Arm Chair Hiking

Been hoping  for a break in the weather, but it doesn't look like it will come soon. In the meantime, started to think about some hiking trials that I heard about and, in the process, discovered how easy it is to be an arm chair hiker around in Germany.

For example, I've heard some nice comments about two long trails, Reinsteig and Eifelsteig. So I thought I could check them out by picking up a couple of guidebooks about these trails. The bookstores here are filled with such guides for trails all over Germany. And they are nice books designed to fit in your rucksack and filled with color graphics, all the important logistical information (directions to the trail, location of parking, where to get a beer after the hike, or along the way), and readable descriptions of the trail. One great feature is the graph showing that elevation changes on the trail (see picture). Some guides also include GPS-coordinates for the important landmarks on the trail.

A second avenue to satisfy the winter hiking-lust has been TV. The other day, Magda and I watched a 4 hour program produced for German TV about through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. They focused on this one's couple's attempt to through hike. But in doing so you met a lot of other folks attempting the same thing. As someone that had had this desire since boy scouts (and haven't yet let go of it), it really made me want to get out there and go.

Another avenue for arm chair hiking has been the internet. There has been a couple of parties where folks have expressed their pleasure hiking one of the Traumpfade (Dream Trails). Traumpfade are a set of 19 trails that were opened last year (7 more are opening in June). Each trail meets a set of criteria that includes the following:

• The hike is a day hike, meaning that the average hiker should be able to complete the trail in 3-5.5 hours. That makes each trail 10-18 km in length
• The hike is a circuit hike, so a hiker can park their car, walk the trail and be back at their car
• this is a parking area at the start of the hike
• The hike is in the Rhine, Moselle, Eifel area (i.e. within 45 minute drive of Coblenz)
• The hike has interesting landmarks and viewing points. Also is mostly off of paved roads.

So I checked the Traumpfade website (www.traumppfade.info) and discovered the ideal feature for arm chair hiking. For each trail, the site offers a 3D animation of the hike. You can try it yourself. Click here to go to hike 3. Then click on the "3D Flug" button followed by "abspielen". After you tried one, the "Übersicht" button at the top right can give you access to the other 18 trails. Someone had fun with this site.