Rinsleyfelsen

Lennestadt-Saalhausen (51.128343 | 8.162032)

Sublimity

Rugged rock cliff in an old deciduous forest stand with a view into the Lenne valley.

A hiking group wants to get high on the cliff. They have guitars and drums with them. For a lady suffering from shortness of breath, the way proves to be arduous to agonizing. But she is determined to get up there and will not be dissuaded by any coaxing. The group goes ahead, her husband helps her and supports her. Together they first manage the steep rocky path, then the final scramble. When they reach the top, the woman wishes for a song. With the others, she sings "Spread your wings and fly away." Someone has sprouted wings on the climb and feels outlawed.

Third story. A Saalhauser woman goes up the mountain with others. Hiking and singing is the motto. The Rinsleyfelsen is the highlight. Where the path becomes bumpy, she warns the others to be careful. But then it is she herself who falls. Bone hits stone. The result is a severe bruise. Is this an accident? When she has the injury treated, a serious illness is discovered along the way. She had felt symptoms for a long time, but refused an examination. Now it seems to her that the stones have literally nudged her to finally go to the doctor. The disease was detected in time, and the woman recovered. Happy turn of events.

It is early morning. No one in the forest yet, except a young forester and his girlfriend. They walk briskly. The path leads them out of the narrow Saalhausen valley, first slowly ascending, then steeper. Finally, they turn left onto a narrow path. Right at the beginning, two narrow beech trees lean toward each other from the right and left; they form an archway through which the two enter as if into a magic garden. Now they set their feet more carefully so as not to stumble between chapped, moss-covered boulders. Their destination is not yet visible, hidden by the spring-like lime-green foliage of beech and birch trees. Past deadwood sculptures that in the morning mist could easily be mistaken for a buzzard flying away or a gloating witch's face. Soon they are standing in front of their place of longing. Rinsleyfelsen rises above them. It towers above the canopy of the forest. The last challenge is a short climb up to the narrow summit plateau, which invites them to settle down. At seven o'clock sharp, they each put a ring on the other. They get engaged.

It's stories like these that tell of how Rinsleyfelsen has a special meaning for people in the area. That it is a place of the soul for them. When I myself arrive at the top of the rock head, I notice fresh chalk drawings. A sun, circles of flowers, and the message to subsequent climbers that the A loves the O. A good place for high-flying feelings. The summit crest rises from the sea of green like a small island. I can look far in both directions of the Lenne valley. The sounds of the federal highway, which follows the course of the river, are swallowed up by the forest. After taking a few more notes in the last twilight of the evening, I become calmer. Doing nothing, just looking. I sit on a rock in the surf of hectic everyday life. A sublime place for celestial meditation. A refuge for romantics. Or simply a good resting place to eat sandwiches I've brought with me. They taste simply divine after the sweaty ascent.

Author: Michael Gleich