Hi Hive friends!
Today I want to tell you about a trip I made with two friends a few days ago to Winterberg. With this I stop my trip with you to New York briefly, because I really want to tell you about it now, because there is still a lot of snow there at the moment and it is very topical. After that, of course, I will continue to tell you about my New York trip. The idea to go to Winterberg came to us when we saw pictures at a friend that looked really nice. So we decided without further ado to make a day trip there as well. Winterberg is a small town in the Rothaargebirge in NRW, my home state and here I still live as some of you may know. It has become known as a venue for World Cup luge races.

Place of winter sports in the Rothaargebirge

Already in the morning when we left (the drive took about 2 hours) the weather was very good, the sun was shining and it was about 10 degrees. We hoped of course for a good visibility!:)

The snow hadn't been there long, it had snowed a few days earlier - it looked as powdery as icing sugar and when there was a little wind, a little snow came towards you.

Winterberg is located in the Hochsauerland on the Winterberg plateau at an altitude of about 670m. Even as we drove up the winding roads in the village, there was more and more snow there as time went on and it eventually became minus 5 degrees Celsius. More and more ski stores for ski rental could be seen on the side of the road and the cars jammed a bit more on the road, the closer we got to the parking lot. We did not drive to the regular tourist parking lot, but parked a little further down, there was a little less traffic and you also had to pay no Parking fees. We then walked up for about half an hour (including taking photos), so it wasn't too far:)




If you are wondering about the smoke- we have that too, people must have lit something between the fir trees.

At the top I expected a bit more tourism, there was only a hotel with a restaurant and a small stall outside selling chips and sausages. However, we had packed enough provisions, so we ate nothing there. That it was not so very touristy I found very nice, only a bus stop was still there. The mountain inn Kahler Asten is attached to the Astenturm, an observation tower. Already in 1843 the king Friedrich Wilhelm IV had visited the mountain. It was planned to build a lookout tower, as a monument to commemorate the 1000th anniversary of the Treaty of Verdun. Finally, in 1881, the monument plans were resumed. In 2005 it was restored and in 2006 the branch tower was accessible again.

Later we hiked to the second highest mountain, the Kahler Asten. There were also many older Nordic walkers on the way, it is not too steep, so here the landscape invites well. In the Rothaargebirge it is the third highest mountain after the Langenberg and the Hegekopf. Here you can even explore the Lenne and Odeborn spring. It is 842m high and thus the highest spring in northern Germany. Granted, that sounds like we hiked a lot, but it wasn't too much. At the top we had a beautifully clear view - there were very few clouds in the sky.

The Kahler Asten nature reserve

Here visitors can get some more information about the nature reserve at the Kahler Asten. Here it is said that many measures have been taken and are still being taken to strengthen the heather plants and eg. spruces was threatened. This is what our friend said, too, who said on the way there that it seemed a lot lighter than the last time he was here. The dwarf shrubs that stand for the heathland can thus spread more easily again.





I really loved this sight: the sun came through a little bit through the fir trees covered with snow and these were shadows on the snow. If it hadn't been so cold, we would have sat on a bench and lingered there a bit until the sun went down.
In 1965, many parts around the summit of the Kahler Asten were proclaimed nature reserves. There is even a dwarf shrub heath at the crest. It is still partly called high heath because it was long thought to be a relic of the ice age. Hardly any trees grow on the heath because of the sheep, as tree seedlings are browsed. However, parts are partially forested again.



Again and again we encountered signs along the walking paths, like this one: Every year a large flock of sheep moves over the Kahler Asten. These are the Heidschnucken, a particularly hardy type of sheep that can adapt well to the weather conditions here. They are well suited for the mountain conditions. They rejuvenate the heath plants and bite the growing birches, boars and quaking pine.


As you can see we had thick gloves on- but from the weather conditions it was even warmer than expected because of the persistent sun. Only sunglasses we had unfortunately forgotten.

In the end we got a bit cold and went back to the car before sunset. It was a successful trip with a very nice view and we were happy to experience a little bit of "winter" again before the temperatures get warmer now and the snow melts up there. Are you more of a summer or winter type? I have to say I like both, but not too much heat. But it was a great experience to sink a bit more into the snow than you know it:) I hope you enjoyed my post - have a great start to the week!