The rain began soon after we got the tent set up behind the tennis court place. And it never stopped-- not there, not for us. At 2 am Paul was thirsty but wasn't about to brave the rain to make the 50 meter dash through the grass to the building with the showers, toilets and water. So he put a cup out to collect a sip to drink, then as an experiment, he set the cup back out. Here's what accumulated after 4 and a half hours.
Yes, it poured rain all night, and all morning, as we pulled camp. And all morning as we cycled east from Riedlingen...wet wet wet.
This day, with the dumping rain on us, we didn't pull cameras out much, and certainly not during the high water-- hochwasser-- crossings. The first one, not 20 minutes from our start, was disappointing: our already damp feet got sodden when pedaling through a section of flooding across the path. So be it. The following one: okay, fine, feet fully wet-- nothing to do about it. The third: hell, so deep, just keep going and hope the resistance in the lower front panniers doesn't pull me down. At one point, Paul ahead of me, I went "off" trail and nearly into the watery wheat or grass underwater, and then I saw a creature skimming through the water, his wave trail making me thing ShArk! It wasn't of course. But it was a huge fish in the middle of the pathway!
GoPro video to come - stay tuned!
A soccer field
It was shortly before this overlook and snack break that Paul tackled the downed tree and we made what we'd learn was our final hochwasser crossing. Another couple was attempting to cross--the man getting to our side and trying to convince his wife to wade through or go up near the adjacent train tracks. She was having none of that. Then a train came as I was slugging through, hoping to stay upright, the train blaring its horn ( it sounded behind me!). Jesus, Mary and joseph--I'd had about enough! We heard from the German couple that there were no other hochwasser areas further east. We were through!
And then the sun started to shine!
After an hour or so of no rain... Finally getting a little dryer in the feet.
At a Kanue camp slash restaurant slash Biergarten just shy of Altstadt Ulm, we had a pretty nice situation, though it was not really a campground. But at least we could work on getting our tent and gear dry plus all the laundry we had foolishly done the day before not knowing it was going to dump within the hour. Then it was off to explore the city.
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