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| Somewhere in the middle of the trip |
Exploration is always interesting. Finding new places, or in this case trying to find an old path you heard (or I in that case read) about it, sounded like the perfect Saturday evening program. So I packed my gear and headed out, to a place I have been around 1000 times before in my life. Yes, sometimes new things lie in front of your face for years before you decide to take a closer look.
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| The starting point |
Well, it all started at well known place to me and most people I know (luckily for all of us, that bridge can't talk and tell stories...). The goal was to find out, what lies up the small river. So I started to head upstream. At first there was path heading deeper into the opening of a gorge. Despite the small way it looked pretty overgrown, but nothing compared to what will overcome me later.
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| The already overgrown first part of the trip |
So after climbing over the first rocks, crossing the water for a few times, asking myself why I am doing this, taking a few pictures it all came to an immediate halt: A high wall, built to prevent floods, blocked my way.
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| A high wall - The end of the journey? |
So, giving up, running back home, no way. Not today. So I turned around, walked out of the gorge, and tried to find a way to circumvent the wall. And after some careful looking and just a little bit of cursing I found a place very it was possible to climb into the gorge once more. Heading back out over the same way already gave me a headache.
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| View to the outside of the gorge, picture taken right above the "Great Wall" |
Now I stood on the wall and looked down the river. Done. The first, and by far the biggest obstacle out of the way. So onward, deeper into the small valley lying in front of my, as far as possible (or to the point when it gets too dangerous to head on). What followed was heading along a flat dry riverbank (the water ran underground at this place): It felt like walking a stone road with some dead trees lying across it. But it didn't last very long.
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| At some point everything went green |
Some big mossy rocks mixed with some dead trees blocked the way. Climbing time. Up a rock, using a dead tree as bridge and so on. It was at this point that the valley turned into a sort of green hell: Green mossy rocks, green plants mixed with some brown, but mostly mossy green dead wood. The sky above was barely visible, green leaves blocked the sunlight. It all had a jungle vibe to it.
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| A dark, green and mysterious place |
So after climbing for a while, the path, or better said the shallow riverbed flattened again, but didn't lose anything of it's fascination: A more than vertical rock wall to the left, some trees and bushes to the left, above and in front. It felt like getting into, or better said out of a cave with a blurry, but bright light spot at the end of the tunnel. So onward, towards the light.
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| Without vegetation, all that stayed was a deep gorge |
And then finally, the overgrown ground opened up, the vegetation went from bushes and trees down to grass and the whole scenery turned into the originally expected gorge. And yes, it was a very deep, very narrow ravine with only two directions to move: Deeper in or out the way you came. I did the first thing. And enjoyed the whole scenery, especially when some wild chamois (goat like mountain animals) jumped across my way.
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| The turning point - No way to head on without climbing gear |
And there he was, the turning point. No safe passage without proper equipment behind this line. Put some hints of the searched path showed up: Iron bars were standing out of some rocks. A string of grass, growing out on the rocks made a connection between them. So it there really once was a path built in here. Must have been a interesting walk. But now, I had to climb out the way I came, and interestingly some things looked quite different.
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| Walking between vegetation and rocks, again... |
Climbing down the bigger rocks latter on was strangely far easier than climbing them up. So I headed towards the exit point, finding some remains of civilisation (always wondering how and where you can find old car tires...) and finally headed out of the valley, with some nice picture and many much nicer impressions and memories in my head.
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| No clue how the tire made its way to that place... |
At the end, a small conclusion: Yes there once was a way through that small valley. But there is nearly nothing left of it, must have been abandoned over a half century ago. And no, it is not advisable to climb in there, unless you really know what you are doing. And as always and everywhere on the internet: Feel free to comment, share and like.
