....
This was a 'short-cut' that Patrick wanted to take. I'm SO glad we didn't take it whilst going up....it's like they chose THE watershed as a path! Those rocks were more or less ONLY on that path....hmm...
Again, the 'fire-breathing' iron beast, aka fun-time train that could have saved Aaron from being sweaty-gross....
Cool, eh? 'Come into the woods, if you dare!' No wonder the woods were often scary in German folklore...
I love Don Quixote's Giants in Europe, especially because these help make the world a better place ;)
Katie took this beautiful photo at the end of our day. I was tired...but did I ever sleep well!!
Thanks Familie Woite for taking me to the Brocken! Awesome times....
