Tom`s travels: Märkische Schweiz (31/10/2021)

The day after hiking in the Grumsin Forest, as the weather was still nice and relatively warm for the end of October I decided to do another trip. This time Ania joined me, and together with our friends Miriam and Sarah took Miriam's small yet useful Fiat 500 and headed eastwards out of Berlin. In just over an hour we then reached the small town of Buckow. After finding a spot to park the car in a car park we then decided to walk through the Schlosspark first. This 17th-century baroque garden now turned into a city park that once belonged to the castle which now doesn't exist anymore. From the park we then passed through the small pretty main square, the Am Markt, with the local church, the Stadtpfarrkirche, rebuilt after it was destroyed during WWII. We then continued on along the main street admiring the nice houses on either side and after a while entered the forest. From here I intended to lead us through some forest trails in a large circle and back to where we started. The fall colors on the trees were incredible, with the typical reds, oranges, and yellows of the late season mixed with some green of the evergreens. We tried looking for some mushrooms on the way but unfortunately, the edible ones were all probably taken already and those left we were unsure so we did not risk picking them up. After a bit of walking, we reached the Grosser Tornowsee, a nice medium-sized lake surrounded by forest. The trail headed along its southern shore which we followed. At the end of the lake, we then turned south continuing along the trail through the thick forest with the sunlight filtering through the tree cover, creating some picturesque scenes. At one point we then came across some interesting sand dunes in the middle of the forest and fields. We decided to find a spot nearby in the grass and eat the lunch we had brought with us. After the break, we were back on track following the trail which shortly after brought us to the Grosser Klobichsee, the largest lake in the area. We circled around it and followed the trail onwards which at one point brought us through a rather swampy part of the forest. Here though the trees had even brighter colors and felt really nice to walk through there. After a bit, we then passed a part where the deciduous trees gave way to pines, many of which had been cut down and piled in stacks along the trail. The sun was starting to set, as the time had changed the previous night, and even if it was just over 3pm, it felt quite late already. A couple of kilometers more and we reached the town of Buckow once again. Here we stopped at the Cafè am Markt, on the main square, to have a hot chocolate or a hot tea just as the sunset. After that it was time for us to go; we got back in the car and in just over an hour were back in Berlin.