2022-04-16 49 7

Location

In the forest near Erlenbach bei Dahn.

Participants

DLichti is planning to go for a walk with his parents.
Baarde

Plans

DLichti

Take the car to Weißensteinerhof in the early afternoon. Visit the Bühlersteine, the hash point and Heidenberg.

Baarde

I will cycle from Wissembourg to Erlenbach. I expect to be at the coordinates around 14:30.

Expedition

DLichti

We left the car at the parking near the jewish cemetary just outside Busenberg at around 12:45. It was a very nice weather, fresh an sunny. Our first goal were the Bühlsteine (a.k.a. Buhlsteine, Puhlsteine), a rocky ridge overlooking the pass between the valleys of the Erlenbach and the Wieslauter. We met quite a few groups of rock climbers all along that ridge. From the southern end, we could already look down on the approximate geohash location.

Back down in the valley, we came be a small chapel. From there, it was not far to the location, and we were in good time. Just before arriving to the closest road-reachable point, we saw a man in the distance, on a bike, holding a phone and suspiciously looking into the general direction of the geohash. It soon turned out to be Baarde.

While he looked for a more appropriate approach by bike from the other side, we stepped right through the meadow. The location turned out to be close to an old tree. We arrived there almost simultaneous at around 14:30, just as planned. It was a nice time, getting to know each other and sharing some cookies.

After half an hour, Baarde had to leave to get back to his train. We continued on our way to the Heidenberg. There were very nice views on the surrounding hills and valleys with their castles and villages to be had from the Heidenfels and Buchkammerfels. The latter one has some carved chambers, which allegedly were used to hide the treasures of the nearby Drachenfels. From there, we went back down and soon came back to our starting point.

Baarde

I left Wissembourg train station at 13:15 and took the Pamina-Radweg Lauterfal cycle path. This cycle path follows the Lauter river and connects Lauterbourg (France) to Hinterweidenthal (Germany), crossing the border a few kilometers after Wissembourg. In Niederschlettenbach I turned right, took a different cycle path along the Erlenbach river, and arrived in Erlenbach bei Dahn at 14:00.

As I was a little bit early, I made a small detour by Burg Bewartstein, a medieval castle just above the village. On arriving near the geohash, I realized the way from the path to the coordinates was a little bit steep. Rather than doing cyclo-cross with my 20kg bicycle, I decided to turn back and come from the other side.

As I reached the coordinates, I was greeted (in French) by three people. They were DLichti and his parents. We ate some delicious cookies and chatted for half an hour. Afterwards I headed back toward France and my train home.