Greener Trails

There is no more snow in the photo of the institute on its website so it must be spring. Jena is a bit like the Palouse. Temperate, even higher latitude and there I would say, “if you don’t like the weather give it a minute,” here I might say, “give it an hour.” The folks here also get to experience that wonderfully long transition from cold to warm with its many summer previews and winter reviews.

The beech forest is quite charming and has greened up quite nicely. The German translation is Buchenwald, and that does not conjure up charming images. Considering how close we are to the concentration camp, it is a bit odd that I haven’t been there yet. I suspect it is like history to many Germans; always there, but best not to dwell or it makes getting through the day tougher. Maybe when my Dad is here we will make the trek.

The trails are getting even more of my attention since I signed up for this: http://www.horizontale-jena.de/. A 100 Km walk around Jena that starts at 6pm on a Friday night. I hope to be done by 6pm Saturday night. It sounded like too much fun so I’m giving it try. Since I’ll miss my annual masochistic spring backpacking trip to the American southwest, I needed something to remind me where to find all of my aches and pains. Suspect it will do just that. 20 minutes/mile makes it 22hrs w/o stops. 2 hrs to eat and pee should be about right.

Again here are more views from the trails, albeit greener. Also there is one pic of a trail from afar, well actually from the house. On the high distant point you can see the same old tumble down castle as the picture of Ben and the view downriver. Flowers are everywhere now. I admit the wildlife I’ve been photographing is a bit slow and/or small. I have yet to see a real wild pig although I can usually find where some acorn rooting had occurred the previous night. Maybe I need to get my ass out of bed before the sun, sneak up there and try to catch a glimpse. Seems worth doing.