Schauflinger Goldsteig loop – Bavarian Forest

Relaxed and without rushing, I drove to the car park at Rusel near Berg Cafe Floh to do a planned run. https://www.berg-cafe-floh.de/ I am the third vehicle to be in the car park at 9:00 a.m. When I got out, I noticed that the melting snow slush ❄️ had partly frozen again overnight. It was quite a slippery ride. So I decided to wear my alpine hiking boots, even though they were extremely heavy on my feet. I took my backpack 🎒 with me and even my hiking poles with me - you never know... So I started my tour and quickly walked the specified route with the yellow markings of the Goldsteig trail. The markings were well placed, so I hardly had to pay any attention to the navigation at all. On the partially snow-covered paths ❄️ you only see a few animal tracks now and then, but no people - neither as footprints nor physically... So I walk my way at an unusually slow speed, as it is quite slippery, wet and snow-covered in places. And then - one careless second and I am lying down - caught with my arm and bruised on my coccyx. Something like that happens pretty much halfway along the route, so it's not really worth going back - so I keep going. The pain comes little by little and it gets more unpleasant with every step. And so I come to my early lunch break on a nice covered bench with a foggy view. Luckily I have everything I need to "get full" - including homemade cake. The break was actually planned at the Landgasthof Düllhof. https://www.duellhof.de/ However, after I have reduced my speed again, I at least manage to get there for a coffee. From here on, the path is almost exclusively uphill and I am very glad that I have my poles with me to avoid a second slip. The path continues to meander along wide forest roads and at some point in the last few kilometers I come to a "walker forest highway" that was used intensively in both directions. It was teeming with people who probably wanted to stretch their legs after lunch in the best weather. I also came across lots of families who were pulling their noisy children behind them on colorful plastic sleds 🛷. I just wanted to get away from here, but my pain limited my otherwise fast pace. The last kilometer then led along the busy Ruselstraße and when I got back to my starting point, I was greeted by the smell of mulled wine and a crowd of people sliding down a slope on their sledges in the almost green-furrowed snow. So you can imagine that the originally empty parking lot was overflowing with vehicles - as was the Berg Cafe Floh. I quickly jump in the car and make sure I get out of here, because I haven't seen such a crowd of people in nature for a long time. I drive home in agony to tend to my "wounds".

Should have called it Schauflinger Nebelrunde ;-)