13

The Thirteenth, another day spent walking. In the morning the habitual walk over the castle and the Carossa heights, and then an afternoon walk up the Isar.

A notice at the side of the river informs of the things that have been done to keep it in a tight bed, to stop it spreading all over the valley. The river has been forced into a corset of stones, from which it breaks out of every few years causing more or less devastating floods.

At two in the afternoon start to walk along the path on the left hand side of the river, towards it's source. The traffic on the trunk road on the other side of the river is loud for as long as that road follows the course of the river. A few kilometres later the river splits into a canal delivering the outflow from yet another power plant and the river proper. The traffic noise dies down, and the walk continues for a few miles in silence. At this time the path is deserted, and after a final rain shower the sun comes out.

There are many tree stumps lying upended in the river. The river is not deep now, and they have all grounded, waiting for the next flood to take them further downstream.

After an hour there is a distant rumble from the traffic on the nearby motorway. There is a sign on the path pointing out the way to a popular beer garden close to the small local airport at Ellermühle. Promptly the distant rumble is augmented by the sound of aircraft, small private aircraft, taking to the air and flying overhead. The noise of autobahn and aircraft increases all the way to the point where the path goes under the bridge over the motorway. The traffic noise is now a constant roar.

Turn around, and head back home. The sound fades as the light fades,  and by the time the town is visible it is dark. There is a half moon today.

Apparently many dog owners take their animals out to walk at night. Maybe so that the dogs may defecate in the bushes without anybody seeing this. One of the dogs, a small white poodle, has a red light on its collar, as a result of which nothing is visible but a red glow rushing about the paths and the bushes.

It is eight in the evening by the time home is reached. That was a total distance of nearly forty kilometres, and the exhaustion was too great to pay any attention to these notes