Well, I’m kinda in the middle of something right now. I’m in the middle of a hike. Ok, truthfully, I’m sitting at my desk at home at the moment… But I am in the middle of hiking the 66 Lakes Trail (or Sechsundsechzig-Seen-Wanderweg in German). When I moved to Berlin last summer, I was devastated by how flat it was. In my mind, nature existed in the mountains. How could I go hiking? Where could I go hiking? So I turned to Google, searching for how to get out of Berlin and stumbled upon a blog of a woman who had hiked the 66-Lakes-Trail. After reading more about the 416km long loop surrounding Berlin, I decided it would be my goal to accomplish the hike in its entirety by the end of the school year (July 2017). The trail begins and ends in Potsdam and is divided into 17 legs of 20-30km which can each be done in a day. So I ordered the guidebook and I was off!
Currently, I’ve done 6 legs…#1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. My intention was to do them all in order, but that idea was quickly botched. The guide book’s Wanderwünsche (hiking wishes) indicate that leg 2 and 3 are much nicer in the spring time with the following ones being “winter hikes”, so I decided to jump ahead. And leg 7 is only reachable by bus…the first one of the day arriving around 10am, so I’ll have to wait until the sun is out a little longer and go back to it. Each leg (or Strecke) has been different than all the ones before it. Some of them I’ve hiked alone and other legs have been accomplished with colleagues. And it’s rained on almost every hike so far, but that hasn’t discouraged me.
Tour 1: Potsdam to Marquardt
Leg 1 begins in Potsdam, technically at the Brandenburger Tor, but the guide book leads you on a historical/cultural tour starting from the train station. It was a gorgeous September day to begin the 20 km first tour with my coworker and her boyfriend. Little did I know, but this would be my only rain-free hiking day for months. This tour goes mostly through urban areas and past some pretty interesting landmarks, including Schloss Sanssouci (palace), Alexandrowka (a Russian colony), a Russian orthodox church, Holländischen Häusern (Dutch houses), Schloss Cecilienhof (palace of the WWII Potsdam Conference), and a lovely brewery where we stopped for a few beers and some card games.
Getting used to the guidebook, I felt most uncertain of the trail during this initial hike, but we really only had a difficult time determining the direction towards the end, approximately 3km before we reached the train in Marquardt. This first outing took much longer than I anticipated, but we took our time and enjoyed the day – traipsed through the gardens on the Friendship Island before “officially” beginning; had a picnic lunch at Sanssouci; explored the Ruinenberg where the water reservoir for the palace was; experienced Russian and Dutch architecture; took in the views of the first few lakes; and enjoyed some delicious Oktoberfest beer.
Tour 4: Hennigsdorf to Wensickendorf
It started out a great cloudless day for the 25 kilometers of tour 4 with my coworker and her housemate. This leg was my first taste of the beauty of the Brandenburger wilderness. We hiked through the Briesetal (the Briese valley) from Hennigsdorf to Wensickendorf. After wandering our way through the still sleeping town of Hennigsdorf, we crossed the Oder-Havel Kanal, went through some swamplands, lost the blue dot marker for a little bit, and stopped for an early snack at the Havelbaude with a nice view of the Havel River. From there, we walked through the town of Birkenwerder and passed the Boddensee (not to be confused with Bodensee), where a wedding was about to take place at the Gaststätte. Leaving Birkenwerder, we walked along the boardwalks and followed the Brise for a good 10 km.
It was gorgeous following the little stream through so many beautiful sections of forest. We saw many kinds of birds and even went by some sheep. Pouring rain and fading sun put a short damper on things in the last 10 km of the hike and caused some stress until the sun came back out, allowing the hike to end on a high note.
Tour 5: Wensickendorf to Melchow
My first time out on the trail alone was for tour 5, which turned out to be my favorite thus far. The 28 km long hike is from Wensickendorf to Melchow and has the title of “8 lakes in a day”. It was a chilly October day; departing the train in early frosty morning had me wondering if I had made a good decision or not to go on my own. After hiking through a few very rural settlements, I reached the Stolzenhagener See. I hiked along the lake’s edge until the end, where only a hundred or so meters beyond I reached the shore of the Wandlitzsee. Although only 8 in the morning and quite chilly, there were some bathers!
I continued on to cross the train tracks in Wandlitz, but lost my way a little bit and only saw one of the Three Holy Pools before passing by the tiny Rainbow Lake. Going up a tiny hill, I came upon the Liepnitz See, when it began to rain – enough to put on my rain jacket, but not enough to deter my spirit. Going up the hill from the lake, the woods were behind me, a field before me, and a race! The gun practically went off as I crossed the threshold from woods to field. Walkers and runners rushed by as I figured out which direction needed to head towards next. Beyond the town of Lanke, I walked by an old “palace” which is now a privately used manor house.
Even though it was still raining on me, I couldn’t believe the beauty when I arrived at the Hellsee (bright lake). I felt like I had so much luck to experience so many lakes and so privately. The light rain had deterred most outdoorsmen on this day, so I often had the views all to myself.
The scenery did not conclude with the nearly two kilometer long Hellsee. The end of the lake led to a brook called the Hellmühler Fließ which was like walking through a tunnel of green.
My idyllic day ended here, since after I passed through Biesenthal, I decided to take a Weg Variente (variant of the trail) which took me through a few fields before getting to the train station. The way wasn’t marked and I was just following the guide book’s instructions, but I managed to get stuck between lots of marshy areas and thickets. So I wandered out towards the road and walked the last two kilometers to the train station along it, arriving exhausted and satisfied.
Stay tuned for more posts about the remaining 14 tours of the 66-Lakes-Trail!