Mastodawn

Around noon last Sunday I went for a 19 mile walk to the mountains in the South (Schwäbische Alb).
I went up the hills late afternoon and on the plateau (at the Stöffelberg summit) I assisted some happy folks at a campfire with a group selfie.
At sunset I was ascending to a higher section of the plateau and got a view of the blood red sun.
Over a narrow forested crest I reached Wackerstein summit and got a nice view of the lights of Reutlingen before descending back into the darkness of life.

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Stephan Mar 10

PS: At the edge of the darkness of the hills a bus was waiting for me.
After the driver had swallowed their respectable sandwich they comfortably took me to a train, which got me back home.
I'm a happy user of the Deutschlandticket regional public transport flat rate, although I think, the most recent price increase was a testimony of bad priorities.
We got a nice regional bus network here, and more people should be encouraged to use it.

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Spaceways Mar 10

@bisamsee That sounds a magic walk. How high is the tree line round there? All the way to the top?

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Stephan Mar 10

@Spaceways

I should do this more often, like you do 🌌

It's about a 12 miles walk south from my home to the nearest peaks, which are typically 2400 to just under 3000 ft high.
Indeed the tree line at the steep edge often goes to the top, depending also on historic land use and exposure to the winds.
Some ex-view points have overgrown with trees in recent years ☺️
The forest includes lots of beeches, but often is a lovely mix of tree types. During autumn colours are breathtaking in some areas 🍁

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Spaceways Mar 10

@bisamsee That's a high tree line compared to here. Limit is around 2000 ft where I live but really you find few trees above 1000 ft due to land use over the years. You not got snow on the hills at this time of year at that height? A forest of beech with a mix of trees sounds lovely.

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Stephan Mar 10

@Spaceways

Three weeks ago there was some snow left on the north face of the distant hill in my photo, above 2700 ft.
At the end of 1984 there were three feet or so of snow on the plateau. It was bitter cold and very beautiful.
The warmer Atlantic brings milder air and less snow to us these days.
Winds over the peaks in Scotland are much stronger than here, though ☺️
I visited the Cairngorms for a few hours in May 2011 and found it adventurous just being outdoors 😅

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Spaceways Mar 10

@bisamsee The Cairngorms is a fine place for a walk. About 50 miles from me. You mentioning that you use the bus for your walk got me thinking. There's a bus now that I've been meaning to take. It stops at the Glenshee ski centre. On the highest public road in Scotland which makes the bus stop the highest in Scotland too. I like the idea of going to that. Bus stop is round the 2100 ft mark.

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Stephan Mar 10

@Spaceways

I found Glenshee and the pass on opentopomaps. Looks impressive, but that goes for all of Scotland 😆
A bit challenging to walk all the way home, though?
How do you plan to get back?

By the way, whenever I hear a bird singing these days I imagine, how it would appear on your Merlin app ☺️

On Sunday, a red kite and three brimstone butterflies got honourable mentions. None of them would sing, though 😊

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Spaceways Mar 10

@bisamsee Bus gets there about 9.30am and comes back about 3.30pm so I'll get bus there and back. That gives me 6 hrs to walk up a hill and there's a coffee shop next to the bus stop if I'm back early. I'll probably leave it for the warmer months though. Walking big hills using public transport to get there appeals to me. I hate going in the car anywhere.

Brimstone butterflies, just magic. We don't get many of them here in the north.

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Stephan Mar 10

@Spaceways

A very cool plan! 🤘🏻
I'd love to see it happen one day, when you feel like it ☺️

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