Sometimes I’m just too stubborn for my own good. I’ve been in the Geo-Naturpark Frau-Holle-Land region of Northern Hesse for over a week and it has not stopped raining or snowing. So I couldn’t help it when a break in the precipitation allowed for a brief afternoon hike, the Gänsekerleweg, a Premium Hike from the village of Datterode.
Datterode
Datterode is a great base for hiking. Besides the 9.5 km Premium Hike Gänsekerleweg, there are two shorter hikes. The Hasselbachtal is 3.7 kilometers long following the creek of the same name and includes at least one viewpoint. The second trail is the Datteröder Burgweg which leads to the Boyneburg castle ruins and can connect to the 17 km long Premium Hike Boyneburg P13 which contains even more castles. All of the hikes are well-signed and easy to follow once you arrive in town. I actually went a total of three times for various trails and really liked this area.
Panoramas for a Price
Just reading the information board, I could see that there would be a lot of great viewpoints along the way. Nearly every bend on the trail had the panorama symbol next to it. All in all, ten… more than there are kilometers! But those views come at a price – the short trail is estimated to take over 3 hours to complete due to the amount of altitude attained over 9.5 kilometers.
Following the trail counterclockwise, I began to climb the hill through the initial few fields. When I turned around to take in the first breathtaking expanse before me, I had an excellent overview of Datterode below. About half of the Gänsekerleweg travels the border between farmland and forest, which allows for so many unobstructed outlooks. The wind began to pick up and stung my face, but I didn’t think much of it, concluding it was winter and I was exposed in a field.
Berliner Turm
In the woods, there was a brief and steep incline to the Berliner Turm tower. Built in 1960 and extended in 1962, the viewing platform at the top of the tower has great panoramas of Reichensachsen, Hohe Meissner mountain, and Blaue Kuppe mountain. Departing the tower light snow began to fall prettily.
Leaving the woods, the trail went down into a valley, and then up to a ridge. The snow was obstructing any signs of a path, but the Gänsekerleweg is so well marked that I had absolutely no problem identifying the way. It was interesting that the animal tracks I saw also seemed to follow the trail. I guess the animals need to get through the woods too.
Sly as a Fox
Pausing a moment to evaluate which direction I should take when I reached a dead end, a quick movement caught my eye. For a moment I could watch the fox without it noticing my presence. It was lively and healthy, not like the mangy ones we see around Berlin. Since it continued unknowingly towards me, I yelled a short “hey!” and got its attention. It watched me for a moment, frozen in the snow. A second yell sent him running in the other direction.
Shotcut!
The snow became thicker. The snowflakes were still thin and little, but falling in such numbers that it was difficult to see. At the next trail map station, I decided to take the shortcut. This meant I would miss Wichtelbrunnen and Spitzenberg. When I arrived at the stone table, I recognized it from hike #30 out of the Rother Wanderführer Nordhessen guide book (highly recommend that hike too!). So I knew that the next view coming up is an amazing one. But when I got there, I couldn’t see anything! The snow had blocked out nearly all visibility. The field in front of me was hardly discernible.
Retreat
The snowflakes now were giant. It was like Mother Nature had ripped open her down comforter and was pouring out all the feathers. The increase in size had not decreased the frequency. It was still a near white-out. There were two more viewpoints on the return to Datterode, but I couldn’t see much. At the second one was an A-frame Hütte where I took a rest to shake off the snow and have a bite to eat.
Even though this portion of the hike has fewer outlooks, the hills are not finished. There were a few more climbs before I reached the village again. Arriving back in Datterode, the snow stopped instantaneously, leaving me wondering if I could have continued the hike. Too little, too late, perhaps another time.
Return
A few days later, the snow had melted and the temperature wasn’t nearly as cold, so I set off to continue the final two kilometers of the Gänsekerleweg. Following a forestry road gave me the incorrect impression that the rest of the hike would be easy. I passed a cemetery in a field with another great view to the north before disappearing into the woods on a steep uphill trail.
Wichtelbrunnen
After hiking up one side of the mountain, I came down the other side to the Wichtelbrunnen, which translates to “Elf Fountain.” In non-corona times, this seems to be a “magical Biergarten in the woods,” a gastronomical anomaly in the middle of nowhere. A few rough buildings for preparing food and drinks and lots of tables and benches to support tired and hungry hikers surrounded the Elf Fountain. A trickle of water came out of a pipe in the wall over a pond-like container. As I snapped a picture, a strange loud noise startled me. What I thought had been a crow was actually a grunting deer, annoyed that I had startled him, who ran away up the hill.
Spitzenberg
From the Wichtelbrunnen, the path heads upward steeply again on tiny, winding forest trails. A wonderful surprised was waiting for me (and all hikers) at the top of Spitzenberg. Aside from being another viewpoint, there is a newly erected Gipfelkreuz, or summit cross, at the peak. Like most crosses you find on the tops of tall mountains, this cross contained a box with a summit book in it for mountain conquerors to add their name and date to the list of others who have reached the peak.
When I opened the book, two laminated sheets fell out. One was a newspaper clipping about the strange appearance of a mysterious cross at the top of Spitzenberg. The other was a letter from the Reichensachsen family clarifying that they had donated the cross to bring Gipfelfreude (summit joy) to the local people during the pandemic since they couldn’t go out and accomplish other peaks. The cross was built in the middle of December, but less than two months later, the summit notebook was already half full with signatures of joyful hikers. It was such a great way for me to close out the hike.
The bike trail to Datterode from Wehretal-Reichensachsen train station is about 10 kilometers long (25 minutes). You can alternatively take bus 240 from Reichensachsen Mitte (15 minutes walk from the train station) in 16 minutes. For connections, check nvv.de. To plan my time on the Premium Hike Gänsekerleweg, I used this page from Deutsche Wanderinstitut.
Find out more about Premium Hiking in Germany
More Premium Hikes: Waldkappeler Berg, Schächerbachtour