Geigerskopf - Blog Posts
Summer highlight reel: Oberkirch
I praised this hike on a loop South of Oberkirch for its amenities, but the views were also fantastic. In chronological order, here's the first vineyard I came across on the circuit.
The first drinks hut, with schnaps, is the Köbelesberghof to the left, out of frame. The hamlet opposite, which OpenStreetMap names In der Rot, looks gorgeous among the vineyards and forest!
Just below the summit area of the Geigerskopf is the Busseck Hof vineyard, and beyond, the plains in which the Rhine flows.
Turn around at the previous photo and the path to the Geigerskopf summit will appear. A tower at the top offers some stunning, unimpeded panoramas of the Rhine plains and the Vosges on one side (Strasbourg is visible in this picture), and the Black Forest hills on the other.
Finally, climbing down, past Busseck and past the drinks hut I stopped at (Klingelberger Hütte), we reach this viewpoint overseeing the town, with the castle visible on the hills opposite. It seems that all the fruits are grown here: apples, plums, pears and grapes...
Fruit, glorious fruit!
Little did I know until yesterday, the vineyards and orchards near Oberkirch, on the edge of the Black Forest, are magnificent at this time of year! Now I think of it, I didn't see any cherries, and apparently they are in season... maybe I just missed them. As for what they make with all this fruit in Germany, well...
That'll be schnaps.
Available in all good drink huts along the hiking trail! A friend and I saw a self-service drinks cabinet on another hike to the North of Oberkirch, but this circuit was on another level. I must have seen at least four drinks stops, ranging from a cabinet with a cash box to a full-fledged hut with shade and benches. It appears to be a local speciality, and I'd say this sells it quite well!
It's quite the feeling to enjoy a cold schorle (fizzy water with a dash of juice, I passed on the schnaps because I don't go for alcohol) with an incredible view on the way back down a hill on a hot day!