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february '17: movin' through the moor pits.

one of my go-to taunus towns is bad schwalbach. it's a really small city only about 20 kms from wiesbaden. i often visit in winter, because probability of snow is much higher than down in wiesbaden. on the day i decided for another visit snow was actually in decline, and there was a whiff of spring in the air. i stopped my car on a remote forest parking lot not far away from the spa gardens and slowly walked through the cold air & sunny woods, discovering a beautiful look-out about halfway through, until i ended up down in the park, lingering around the moor pits until my way lead me back through snow-covered valley cuts to my car. it was a short walk, and very much needed, one of those days where the ceiling in your home is about to fall down on your head and all it takes to feel a little more free and less caged in is getting into your car or down onto the streets and start walking, walking and watching the world and directing your eyes onto your surroundings, outwards, and not inwards, as one is prone to do when stuck inside.

random understory.

as the snow is melting you can always find little runlets of thaw water next to the walking paths. their soft bubbling is always nice to listen to.



i really love when all the moss in the woods feasts on the moisture of the bygone winter and turns into the most vivid green.



tinder fungus feeding on deadwood.

the light was extraordinarily bright and there was an almost invisible cloak of fog lowering in the woods.


this little look-out didn't really provide a nice view onto anything, but it was a good place to sit down and listen to some bird chirping and enjoying the calm of the woods.


sometimes i encounter strange things, such as this tree seemingly growing out of an emptry tree trunk and i wonder if it was really growing that way naturally or if it was an intentional & human thing, some kind of nature art, maybe.

you had a much better view a few metres above the little hut. i really like the moss on the roof.

it felt like a really romantic little retreat, perfect for possible lovers?



i finally reached the outskirts of the spa park with its dated strange spa buildings. i think this building is pretty much in disrepair, but i really liked it.


a word for you. there were some cards in it that pointed you towards several religious institutions in bad schwalbach. nice idea, but not for the atheists among us ;P

i passed by the mire pits. it's prohibited to enter them, because obviously moor pits are not to be joked with.

black peat covered with powdery leftovers of snow. the pits were installed by humans, because the naturally occuring mire pits weren't profitable enough.


bad schwalbach is a spa town and one of its cure offers are mud baths. so of course it's essential that the spa has its very own mire pits, to keep out expensive extra costs of purchasing the peats from a faraway location.

i really liked how dead everything looked.

i continued to walk on and finding a way back to my car. i passed by a secluded hut in a particularly cold part of the woods, were the snow didn't completely melt away yet.

loved the clean & modern approach of hut architecture. reminded me a lot of brutalist buildings.

moss growing on the roof of the hut.

god's blessing - love for everyone. strange little sculpture next to the hut.

a last picture of the triangle hut.

Comments

Kyle Studstill said…
Those two shots where you're talking about the bright light and cloak of fog—I love the blue tones that layer the woods in background, fantastic shots! I love the fog, it often makes these kinds of things even more beautiful 🔮🙏

www.patientexplorers.com
baumtod. said…
thank you very much, kyle :3 and you are completely right, fog always makes sceneries a lot more magical. we rarely get foggy days here, but if we have, it is so calming & soothing.

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