The Saxon Switzerland

After breakfast we were showed around the workshop a bit. Albert (My aunt’s brother in law) was a genius. The entire photo studio was equipped with booms, brackets, mounts, lamps, shades, all of which were adjustable or rotatable and all of it was his doing. The shop was split in two and the second half was the workshop where he made all of his contraptions. Three quarters of it was dedicated to working with wood and a quarter to metal. It was a handyman’s heaven. All kinds of tools, materials, and supplies, everything you need to make anything you would want. That’s the one thing my nomadic lifestyle lacks, a good workshop.

And we were off. We had 2.5 hours on the road to Saxon Switzerland National Park. We would be hiking and camping there for the next few days. Along the way my little notepad came in handy as I pestered my cousins with how to say this or that in German. It seems to me that it would be an easy one to learn. My main theory, on learning anything, is what I like to call “Papugai” which in Russian means parrot. You just repeat or copy what you see or hear. I’ve applied this to so many things in life and it works like a charm. Most of the time I pretend I know what I am doing and it seems to work just fine.

Along the way we made several stops at fuel stations and I noticed that payment was required to use the washrooms. When I used on I saw why. Top notch and very well maintained, I am sure the money to use them went towards keeping them up to date and clean. I purchased a road map at one of the fuels stations to continue my tradition of marking all the roads I have traveled.

We arrived in the National park and the cozy little town of Schmilka greeted us along the Elbe. We would hike through it to access the rest of the park located in the higher elevations. The little café’s and beer gardens again made me question my sobriety, but I pushed on uphill. The beginning of the hike was on a wide trail and I had a blast hanging out with my cousins and getting to know them. We had plenty of opportunities for goofiness and laughter. We winded along and turned off to several viewpoints that much narrower passages led to.

The sandstone was amazing. I could not wait to get some climbing in as we had our gear with us. We teased around a bit on a rock face before continuing on the trails. I was eager to take every opportunity to be either barefoot or in my sandals. I am in steel toed construction safety boots for a majority of the day otherwise and any chance I get, I go barefoot or as close to it as possible.

The higher up we climbed the more narrow and steep the trails, and passages got. This was definitely not an ADA compliant atmosphere. The staircases weaved and winded between and into the sandstone. Some stairs where steel, while others etched into the rock face itself. 

We got to a crows nest with a perfect view of several chimneys about a ¼ mile away from us. We got lucky enough to watch a climber tackle one of them and top out. We cheered as he did and hearing us he turned and bowed. We hollered back and forth and got his email and I sent him the pictures of his climb via email. I always like to send people pictures like that. You are always in the sport and rarely do you have pictures of epic moments like that.

From here we went to several other viewpoints from which the Elbe was visible.

Hiking along I would close my eyes and just listen. I would put all my energy into burning it all into my memory. The distant voices of my cousins joking around in German, their footsteps, the rustling leaves and a multitude of birds singing their praises. I also could not help but imagine it a different time. We had several hikers pass us by and there was a group of young men that were having as much fun as we were. These lads would have been the ones that would have been shooting at me, and I at them, had it been some 70 years back. We were all of fighting age and I am it was painful to imagine such a beautiful place be an absolute nightmare. I was pleased to learn that this area had been nearly untouched by WW2, the closest was a town called Pirna just outside of Dresdin that had a concentration camp. Regardless I was glad that we could smile and greet each other on passing.

Of the several nights we spent there the first was the one and only under a roof. My cousins reserved an amazing hostel, Brand-Baude Bergrestaurant & Herberge, on the edge of a cliff overlooking the valley and Konigstein Castle on the opposite ridge. Our room was in the attic and had a spectacular view. We took our much needed showers and watched the sun set.

When there was no more sun to soak in we began our hunt for the elusive fire pit. Another stark difference for me was that campfires were prohibited nearly everywhere. There had been a very few fire pits throughout the park. On the way in we spotted one that was in the middle of a grassy field, 200 yards away from any trees in all directions. It was a bit silly by my standards. When we came to it, with our hands full of blankets and everything we needed to cook and eat our dinner we found a “No Fire” sign. This did not stop us. We were determinded to get at least one campfire in during our stay in Nationalpark Sächsische Schweiz.