This was the first leg of the hiking tour between Hamburg and Schwerin in 2018. We were living in north eastern Hamburg at the time, so the starting point is from Poppenbüttel.
The first thought I had when leaving the small driveway was: This is going to be heavy! Of course one always try to pack as light as possible, but as I was carrying both tent, cooking ware, clothes, water and supplies for at least a couple of day, things quickly add up.
I was lucky with the weather, quite warm, which would turn to hold for the complete tour.
The first part of the leg was nothing special, I walked through the northeastern suburbs of Hamburg, trying to find some green spots on the map.
Between Volksdorf and Ahrensburg I finally got out of the urban areas, and I spotted a deer and her baby deer in the area of Neuer Teich. Immediately afterwards I had a lunch stop at the bakeries on Hamburger Straße, on the southern edge of Ahrensburg. The mood was good, finally being underway.
After lunch, I followed the path next to the U1 subway, which is basically a commuter train in this area. Being a train enthusiast as well, this was also interesting. Leaving Ahrensburg, I cornered the small Manhagenteich, and walked through the most lovely bright green beech wood.
After crossing the A1 highway by a small walking bridge, I had to make a detour, as my planned path didn’t seem public. Until now, all paths were wide and very well maintained, and you could easily bring your kid in a stroller.
Passing through some small farming villages, I joined the the Glinde – Trittau old railroad track (German) path towards Lütjensee.
When reaching Lütjensee I had my other bad – and worse! – moment of the day: For some reason I had planned with Lütjensee as my destination for the day – but the camping ground was at Großensee around 4 km. to the south. 4 km is not a lot, but when you think you have overcome the day’s efforts, then it is quite discouraging.
Anyway, there was nothing to do about it, and I turned south and followed the western bank of Großensee. There’s was a nice view, but as the Germans like to do fence their properties, the path was fenced throughout the stretch, making it slightly less pleasurable to walk.
I reached the small village of Großensee, and turned on some of the small streets, before heading for the camping ground. The northern part of the village is the old part, and you can really get an impression of the typical North German farm village.
I had a nice reception at the camping ground, which also have rather nice and clean facilities. I had dinner at one of the restaurants with view over the lake, even though I’ve got a voucher from the camping ground manager for a free aperitif a the local inn, Alter Dorfkrug, which I have to admit also looked quite cosy.
