A hike to recharge …

Posted On May 23, 2020

The nature is the only one who can stop my thoughts from running like crazy through my head. 

We all have so many thoughts and cannot stop them even for one second. I must admit I am not able to concentrate for too long on one thing and I am easily distracted. If I try to do something where concentration is required for one hour let’s say, then I have a problem. I write something, then I remember about a cool article somewhere else and I open it, I read the half of it and have bad conscience because I don’t do what I started to do, I go back to writing and remember I could have started the washing machine … and the switching from one thing to another continues. Honestly I am not sure how to get rid of this yet.

But this doesn’t really happen when I am out there in the mountains running, hiking or even walking (well, there is no washing machine you could say… :D). I am somehow absorbed by the beauty of the nature and I do live the moment. Most of the time I must anyhow be totally concentrated because the routes we choose are not always the easy peasy ones and we have to watch our steps. 

On Sunday we did a hike in Berchtesgaden to the Blaueishütte and Blaueisgletcher, the northernmost glacier from the Alps. The route started in Ramsau, on a blue marked path (= easy), steep though. My pulse went high quite fast, but it was good and liberating. I missed that feeling when I literally feel how my spirits become lighter and lighter. I am not sure how to explain this, but you just feel how the hard pressing thoughts disappear for a while somewhere in Nirvana and you breath through the entire body. 

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We reached the Blaueishütte, enjoyed the view of the Hintersee for a few minutes and started further to the glacier. In 1820 the glacier had a surface of 25 ha, in 1994 there were only 7 ha left. We couldn’t see the blue eis though.

The tour should have continued over the Schärtenspitze, but it was a black track ( = hard, usually secured with chains), steep and not completely free of snow. We decided to turn back. A wrong step would have been too dangerous.

We usually cannot give up easily, so instead we hiked up to the Steinberg summit, 2026 m. It was still a black path, but without snow, which made us feel safer. The adrenaline was still kicking with each step, the concentration had to be 100%. When we reached the top, we felt free and happy not to have given up. 

The way down was not totally painless for my knees, but the landscapes were breathtaking!

The hike took about 9 hours in total, approximately 20 km and 1700 altitude difference. It was enough time to breath fresh air, make our bodies tired, release our brains from the multitude of thoughts. We didn’t risk anything, but we still felt a bit of adrenaline which kept us energetic and concentrated.

In the end we just felt relieved, refreshed, recharged with the positive energy of the nature. Because the nature is the only one who can bring back to us the inner equilibrium and peace.