If you’re going to do a 25.2 mile hike, why not make it a full marathon?

A huge part of training for my upcoming Mont Blanc climb is endurance. Part technical skills, part strength, part attitude, but mostly endurance. Summit day will start at 0100 and be a 14-hour push to the summit and back to the Gouter hut. That’s a LOOOONG day. The best way to train is long days in the mountains, but since we’re Corona-bound, long days in the hills will have to do.

I picked a 25.2 mile route with about 3000 feet of elevation gain, threw on a heavy pack, and added a couple short loops at the end to make it a full marathon length. An added bonus was running into my friends Bruce and Kyoko and having them hike along with me for a two mile loop on the east side of Bebenhausen. While I like plugging away mindlessly listening to audiobooks, there’s something to be said for socially-distanced conversation in the forest. The minute we parted ways in Bebenhausen it started dumping rain – good timing for them to be in their car, and good planning on my part to have proper rain gear with me. I actually enjoy the rain – the forest smells all spring to life, the crowds disappear, and it’s somewhat therapeutic (or chinese water torture) to hear the drops pinging off my Gore-tex hood. Weird? Maybe.

I also ran across a Sequoia tree about mile 19, apparently there are several of them planted here in Germany (complete with signs), definitely a cool thing to see after we’ve spent so much time among the Sequoias in California!

Not a hike I’d recommend to anyone with any semblance of brains, but a great way to get out and put the hurt on the legs on a sketchy-weather Saturday!

Pano Point

One of the many beautiful panoramas along this hike.

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A Face…

A face that only a piglet could love

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Out of Place

This Sequioa tree is definitely out of place in the middle of a forest in Germany!

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Schonbuch Marathon Hike GPS Track

Schonbuch Marathon Hike GPS Track

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