Forest wandering

I took a walk today, and it was very pretty...but unfortunately the batteries had died in the camera, which I discovered when I tried to turn it on to take a picture of a big heron-type bird out in the middle of a farm field. I was planning on meeting the walking group in Aesch to go on their walk, but the tram took longer than I had thought it would to get there, and they were already gone when I arrived. So, I headed out on my own, and had a wonderful hike, up a big hill along some vineyards and through the woods. Beautiful tall hemlock groves, mixed amongst oaks and possibly birch and maple. I am not sure of the identification of the trees here in Europe. It reminded me a lot of the woods around where I grew up, but with more pine and hemlock. I could hear chain saws and a tractor running off somewhere in the distance, and birds, but otherwise it was nice and quiet.

They have some sort of trimming and forest management that they do here, and there were areas where a lot of the trees had been cut down, and a couple of spots where they had planted saplings and put them in protective tubes. And there were HUGE piles of stacked wood with tarps over them. Apparently they get numbered, and the people who they are for can come pick them up when they need wood. I am not sure if that is quite how it works, but that's what I heard second-hand. I am sure I will go again, and will have to take pictures because these piles were truly impressive.

At one point I could see mountains off in the distance, but I am not certain what mountains they were. I'm not sure if you can see the Alps from Basel, but they had snow up in the upper valleys. I believe they were east and a bit south of Basel. It has been gray and cloudy out here much of the time, but the sun was peeking through the clouds today, and made great weather for a hike. I think fall and winter are my favorite time of the year for hiking. I'd rather go walking when it is cooler out than when it is hot.

This weekend MrB and I also went on a wander through another wooded area I had been to earlier in the week with one of my expat friends. If you take the number 8 tram all the way to the end at Neuweilerstrasse, there are a bunch of trails winding through woods and fields. There were quite a few people out riding horses and many others jogging and walking. People do love to get outdoors here. They do in the U. S. too, but maybe there's just more people to the amount of outdoor space here so you see more when you're out walking.