Hünerberg (15.11.2007)

Two weeks ago, the other American, Ryan, and I were having wine with the Rector here at the Hochschule. He had pulled out a "Wanderkarte" (trail map) of the Hochtaunus forest and was showing us some of the points of interest in this area. This area has some remarkable Roman and Celtic ruins. One particular site is a Celtic ringwall on top of a hill called, Hünerberg. "Hünerberg," he said, "I forget what the word is in English . . ." "Hünerberg," I asked, "you mean like a chicken?"

Well, after consulting the dictionary, turns out a "Hüner" is not a chicken, but a giant. In my defense, the German word for "chicken" is "Huhn." The difference in pronounciation is slight. So it was not, in fact, "Chicken Mountain," but "Giant Mountain." Not that it's huge. It's not. It has something to do with a legend involving large people.

This afternoon, under a grey sky and intermittent snow flurries, I bundled up and headed out the door for Hünerberg. I plotted a circular route of about 7 kilometers. The elevation of the Hochschule is about 285 meters. The elevation of Hünerberg is 375 meters. [Altkönig (see my DD.MM blog) is 798 meters.] It was a beautiful hike; the air was brisk and brush bore the remnants of Tuesday night's snowfall.

Hünerberg is essentially a rock-crusted hill set apart from Altkönig on the southern slope off the Taunus toward Frankfurt. I approached in the shade on the east side of the hill. It was not yet 4:00, but the sun was rapidly making its way toward the horizon. The shadows in the snow and the rays of sunlight on the trees made for unique surroundings. Just that minor change in elevation - less than 100 meters - from the Hochschule left the air cool enough that the ground was still covered with a light dusting of snow. The narrow trail testified to slight traffic the previous two days. As I approached, a lone mountain biker was silhouetted on the hilltop; but by the time I got to the top, I had Hünerberg to myself. My reward for pulling myself away from my MacBook this afternoon was a spectacular 270-degree panorama of the Taunus and the village of Königstein (west of Oberursel). Through the bare trees on Altkönig, a blanket of snow was visible. To the west, Kronberg was recognizeable by the castle that dominates the village. To the southwest I could see the sprawl of Frankfurt. With the sun rapidly setting, I reluctantly turned and headed back toward the trail. (But not after taking quite a few pictures. I was so captured by the scenery that I was afraid I might tumble down the hillside for chasing the sunset through the viewfinder on my camera.)

Not wanting to take the same way back that I'd come, I cut back east toward Oberursel. Less than 3km later, after trekking through a pine forest that kept me on the lookout for gingerbread houses, I arrived at the Hohemark train station. Two stops later, I disembarked for the familiar shortcut up the trail through the woods back to the Hochschule.

Peace to you, Jake

Today's Box Score
Photos: 115
Attractive German Women Who Spoke Perfect English: 1
Chicken Sightings: 0
Giant Sightings: 0