Stretching My Legs

I SET off after my game yesterday morning to take the scenic route, via a section of Bischofsgrün's panoramaweg, to a cable car in order to ascend the Ochsenkopf, which at 1,024m has the second-highest peak in the Fichtel mountains.

But as my game had finished in under two hours, I had plenty of time on my hands, and instead decided to walk to the top.

After crossing the White Main, I was confronted by a wide choice of paths.

I recalled from last year that routes marked with a blue M, a green circle and a grey-on-blue 'blob' pass over the top of Ochsenkopf

All three, together with a route dedicated to a local poet, follow the same path for a few kilometres

The early part, when starting at Hotel Kaiseralm, runs alongside the White Main, which at this point is little more than a stream, and is decidedly reddish rather than white

A tree that has had its subsoil eroded away, leaving it balanced somewhat precariously on rocks in the river

Further signs of soil erosion

The Bischofsgrün area's municipal motto could easily be Montag Ruhetag - Closed Mondays - but this lakeside hostelry made a refreshing exception

I enjoyed a view of the lake, which is fed by the White Main, while enjoying a double-espresso and mineral water

Everywhere is very green while ascending Ochsenkopf, the exception provided by foxgloves, which thrive in clearings on the mountainside, some growing to a considerable height

Rock formations become more peculiar as one nears the top

I stopped for lunch of bread, cheese and mineral water at the source of the White Main - also regarded as the source of the Main - which runs from Ochsenkopf before joining the Rhine at Mainz

Route of the White Main, and its cousin the Red Main, and their continued journey as the Main

The north cable car - there is also a south version - makes for an easier trip back to Bischofsgrün  

But it is more of an adventure to walk down while crisscrossing under the gondolas