My 2023 hiking season began late this year. The weather has been cold until mid-April, not to mention it was massively rainy. I did add an extra item to my hiking gear this year: I bought myself a rain jacket. Nevertheless, the damp and cold weather was persisting until the latter half of April, when the sun finally started shining. So I took a day off, and headed out. I wanted to continue the E11 after all, where I left off last year
in Potsdam.
There was a strike that day with the trains, so instead of taking a straightforward S-Bahn to Potsdam, I had to take a series of buses, via Teltow. It was the scenic route, so to speak, but in any case, I had time, and it was not an issue.
As I ventured from Potsdam, I was immediately reminded that I am at the cross-roads of several long-distance trails. The above collection of trailposts show how long these trails are: the E11 for example extends from the Netherlands all the way to the Baltics, and the E10 is also quite comparable in distance. Perhaps I'll put these trails into my list of life projects.
There are several lakes that I have encountered in this segment. First was the Templiner See, which is rather large. I remember being here when I was finishing the 66 Lakes Trail with its
final segment, back in 2020.
Heck, it seems I even took the same picture, just three years apart. The picture of the church above in Caputh is framed exactly as how I did it back in 2020. And as I passed by Caputher See, I remembered the creepy old man back in 2020 who was using a telephoto lens to spy on some girls sunbathing on the other side of the little lake. Thankfully he wasn't there this time.
And then there was the Lienewitzsee. It's still quiet this time, without any bathers. I am after all still early for bathing season.
Eventually, I reached Ferch. And from there, I caught a bus, which took me back to Potsdam, and from there, thankfully, the S-Bahn was running again.
