The big day has arrived: After months of preparation, fretting about gear, money, and other things we're gathered in front of Schloss Issigau where we spent the night. We've had an excellent breakfast and our luggage is in one room, waiting to be picked up. It's drizzling a bit, but nothing to worry about. The first day is a reasonable distance of, I believe, 12 miles.
We walk past picturesque meadows and forests, and also pass the former border to East Germany. It feels as if reunification happened so long ago. But I remember my mother sending parcels with coffee and chocolate to relatives and friends on the other side of the border. We received Stollen, a special Christmas bread, in return, but one can only eat so much Stollen. Worse than that were the restrictions on travel, nobody was allowed to leave East Germany, and I had to get a visa and exchange a fairly hefty amount of money for each day when I visited my cousin in Dresden.
But those times are past, and what remains is an unusually healthy forest in the former "dead zone" where nobody was allowed to enter.
After a few hours, we arrive at the start of the Hoellental. The name translates to "The valley of hell", but it might also translate as "The cave-like valley". Regardless, it's a great name.
The valley itself is quite picturesque, with a little river and beautiful flowers. Mixed forest of conifers and deciduous trees predominates. In a few places, fir forest, planted especially for harvest, interrupts the mixed forest areas. It's turned out that the monoculture of fir, which isn't even native here, is not sustainable. Different pests attack the trees, and the yield isn't great either.
We arrive in Culmitz in time for a shower, and go in search of apple strudel and coffee. Thus fortified, we can wash our socks and rest a bit before dinner. We eat and chat until 9pm, and I'm excited that the adventure has started in earnest.
