The Hunt Cycling is a full service bike-shop, independent journal and collective consisting of three cycling enthusiasts based in Halle Saale. We try to explore, document and share our experiences in the field of cycling and beyond. Besides drinking shandy, lots of riding and intellectual discusses about bike parts and stuff, we enjoy riding with friends and running our showroom and bike-shop located in the center of Halle.
Two weeks ago we started to plan our long awaited second trip to the „Brocken“. The Brocken is northern Germanys highest mountain which is located right in the middle of the national park “Harz”. We first visited the Brocken in autumn 2015 and it was a blast. Since then we always talked about a second trip but unfortunately never had the time. The Brocken is only a one-hour train ride away from Halle so getting there is really easy. We also wanted to use this years Labor Day weekend which gave everybody an extra recovery day off – if needed. We instantly started planning a specific route, checked the train connection and before we even knew we arrived in Ilsenburg, our starting point right at the foot of the mountain. Our main goal was to climb directly up to the top but after we read about some road and bridge works going on we didn’t know exactly what to expect.
We followed the cobblestone path out of Ilsenburg leaving a Hotel, some hikers and a few mountain bikers behind us and instantly hit the forest road. This road leads us gently uphill passing small wild rivers with beautiful enchanted forest views and starts to significantly rise all the way up to our fist stop at the „Bremer Hütte“. We are now at 530m and while drinking water and eating snacks this is the first time you will see the peak of the peak of the Brocken in all of it’s glory. The trail continues under the name of „Heinrich-Heine-hiking trail“ and lead us directly to the „Hirtenstieg“ a former concrete street for tanks. Yes, tanks! A little further on we reached the famous „Bismarck-Klippen“ with a very rewarding view to the „Eckertalsperre“ and the northern region of the National Park. From this point it got worse. We found ourselves climbing the steepest section of the day (2.8km) with a very challenging 15% gradient up to the top.
The temperatures dropped to zero degrees the more we got close to the top and it also had been snowing for a while. We reached the top exhausted but happy. The view was amazing and everybody took the mandatory summit picture. After all the hard work we were looking forward to the baddest and most expensive food of the day up at the Brocken-Restaurant. Nevertheless having something warm to eat is like a finishing touch after all this climbing. After one hour of relaxation and tranquillity we started our way down to the City of Wernigerode. The paved road goes downhill for about 30minutes and offered great views and a awesome riding experience. We strongly recommend to try out this route or different routes spanning all over the Brocken. It is a beautiful place to be and riding in this environment is absolutely stunning. Respect the nature and please always stay on the official trials and roads. Don’t forget to give us a follow on Instagram and most important, ride safe!
