The german way of hiking

Whenever you walk around the German cities, you feel the organization coming from the well marked bike lanes, those signs which indicate the right of way to drivers and the blue Us leading to the subway. But the German organization goes beyond the cities, it has conquered the mountains.

We made it!

A week ago I was invited to hike in the Alps. As a novice, I bought an expensive and sophisticated compass a day before the trip. I make a few steps toward the mountains and realized you don't need much equipment: all trails are numbered, labeled and categorized. Thus you only need a map. I have never walked around a mountain, so I went first at all times. I wanted to develop my sense of direction in this terrain. Although it was very easy, I made a mistake. After reaching the peak of Grasleitenkopf (1434 m.), we headed to the shelter where we were going to make a stop. After walking twenty minutes, a path appeared which wasn't on the map. Both directions were quite similar, so I decided to take the right path with more shade. A couple of minutes later the girlscout of our group corrected the course. She had talked with some Germans who came from the shelter and they had gone the other way. The disadvantage of living in such an organized country is that one is less prepared for the unexpected. That path shouldn't have been there because it wasn't on the map!