common_nature | Photos from the Harz Mountains, Germany (Reply)

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

Another wide shot of a river with trees and rocks in the background, shot from higher ground.

Another wide shot of a river with trees and rocks in the background, shot from higher ground.

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

A long shot of a wooden bridge over a river, with trees on both sides and rocks in the front.

A long shot of a wooden bridge over a river, with trees on both sides and rocks in the front.

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

Wideframe view of a river with trees and roots and stones.

Wideframe view of a river with trees and roots and stones.

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

A shot of the peat bog up in the mountains, covered in heather, with the forest in the background. Blue sky and whisps of clouds.

A shot of the peat bog up in the mountains, covered in heather, with the forest in the background. Blue sky and whisps of clouds.

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.

The roots of a fallen tree. Some of the roots have grown around rocks, which are now hanging, suspended.

The roots of a fallen tree. Some of the roots have grown around rocks, which are now hanging, suspended.

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

A fallen tree crossing a brook. There is a small pine growing out of its roots. Many bare trees in the background.

A fallen tree crossing a brook. There is a small pine growing out of its roots. Many bare trees in the background.

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.

Stones and trees in a mountain brook.

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

A small, bare, crooked tree growing between two tall, straight-trunked trees.

A small, bare, crooked tree growing between two tall, straight-trunked trees.

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

Tiny little brook running through a forest.

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.

Photos from the Harz Mountains, Germany

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