Photos from the Harz Mountains, Germany

[sylvaine]

I recently was in the Harz Mountains for a weekend hiking trip, and goodness, the scenery was gorgeous.


This is a river that I wish I knew the name of that had a pretty intense European hiking trail alongside it.


This is the bridge leading off the Verlobungsinsel, the so-called "engagement island". I just love the way the boulders on that island looked!


Another shot of the unnamed river, this time with a bit of the Verlobungsinsel in the foreground.


This is the peat bog up in the Harz mountains, some ways off from the Brocken. It looks even more astonishing in real life - just this wide, flat expanse of nothing, covered in heather, but if you look closely you see the way it is absolutely buzzing with life.


I'm still delighted by the way the roots have wrapped around and caught fast those rocks!


There was this big bit of forest near the peat bog that was just full of dead trees. Some had been uprooted by a storm. A lot of them had been cut down because they'd been infested with some bug and were in danger of collapsing. The rest were all standing tall and bare like silent sentinels. My favourite part, though, was the new trees growing in the earth caught in the roots of the uprooted trees.


I got to sit on a big rock in the middle of a brook. It was really, really lovely.


I love the way this tiny, bent tree is framed by the tall, straight trunks of the trees beside it.


This is probably my favourite photo from this trip? It's such a small thing, just a tiny little brooklet by the path, but the colours are just so incredibly beautiful.

Comments

[shirebound]

For some reason I can't see your pics. :(

[sylvaine]

... oh, I think I know why! I had them as "access list only". Should be fixed now; let me know if I missed one?

[shirebound]

Hooray! That looks like a wonderfully wild place. It's nice to know that places like that are still out there. I'd love to wander there. I love brooklets, too.

[sylvaine]

It's a national park, hence the wilderness! Actually the path was astonishingly accessible even for someone like me with mobility issues, but around the path the wilderness began. :)

[weofodthignen]

I don't know whether you can read this, but you were in the Okertal, so the river must be the Oker. Here's the English Wikipedia article on the river.

Lovely pictures! Thanks!

M

[blessed_oak]

What a beautiful place, and so many different types of scenery!

[sylvaine]

I am so lucky I got to go there!

[clare_dragonfly]

Wow! Beautiful photos, thank you for sharing!

[sylvaine]

Thank you, and you're welcome!

[ranunculus]

Lovely!
Peat bogs are amazing, full of colour and life, even as they appear dead.

[sylvaine]

I don't think I'd ever gotten to see a peat bog irl before, and it was truly amazing.

[yourlibrarian]

I have never lived in a place with boulders and almost always in flatland areas so I always think they're such a great part of a landscape. Looks like you had a very scenic weekend!

[sylvaine]

(much belated) I definitely did! Boulders in landscapes are pretty special to me, no lie. There's something about them that makes the land feel... idk, wilder, perhaps? More prehistoric?

[airlass]

Beautiful photos! I especially like the peat bog and the tiny bent tree. The whole place looks really soothing and peaceful.

[sylvaine]

(A very belated) thank you! :D

peat bog

[birdylion]

Peat bogs are always so fascinating to visit (even though I don't know much about them), and this one looks impressive. I should go hiking in the Harz some day, these picture look great.