Odenwald Hike: Old Houses, Huge Forests

When you know landscapes very well like I do with Brandenburg and the Odenwald, you always are aware of differences between them. So already Brandenburg is build on sand while in the Odenwald soil is made of clay. The latter does not only make it very difficult to dig a whole in the garden but it also gives nature a whole different color: Red. Also, the air is much more humid in Southern Germany and with this comes an ideal situation for mosses and lichen. While in Brandenburg a very mossy tree is mostly dead, it is just normal in the South. But the biggest difference is of course the landscape itself: While in the North there are some tiny hills and everyone calls it “Switzerland” the Odenwald is a very hilly area. As a result, trees grow differently. The natural forest of the Odenwald is made of different height layers and much larger trees, which makes it darker and more mystical. So if I enter the forest in Brandenburg I mostly think “Ah, forest” with a Mickey Mouse voice, but when I do the same in the Odenwald I think “Ah, forest” with a Sauron voice.
Pictures taken at Stürzenhardter Brückle, Unterneudorfer Mühle, Mühltal in Buchen.