Note: Bring your camera; there are many beautiful places to take a picture along this trail. WARNING: Since there are some thorny places along this path, wear bluejeans with long legs and good shoes (not sandals), otherwise you can expect some pain. If you need help while looking for this cache, my telephone Joker is 0160-9150-2597.
Note: Since the “Trumpeter” is an English teacher, this geocache is written mostly in English (Level B1/B2) to help you improve your language skills. Except for a few German descriptions and the brief introduction below, I use simple English to take you on an interesting historical hiking trail with many impressive vistas (Aussichtspunkte).
Caution: It is best to visit this cache on a dry sunny day, because the steps leading downhill from the execution blocks are very steep and slippery when wet. Besides, if you go in the rain or in the dark, you will miss the beautiful vistas to the east.
Long Description
Die Köpfsteine "Am Galgenberg", eine mittelalterliche Hinrichtungsstätte, ist eine Sehenswürdigkeit in Höchst im Odenwald, die nur die wenigsten Besucher sehen, oder auch wissen, dass sie existiert. Im Jahre 1785 soll dort die letzte Hinrichtung vollzogen worden sein. Obwohl diese Stätte eine besonders gruselige Vergangenheit hat, ist dieser Spaziergang einer der schönsten, den man in Höchst machen kann. Denn von dem Galgenberg ist der Ausblick auf Höchst und Burg Breuberg einmalig.
The Execution Blocks on Gallows Mountain, an execution place used during the Middle Ages, is a tourist feature in Hoechst in the Odenwald that only very few visitors see or even know that it exists. In 1785, the last execution is said to have taken place there. Although this landmark has an especially blood-curdling history, the hike is one of the most beautiful that you can make in Hoechst. The view from Gallows Mountain (Galgenberg) looking toward Hoechst and the Breuberg Castle is unique.
Let’s begin:
00 Parking N49 48.155 E8 59.260
This small parking lot at the north end of Höchst is the best place to begin and end your 3-kilometer hike.
Stage 1 - The Chapel
Proceed to N 49 48.177 E 008 59.221
This building was previously a catholic chapel, but now it is the home and office of an “alternative” practitioner. Engraved above the portal is a Latin phrase that means “Hail Mary, Holy Mother of God”. In Latin, this is a favorite song of Pope Benedict XVI, which you can find in the album “Alma Mater”.
The last two letters of the last word on the engraving above the door form a Roman Numeral (value “A”), which will help you find the next stage. If the leaves are hiding the Roman Numeral, then look at the house number on the gate. Subtract the second number from the first and multiply the result by 3. That value is "A".
A =
Continue to N 49 48.05(A-2) E 008 59.AAA-763 to find the first clue.
Stage 2 - The Tunnel
This tunnel allows you to get across Highway 45. Note your surroundings carefully because this is where you will return after Stage 12 to go to your car. Find the container and answer the question inside to calculate the value B.
B =
Go to N 49 47.8A(B+1) E 008 59.3(A-9)(B-3)
Stage 3 - The Bridge
I'm sure you will enjoy the view from this bridge. In the middle of the bridge, count the number of thin vertical bars in ONE section between the posts and subtract 10.
C =
Go to N 49 47.C02 E 008 59.10C
Stage 4 The Beehive
Caution: Bees. Do NOT open the boxes.
Currently missing. See Hint for this stage. The alphabetical position of the second letter of his first name provides the value of D:
D =
Go to N49 47.C1D E 008 59.0B4
Stage 5 - The Odin Forest Club Recreation Area – Odenwaldklub (O.W. K.) Erholungsanlage
Please note the "Additional Hint" for this stage. This area, now overgrown with high trees, was once a very beautiful recreation area with many benches and look-outs (Aussichtspunkte) to the rolling hills and valley to the south. Now, it is overgrown with tall trees. If you look around, you will see many stone bench supports (Abstützungen für Bänke).
Calculate the mathematical equation in the container to find the value of E.
E =
Proceed to N 49 47.CDE E 008 59.(E+1)(E+1)D
Stage 6 - O.W.K. Castle Ruins
This is not really a castle, but to some people it once was. Now, it is a fallen-down wooden shelter but take a minute to look at the vista. It once offered a beautiful view to the town of Ober-Höchst (no longer in existence) and the Mümmling River valley. When Otto von Crumbach died in 1413, his sons, Heinrich and Arreus, hastily (quickly) sold their bailiwick (regional estate) with all associated villiages to Kloster Höchst for 250 pounds Heller (old German currency). These towns included Höchst, Crumbach (now Mümling-Grumbach), Ober-Höchst, Dusenbach, Pfirsbach, Annelsbach and Hummetroth.
Find the container and solve the puzzle.
F =
Continue to N 49 47.CF1 E 008 59.ED2
Stage 7 - Checkpoint - Bench Supports
Note: Return along the path you came from, then keep to the right. There is nothing to find here except two stone bench supports that help you find the path from the Odenwald Club Facility to the Execution Blocks (Köpfsteine. You can also go directly from Stage 6 to Stage 8, but there is no trail and it is steep.
The trail from the bench supports is still visible, but it was overgrown with branches and fallen trees. Look uphill to the right and you will see that there is a path that goes uphill about 10 meters and then to the right. It leads directly to the execution blocks.
Go along the path to N 49 47.C64 E8 59.EC2
Stage 8 - The execution blocks (Köpfsteine)
Maybe you would like to take an interesting picture here to include with your log?
(First German, then English)
Bei den Koordinaten sind zwei dreieckige Köpfsteine im Wald zu sehen. Der größere Stein ist sogar ausgestattet mit einem Loch und diagonalen Kanal nach unten, damit das Blut ausfließen konnte nachdem ein Kopf abgehackt wurde.
At the coordinates, you will find two triangular execution blocks. The larger stone is even designed with a hole and diagonal canal for the blood to drain after a head was chopped off.
After you examine the chopping blocks, about 20 steps to the south is a moss-covered green log that hides the next clue.
There are five words in the container that you can use to form a short sentence - a request - in English (the request word comes first):
______________ ________________ ______________ _______________ ______________
Of course, the letters and words are mixed up.
What is the position in the alphabet of the first letter of the second word of the sentence?
G =
CAUTION: DANGEROUS STEPS - Continue down the steps (very extremely slippery) and along the grass-covered trail next to the meadow to N49 47.AGG E 008 59.E66
Stage 9 – The Shelter
When you approach the shelter, you will see a flat level place to the left where I camped in a tent with my children when they were very young. I attached a string to some metal cans, so that if there were any scary noises at night – perhaps the ghosts of people, whose heads were chopped off – I could pull on the string and the cans would scare them away. Instead, the cans frightened my kids.
The Birdhouse am Schorschberg (GC23MAH) cache will give you a clue as to where this container is hidden. Please replace the clue into exactly the same place you find it.
Resolve the puzzle about the mismatched stockings to obtain the value for H.
H =
Go up the hill and turn right on the big trail) to N49 48.0(2*H)(H+2) E8 59.EE(G+F) (If you are lucky, the trail along the fence below the hut will be mowed and you can just walk north along it to the last fencepost.)
Stage 10 - Cell Phone Tower
From the coordinates, make a sharp right and head south and slightly downhill ca. 160 easy steps along the wide dirt road. Resolve the Puzzle for Mr. Black, Mr. White and Mr. Green to obtain the value for J. (The best way to resolve this puzzle if you are in a group is to role play. One of you is Mr. Green, another Mr. Black, etc. It is then easy.) After you find it and solve the puzzle, enjoy the view.
J =
Go to N49 48.(J-1)EH E8 58.ACG
Stage 11 - A Magnificent Tree
When I found this tree, I was amazed at how it had grown. Perhaps it is 4 trees that have grown together. The container in this stage is at the base of a tree 15 STEPS NORTH of the magnificent tree. Take out a slip of paper and take it with you. Please place the clue container deep into its hiding place and cover it with rocks again to keep the squirrels from uncovering it.
Now you have all the keys you need to unlock the secret hiding place of the final cache.
Stage 12 FINAL – A Disaster Caused by High Winds
Sometimes, nature also chops the heads off its plants. Unlike the tree in the Stage 11, this one was severed by high winds. The final is very easy to find; please note the "additional hint." I hope you enjoyed the hike.
Congratulations, you did it!
Please place the container diagonally back into its hiding place so the water will drain off after a rain.
HOW TO FIND THE PARKING LOT
To return to your car, follow the asphalt road all the way down to “The Tunnel” (Stage 2). As a landmark on the way, you can see “FTS” as graffiti in large letters above the tunnel on the sound wall for B 45.
(Warning: When you leave the parking lot, please notice that you cannot drive out the way you came in. Instead, drive uphill, turn left, and then left again to return to the main highway. Otherwise, you risk getting a traffic ticket.)