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| From darksky.org |
I had booked a night at a hostel in a town nearby there called Gemuend,
and later canceled the reservation because of rain in the forecast for
exactly that night, which would have been Sunday.
On Friday though the forecast still said perfectly clear skies for that night - so I took the decision to go. No hostel reservation - I've always found it so frustrating that you have to book weeks in advance to still get a place which is always a huge gamble with Germany's (as well as Holland's) completely unpredictable weather. When traveling to Amsterdam I may still find something to do on a rainy day, such as visiting the library or some book stores - but in this case it would have been absolutely pointless to travel since stargazing was the only purpose of my journey.
But I decided it would be better not to stay at any hostel - I wanted to watch the night sky, after all, so I'd have to be out during the night. Why pay for a hostel bed I wouldn't use? And getting back there in the middle of the night? I hate fumbling my way around unfamiliar places in the dark, being too tired to move around at all. So I'd rather pack my sleeping bag and stay put somewhere. Which is exactly what I did.
On Friday though the forecast still said perfectly clear skies for that night - so I took the decision to go. No hostel reservation - I've always found it so frustrating that you have to book weeks in advance to still get a place which is always a huge gamble with Germany's (as well as Holland's) completely unpredictable weather. When traveling to Amsterdam I may still find something to do on a rainy day, such as visiting the library or some book stores - but in this case it would have been absolutely pointless to travel since stargazing was the only purpose of my journey.
But I decided it would be better not to stay at any hostel - I wanted to watch the night sky, after all, so I'd have to be out during the night. Why pay for a hostel bed I wouldn't use? And getting back there in the middle of the night? I hate fumbling my way around unfamiliar places in the dark, being too tired to move around at all. So I'd rather pack my sleeping bag and stay put somewhere. Which is exactly what I did.
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| Screen shot from bikemap.net |
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| From cycle.travel |
The first half of the route up to Euskirchen was easy as I'm familiar
with it, it's only about 15 miles. I passed through and rode on. Closing
in on that place called Mechernich it got steeply uphill; on that bike
track next to a road through the woods I emptied my water bottle.
"Mechernich 1 km," said a sign. Just one more kilometer and you can get
some water again...
Not before riding back downhill. Then I was in the town and found a supermarket. I had to press on, it was nearly 6 PM already.
Near that place called Scheven came another climb. I could see a single white car parked at the top of the hill; there was nothing there but fields and meadows. I thought of staying there as I was tired. Then I saw the McDonald's sign by the next crossroads - get something to drink, save my bottled water for later! I ordered table water and orange juice. "Nothing to eat?" I was asked incredulously. All sweaty from struggling up the hill, perhaps I looked like I needed something. "Only water and orange juice," I said politely, not mentioning that I'd never consider their kind of "food" as such. But the orange juice was pure and with fruit pulp in it, surprisingly good even if very overpriced for the tiny bottle. I then used the restroom, brushed my teeth there for the night and also refilled my second, empty water bottle.
Ready to ride on I finally found the way to Gemuend, it was slightly downhill then for the most part. It was 8 PM by the time I reached the town, but of course I couldn't stay there, I had to get out of residential areas if I wanted to see the stars, and anyway I couldn't camp out in the street with my sleeping bag. So I found the road to that National Park - found it went steeply uphill, on and on and on; no bike track and no sidewalk, just a motorway through the woods, which was, to make matters worse, frequented by lots of annoying folks: motorbikers speeding noisily along like maniacs, and cars, likewise speeding, the stereo turned up with the horrible racket of party "music".
Nightfall was very close and, having been riding for 5 hours by then, I was at the end of my powers but the steep slope of the road stretched endlessly ahead. In my despair I prayed, "Father, Lord Satan, please let me find a place to rest now."
The only way I could see was off the road and straight into the woods, shouldering my bike and walking through the brambles. I was looking for a halfway flat and open place, and then eventually I spied a narrow lane of grass that looked like an overgrown access path used by a vehicle, but not recently. It ended at a small glade overgrown with grass, and some low shrubbery and brambles. There was a tall but dead looking broom shrub near the center; I leaned my bike against it and settled next to it. I was far enough off the road, couldn't see any headlights from here, and it was just in time before it would have been too dark. There was still some distant noise from that damned road and also from the town, sadly it was a Friday night when people must be expected to be particularly annoying... but it was 9 PM by then and I hoped it would get more quiet soon.
I found a huge, black beetle on my backpack which I shooed away. I made myself comfortable looking down the slope toward the south where the waxing crescent moon was still up between the trees, which I knew was due to set by 11:30 PM. Soon I could spot a first star overhead, right by the swirling branches of that broom shrub next to which I was settled. Some small bats were flying to and fro above the glade and I enjoyed to watch them.
Then the constellation Cygnus was right above. I kept watching and waiting for the moon to set. I knew I wouldn't be sleeping much anyway even though the noise from the road and town had fortunately died down for the most part. The starry sky was indeed magnificent, much clearer than I'd ever seen it, but I didn't get to see the Milky Way. At times I wasn't sure whether or not there was some faint glow along the Cygnus constellation but I thought I was probably imagining it.
In the course of the night I did see three meteors though!
I slept very little and with many interruptions. Something was rustling very close to, or even underneath, the head of my sleeping bag. I tried changing position and keeping the sleeping bag tied as closely as possible to keep the bugs out. I had brought a flashlight with me and even spare batteries for it, but I didn't use it even a single time all night.
Not before riding back downhill. Then I was in the town and found a supermarket. I had to press on, it was nearly 6 PM already.
Near that place called Scheven came another climb. I could see a single white car parked at the top of the hill; there was nothing there but fields and meadows. I thought of staying there as I was tired. Then I saw the McDonald's sign by the next crossroads - get something to drink, save my bottled water for later! I ordered table water and orange juice. "Nothing to eat?" I was asked incredulously. All sweaty from struggling up the hill, perhaps I looked like I needed something. "Only water and orange juice," I said politely, not mentioning that I'd never consider their kind of "food" as such. But the orange juice was pure and with fruit pulp in it, surprisingly good even if very overpriced for the tiny bottle. I then used the restroom, brushed my teeth there for the night and also refilled my second, empty water bottle.
Ready to ride on I finally found the way to Gemuend, it was slightly downhill then for the most part. It was 8 PM by the time I reached the town, but of course I couldn't stay there, I had to get out of residential areas if I wanted to see the stars, and anyway I couldn't camp out in the street with my sleeping bag. So I found the road to that National Park - found it went steeply uphill, on and on and on; no bike track and no sidewalk, just a motorway through the woods, which was, to make matters worse, frequented by lots of annoying folks: motorbikers speeding noisily along like maniacs, and cars, likewise speeding, the stereo turned up with the horrible racket of party "music".
Nightfall was very close and, having been riding for 5 hours by then, I was at the end of my powers but the steep slope of the road stretched endlessly ahead. In my despair I prayed, "Father, Lord Satan, please let me find a place to rest now."
The only way I could see was off the road and straight into the woods, shouldering my bike and walking through the brambles. I was looking for a halfway flat and open place, and then eventually I spied a narrow lane of grass that looked like an overgrown access path used by a vehicle, but not recently. It ended at a small glade overgrown with grass, and some low shrubbery and brambles. There was a tall but dead looking broom shrub near the center; I leaned my bike against it and settled next to it. I was far enough off the road, couldn't see any headlights from here, and it was just in time before it would have been too dark. There was still some distant noise from that damned road and also from the town, sadly it was a Friday night when people must be expected to be particularly annoying... but it was 9 PM by then and I hoped it would get more quiet soon.
I found a huge, black beetle on my backpack which I shooed away. I made myself comfortable looking down the slope toward the south where the waxing crescent moon was still up between the trees, which I knew was due to set by 11:30 PM. Soon I could spot a first star overhead, right by the swirling branches of that broom shrub next to which I was settled. Some small bats were flying to and fro above the glade and I enjoyed to watch them.
Then the constellation Cygnus was right above. I kept watching and waiting for the moon to set. I knew I wouldn't be sleeping much anyway even though the noise from the road and town had fortunately died down for the most part. The starry sky was indeed magnificent, much clearer than I'd ever seen it, but I didn't get to see the Milky Way. At times I wasn't sure whether or not there was some faint glow along the Cygnus constellation but I thought I was probably imagining it.
In the course of the night I did see three meteors though!
I slept very little and with many interruptions. Something was rustling very close to, or even underneath, the head of my sleeping bag. I tried changing position and keeping the sleeping bag tied as closely as possible to keep the bugs out. I had brought a flashlight with me and even spare batteries for it, but I didn't use it even a single time all night.
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| The catastrophic light pollution in this corner of Europe. Just above where it says "Nationalpark Eifel" (underlined in orange) is that tiny dark area I had to find. |
Eventually the stars faded and I could see the two little bats circling again. When sitting up in my sleeping bag, a large insect hopped on its head part which I quickly swept away - having barely seen it it that split second I think it may have been the big black beetle from the previous night, which possibly also was responsible for the rustling noises during the night. I got up at 6 AM and ate a bread roll with honey for breakfast which I had bought in Euskirchen the day before. I saw the broom bush wasn't quite as dead as it had seemed at dusk, part of it had been broken by another fallen tree but another part was still alive and carrying black seed pods, I picked two of them.
Then I gathered up my sleeping bag which had served well to keep me warm overnight. I had been riding in only a tank top most of the way, only just before reaching Gemuend I had put on a sweater. Now I had to put on the additional clothes I had brought, and also the gloves, as it had gone down into the 50's. I put on my backpack, shouldered the bike after securing the sleeping bag on its carrier again, and tried to find my way back down to the road which proved to be longer and more challenging than I had remembered it from the night before.
Having eventually arrived on the road I mounted my bike and started rolling downwards, down and down, taking several bends... realizing how long and steep it was, no wonder I'd felt I couldn't take any more of it when trying to ride up here the previous night after my 5 hour ride!
The town of Gemuend looked peaceful, even sleepy now, deserted by all the noisy crowds of the previous night - the reason I cherish early mornings. However, all I wanted now was to get home, and there were about 40 miles with a bunch of steep hills between me and home which I didn't feel quite ready to tackle again. I decided to take a train but couldn't find the station, so I needed to find someone to ask directions. I found a man carrying out newspapers in the otherwise deserted streets, he was friendly and informed me Gemuend didn't have a railroad station at all and that the nearest one was in the town of Kall, about 7 km away. So I rode there, and in that even more deserted appearing town I found a lonesome, early jogger to ask the way to the station once more. He was also very friendly and I somehow had the distinct impression he recognized me as a fellow athlete.I easily found the station from the directions he have me. The place selling tickets was still closed, a sign with the opening times said it was open from 8 AM on Saturdays. I checked my watch - only about 10 minutes until then, and across a large parking lot was a supermarket which looked already open - time to get some more breakfast! I bought a bottle of diet coke and a bunch of bread rolls, and when I got back the ticket place had opened in the meantime.
I had to change trains in Euskirchen which took a while since the first train to arrive there wouldn't go on its journey, apparently because of defect brakes. All passengers were sitting on board waiting around for about 10 minutes. The driver and a technician were checking something inside a box mounted behind a seat, and as they had closed the box and made their way back to the front of the train the technician said to the driver something like, "I'd never in my life ride with this, Juergen!" Wow... that sounded quite severe. And just briefly thereafter the announcement came over the speakers, asking all passengers to get off the train and walk over to the next platform where a substitute train would be arriving shortly, which it did and there was no further incident then.
When searching for some star charts later at home I found out that the Milky Way would indeed be found where had thought to be seeing that faint glow, nearly perfectly aligned along the "vertical axis" of the Cygnus constellation.
