Day 8 – Grafenhausen to Sasbach (30,6km)
Since I wanted to have a relaxing day today, the alarm didn’t go off until 7 a.m. Then I got up, packed my things and went to breakfast. I left the hotel around 8 a.m. and started walking.
Light wind made hiking very pleasant in the morning. The path took me through fields to Rust. Although I couldn’t see the roller coasters themselves yet, it wasn’t long before I heard the screams of the riders. This accompanied me through the town before I got a look at the attractions at the end of the town. I would have liked to have installed a stop and ridden a bit of a rollercoaster.
As time went on, the screams of the passengers became less and less audible and I followed the road via Niederhausen to Rheinhausen. When I got there, I bought a few things at the supermarket and took a lunch break.
Strengthened, I continued my journey and quickly reached Oberhausen. By now it was getting warmer and I was literally sweating while running. At first I thought about just setting up my tent somewhere and calling it a day there. Since my water reserves were slowly running out, I decided to walk to Sasbach. I was hoping to be able to fill up my water somewhere and maybe find a place to sleep.
Unfortunately the route continued for many kilometers. When I was able to take a look at the Rhine and France opposite for the first time, I was very happy. This joy was short-lived, however, as I now had to walk for almost 3km on the dam on the Rhine. There I was exposed to the sun the entire time and the temperatures now reached 32 degrees in the shade.
When, after what felt like an eternity, I passed a rest stop just before Sasbach, I bought a large bottle of water, which I drank empty and then ordered a tarte flambée and a cold beer.
After eating, I had my water bottle refilled by a waitress and continued my hike to Sasbach. While running I kept looking for good places where I could set up my tent. At some point there was a turnoff to a church on the Lützelberg. I decided to walk up at short notice to get a better overview of the surroundings from above.
As it turns out, it was a good decision. There was a small house attached to the church in which two sisters lived. When I asked them if I could set up my tent somewhere here, they said that I could just put it in the open space next to the church. I talked to them for a few minutes and they said I was the third person to set up a tent here on the way to Santiago. Since youth camps also take place here from time to time, there was even a toilet and washing facilities for me. Then the sister put a stamp in my notebook before they disappeared into their house. Later one of the sisters came out again and brought me some fruit for the evening, which I was very happy about.
As the sun slowly set, I set up my tent on the lawn, collapsed onto my sleeping pad, exhausted, and quickly fell asleep.
Day 9 – Sasbach to Oberrimsingen (32,9km)
The 9th day of my trip began in my tent next to the church on the Lützelberg. I set off early in the morning because I had planned a longer route again today and it was supposed to be even warmer. My sister also wanted to come visit me one last time and give me a few little things for my trip. Nevertheless, I didn’t miss the opportunity to enjoy my coffee with a beautiful view after just a few meters. I also ate the remaining fruit that my sister had given me the day before.
After finishing my cup, I continued downhill to Sasbach and then followed the Rhine for several kilometers towards Breisach. On the way I passed the picturesque town of Burkheim, where I treated myself to a second breakfast in a cafe.
Until then the path was very pleasant to walk and the heat was still bearable. After that it got worse and worse. First we went through the sunny vineyards, where I started sweating more and more. Since my sister wanted to be in Breisach at around 12, I hurried the rest of the way. Despite the ever warmer temperatures, I continued running as quickly as I could and took few breaks. When I had to follow a straight road for over 4km that had no shade whatsoever, the sun started to bother me more and more and I was slowly exhausted.
It was all the more gratifying for me when I saw my sister at the end of the street and she told me that there was a kiosk with ice cream just a few meters away. Completely exhausted, we sat down in a shady place, ate some ice cream and drank a cold soda.
After cooling off, we headed into the city center to find something decent to eat. I left my backpack in my sister’s car. Running without him felt kind of strange because I constantly felt like something was missing.
A little later we arrived in Breisach, where I reached the end of the Baden Way of St. James. From here I will switch to the Himmelreich Jakobsweg coming from Freiburg, which will take me via Mühlheim and Weil to Basel in Switzerland.
In Breisach we stopped at an Italian restaurant and ate a pizza. Then I set off again to today’s destination and my sister picked up the car. We then met again on a street where I got my backpack back. We ate watermelon there before I set off on my own again.
With it now 37 degrees in the shade, running in the sun was a real torture. As long as I was still going through the forest, I was able to cope with the temperatures to some extent, but as soon as I had to move onto tarred paths without shade, the heat was almost unbearable. I sweat out the water faster than I could drink it. After a few kilometers, the last drop of water from my bottle was used up. So I fought my way through the heat without drinking before I passed a cemetery where I was able to replenish my water reserves.
When I finally arrived at my destination in Oberrimsingen, I was completely soaked with sweat and almost knocked out from the heat. For tonight I had secured a place in the pilgrim accommodation on the Christophorus Jugendwerk campus. Although I’m not usually a fan of basement apartments, I was really happy to get a room in the cool basement that day.
Exhausted from the long hike at 37 degrees, I took a cold shower and then collapsed onto my soft bed and just lay motionless for a few minutes. When I had recovered somewhat, I washed my clothes and read a book for a while before I fell asleep quite early, exhausted.
Day 10 – Oberrimsingen to Oberrimisingen (0km)
After running for the last 9 days and having now covered over 250km, I decided to take my first day off today after the strenuous last few days. Although I haven’t really had any muscle soreness from the hikes so far, I did notice that hiking every day put quite a strain on my bones and joints. Therefore, especially at the beginning of my trip, I wanted to give the body the rest it needed in order to regenerate and thus better get used to the daily strains.
So today I enjoyed my breakfast relaxing at a table in the sun and otherwise I lay in bed most of the day to give my feet a breather. In addition to taking a nap, I use this time to save my pictures, plan my next route and read the news again for days.
Since there was neither a bakery nor a supermarket in this town and the only restaurant in town is open on Mondays, we had a rather simple meal for dinner, but it was completely sufficient.
After I completed the Baden Way of St. James yesterday and had a good rest today (I really just didn’t do anything :D), tomorrow I will switch to the Way of St. James in Heaven and then follow it all the way to Basel in Switzerland. I’m looking forward to some hillier terrain with hopefully alternating ascents and descents. The only thing that worries me a little is the weather forecast for the next few days, as in addition to more heat, thunderstorms are also forecast for the next few days. But now I’ll wait and see and look forward to the coming days on the Way of Heaven on the Way of Heaven.
P.S. For anyone interested, here is an overview of my journey so far. If you would like to know more detailed information about the altitude and route, you can take a look at my komoot profile. I track there individually every day.
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