From Eibenstock to the Auersberg (1,018m) via Wildenthal back

On the way back, we made a detour into the Ore Mountains. A lovely loop to the Auersberg (1018 m) from Eibenstock. The weather held up, too 😃👍

Early in the morning... just for @〽️Markus, we took a photo from the pastry shop 😂... and of course, we also bought cake 🍰! On the way back to Franconia, we took another hike up the Auersberg... fantastic, endless hiking trails... lined with countless raspberry and blackberry bushes... still a lot of clouds at the summit, but on the descent via the Schlangenweg and later in the beautiful valley along the Große Bockau, there was even sunshine... and at the Bühlhaus in Eibenstock, we even got a really great lunch at 3 p.m. 😃... afterward, we climbed the "Glück auf" tower right next to the restaurant: 360-degree views over the Ore Mountains

Today Nicole and I were once again out and about as tour testers for the Erzgebirge Tourism Association. The tour took us to the Auersberg, the third highest peak in Saxony at 1018 meters. You can find the tour here: @Tourismusverband Erzgebirge e.V. https://www.komoot.com/de-de/tour/1017300318, directly on the association's account. You can also book a guided tour here. Our hike starts at the tourist information office in the middle of Eibenstock's upper town. From Aue you can reach Eibenstock with the regional bus or, like us, you can use the free parking spaces directly at the small park with the sleeping Sleeping Beauty at the tourist information office. The hiking trails to Sosa and Auersberg are perfectly signposted from here. We leave the city via Quergasse and Funckstraße and after a few hundred meters we are already in the middle of nature. On Auersbergstraße you have a first glimpse of our destination for today. The Nonnenhausweg initially leads downhill into the valley of the Große Bockau. The first stop is the Rektorswiesen with the Rektorbrücke over the Große Bockau. The meadows are a forest biotope and are ecologically valuable as so-called "mountain meadows" and, like the entire Bockautal, are protected. The rest area with the shelter is lovingly designed and, with the green roof in the middle of the meadow, makes a great photo opportunity. From here, the real challenge of the hiking tour begins, a good 4 km path with 510 m of ascent up to the summit. The path initially leads steadily uphill via the new Bärenweg and the Mittelflügel to the Großer Stern. Several hiking trails cross here and the Sachsenforst has also built a pretty shelter here for resting, as at the Rektorbrücke. Shortly after the rest area, the "Auersbergkönig" mountain bike tour leaves the path we have been following together up to that point. Here, the actual name says it all: steep, steeper, steepest... The path here is also called the Himmelsleiter. Today, through the humidity, a really sweaty climb. In addition to the tower, there is also a mountain inn on the Auersberg, which has been brought back to life since 2018 by Mr. Simmel, a regional grocer. We had a yeast picnic to fortify ourselves. The Auersberg is also a stage destination of the Stoneman. Well fortified, we set off on the second part of the tour. Down the zigzag path, along the ridge path in the valley of the Große Bockau down to Wildenthal. I can also recommend the Hammerschänke in Wildenthal as an alternative destination to the mountain inn. We had already stopped here on an earlier tour and it was great. Our tour today only went past and continued downhill along the Große Bockau on the Sosaer Weg. The path is initially asphalted, but a little further downstream there is a wide, paved forest path that always runs along the river. The tour leads through beautiful high forest, which is a typical mixed forest here. The four kilometers downstream into the valley are an intoxicating, unique natural experience. After a short climb from the valley up to Auersbergstrasse, we were back at our destination in Eibenstock after just a few steps. An all-round successful, moderately difficult tour, because it is a little challenging in terms of fitness, which can be wonderfully combined with a visit to the bathing gardens in Eibenstock for regeneration and relaxation. Komoot rating: five out of five stars.