The 13 Most Amazing Peaks around Haibach

"In spring 2022, the municipality's forestry department began "converting" the forest above the local road. The area in Kaiselsberg is approximately 1.1 hectares in size. Until now, 80 percent of the trees there were larches, for almost 80 years. There were also beeches, lindens, and oaks. The drought and heat of recent summers have severely damaged the larches, according to forester Roth, who works in the municipality's public works department and is also a specialist in tree care and a tree inspector. The larch bark beetle had an easy time of it. More than 100 larches had to be felled on Kaiselsberg in 2020. The beeches and lindens did not have the potential to form a sustainable and climate-stable stand. Hence the decision to focus primarily on the sweet chestnut. Tree expert Roth explains the reasons: The sweet chestnut is considered very robust in drought and heat and thrives in permeable and nutrient-poor soils. Furthermore, no major pests are known to affect the sweet chestnut. A climate-resistant tree for the future. Therefore, 98 kilos of sweet chestnuts were collected in Haibach's Schweiztal valley for sowing on the Kaiselsberg. On the Kaiselsberg, 5,000 chestnut trees were sown on 0.4 hectares. On the remaining 0.7 hectares of the area, protected from wildlife by a fence, sessile oaks and hornbeams were planted – a total of 4,000 trees. Together with the trees that reproduce naturally without seeding or planting, Roth expects that 10,000 trees will grow on the former larch area from now on. (haibach-entdecken.de)

"It goes without saying that the earth movements tore deep holes into the mountain. These holes served for decades, if not centuries, as the people of Grünmorsbach called them. The Schinnkaute was a place where dead animals or slaughterhouse waste were buried. This was done with great care, as the fear of epidemics was very great. At the end of the 1950s, a time when garbage was produced began in Grünmorsbach as well. Initially, in very small quantities, which were initially collected by horse-drawn carts, later in massive quantities. So it was not surprising that the first quarry used as a garbage dump was soon filled up, and the municipal administration had to open another large quarry for waste disposal. Waste separation was still a foreign concept at the time, and so everything from household waste to plastics, old cars, and batteries ended up "out of the trash." Even the old Grünmorsbach fire department ladder is said to have found its final resting place there. Today, the surfaces have been renaturalized – a veil of silence lies over the contaminated sites beneath. The Birkbach stream rises at an elevation of 295 m above sea level between Gailbach and Grünmorsbach in a forest on the Kaiselsberg. It flows northeast and finally flows into the Morsbach from the right at an elevation of 207 m above sea level in a marshy area east of Grünmorsbach. Its catchment area drains via the Morsbach into the Bessenbach. The mountain has always been a destination for walkers, as teacher Josef Max Feineis described in a poem in 1919: "Sunday morning after shaving, I go for a little walk. And so that I don't need so much money, I climb the Zangsberg. ..." (haibach-entdecken.de)

"The Kaiselsberg was already mentioned on the Spessart map by the Nuremberg cartographer Paul Pfinzing from 1562/1594. On the Kaiselsberg, mainly Bunter sandstone was quarried. The prehistoric Bunter sandstone deposits were substantial and extensive. Large parts of the Bunter sandstone were removed by erosion. Today's remnants are the Spessart or the Palatinate Forest. Scientists call mountains like the Kaiselsberg or the Findberg, where Bunter sandstone deposits still appear, "witness mountains," that is, mountains that bear witness to a once much larger deposit. Quarries existed on the Kaiselsberg even in prehistoric times. Many of these pits are still open and recognizable. Anyone who walks through the forest on the Kaiselsberg with their eyes open can see a large number of dumps piled up on the normal mountain slope terrain. From the quarries, overburden and stone scrap were transported into the slope using wagons moved on rails, resulting in considerable debris cones. The people of Grünmorsbach walked over these "camel humps" when walking along the northwestern slope of the Kaiselsberg. One such hump was removed just a few years ago during the construction of the new local road – directly at the Windlücke. Today, it greets drivers and passersby as a slope covered in yellow blooming broom. The Kaiselsberg – one of the few properties owned by the municipality of Grünmorsbach – was for a long time the municipality's sole source of income from logging and leasing quarries. In the 19th century, the quarries were publicly auctioned for leases, usually lasting between seven and nine years. Johann Karl, a resident of Grünmorsbach, was one of the bidders who won the contract for a quarry on the Kaiselsberg. He employed many stone crushers, stonecutters, and stonemasons there. He and his brother Konrad built the two listed semi-detached houses on the state road on Haibacher Höhe. At one point, the quarry and stonemasonry employed around 100 workers. Although the quarries are now completely closed, the stonemasonry business now operates under the name "Steinmetzgeschäft Karl; Owner Albert Stürmer." (www.haibach-entdecken.de)

From Steiger, the climb is quite steep. If you want to sign the summit register, you have to climb up.

 Steinknückl Mountain in the Spessart in Bavaria The Steinknückl, also known as the Steinknückel, is a 417-metre-high hill in the Spessart.[1] The wooded mountain is located in the Bavarian district of Aschaffenburg, directly on hiking trail 31 of the Spessart Association. It is located in the Weilerwald forest, about 1.7 km south of Laufach and about 2 km north of Waldaschaff. The Steinknückl is known for its strikingly tall holm oaks on the summit, which give it its name. Since there is a summit book on the top of the mountain, it is a popular destination for hikers and mountain bikers.

Unfortunately, only remains of walls and foundations can be seen.

It is good and interesting to know about old settlements in the Kahlgrund.

Nice up there....preferably from the east side....