Hiking around Hoffnungsthal

It’s spring. Definitely.

To be honest there was hardly anything better than this year’s weather, but still until this weekend it was relatively cold. Today, it was spring. Temperature nearing 20 degrees and the bright blue sky, how could anyone possibly deny it.

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And now, as the days go by, the number of people signing up for the events is decreasing and decreasing. Apparently, it is more related to the fact that I moved to Telegram and people simply sign up from there.

This morning Köln Hbf. There were quite some people joining for the first time and they were wondering where they were supposed to be. Just like always, they somehow managed to get organized at the platform (even though they were super far away from where the train was to stop). People can always get organized. I don’t understand why they think they need an organiser.

Right at the beginning, I was heading the group and I took a wrong turn. So someone who were towards the end of the group had to lead the group, which didn’t really happen. This happens when there are many people joining for the first time. I just simply observed the situation. Unfortunately nothing really happened, so I started walking again. I still have to develop a way to make other people become more independent, even if they are joining for the first time (because there’s no reason to follow me, since I share the map beforehand).

Hoffnungsthal is essentially where the landscape starts to get interesting, on the edge of the forest of Bergisches Land, that goes gradually to Sauerland. From here on, it becomes really green, but also at the same time it becomes more and more difficult to reach by public transport. Today’s one was frankly perfect – a good mixture of fields and forests. We could also have great views in many places.

An unfortunate aspect of this area is the fact that both Sauerland and Bergisches Land were badly affected by the drought of 2018. There were a lot of bald areas today along the trail. They are now talking about setting wind turbines there. I wonder how they are going to revive those areas anyway.

At the beginning, I was talking about making others more independent, which sort of happened when we wanted to have a break. We were behind a restaurant, where there was a small stream. There were, however, people who were walking way ahead of us. They apparently had their own break. I had my cooking equipment this time again, but I forgot salt and other spices. Frankly I should have had lunch in the restaurant, especially because it was so warm that it wasn’t really necessary to keep the break short anymore.

There was another river (Sülz, what a nice name) on the way right after the break. It was not particularly beautiful, but maybe we can come back here again in the summer, when it’s really hot.

We arrived at the train station, when the train was about to leave (and left, as a matter of fact). While waiting, we took a quick group photo. Half an hour later, another one came and we went back to Cologne (to get an ice cream, of course).