2014-05-22 49 10

Location

Today's location is in the forest near Bamberg.

Country: Germany; state: Bayern (Bavaria, EU:DE:BY); administrative region: Oberfranken; district: Bamberg rural district

Weather: sunny and warm, getting a bit fresh after the sun went down

Expedition

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On my way from Dresden to Würzburg this hashpoint was only a little detour from the Autobahn. I left the A70 at Viereth-Trunstadt and drove via Unterhaid to Staffelbach. Outside the town I left the car at the beginning of a small road which was restricted to agricultural traffic. Then I started walking. And continued walking. And walked some more along the very straight road. I passed a farmer loading hay, meadows with pretty flowers, wooded areas and fields until I came to the forest near the hashpoint. Dusk started to fall and it became even darker when I entered the forest. I tried to make a beeline to the hashpoint, but navigating was difficult and it was more like walking in random directions. After almost circling the hashpoint in a wide arc I finally reached it, but it was already quite dark and I couldn't recognize much details. I didn't stay long before trying to find my way out of the forest. Luckily I didn't get lost, although both the GPS's and my phone's compass tried to sabotage me.

Out in the open visibility was better, but even there I couldn't make out many things. Once I saw a big bird that might have been a buzzard, then a small shadow crossed the road, perhaps a marten but probably only a cat. Back at the car I was a bit upset because the "short detour" had taken almost 1.5 hours and the low light had made it less interesting. I drove via Stettfeld and Ebelsbach to the Autobahn and from there to Würzburg. Soon after I left I started to see flashes of light in the distance, very bright and very frequently, about 1 flash every 3 seconds. By the time I passed Schweinfurt I could make out very nice lightning, and near Gramschatz I came into very strong rain with the lightning all around me. Regrettably I had to keep my eyes on the road and so I could watch the spectacular display only partly.