Day 50 – at Hinsbourg

Some hot and humid days here. It’s common for mid 30s here in July and August, but some fierce storms also. I’ve been caught in storms in Central Europe a few times and each one was quite memorable. Usually they strike at 3 am when it’s been so hot only the inner part of the tent is up. Not a lot of sleep after that.

I put a series of supposed footpaths together today to make a circuit, but several of them either have grown over, or never existed in the first place. I’m using Open Street Maps on the Garmin, which I guess is most common in Europe at the moment. Some of the marked tracks lie slightly off the map route, often only 10 metres or so, but in the forest after a pandemic that can be difficult to find. But it’s fun.. like ML training over again.

This is the Lower Rhine area. One of the photos below shows the Source of the Moder, which is one of the tributaries of the Rhine.

The dog’s answer to the heat is to climb into the trough of the water fountain and lie down. He has shed his winter coat quicker than ever this year. Being a Labrador he leads the way everywhere trail we’re on, 30 metres or so ahead. I can never quite work out why he always knows the way. Initially I thought it was just when we were returning and close to the van, but it is all the time. At home when we get to a junction of paths he will wait, to see which direction to head, but we have been both ways before.

As the light fades, about 8:30 pm, the evening starts to cool. As early as this in the summer there aren’t that many flies around, so it’s possible to sit with the van door open until 11 ish, when it is cooler, into the teens.