The Team Sherpa Blog

Hello to everybody here, all the other Sherpa’s and all the folks out there!
I’ve become a Sherpa from the very own country of Ecco, which is Denmark, and I am living in the capital, Copenhagen. Here in Denmark people are very keen on bicycling and we have very well developed cycle path network all over the country. As to walking/hiking we have a good culture of forest walks for the sunday afternoon and so on. But for the longer and more adventurous hiking there is still a long way to go before we are getting close to the culture in many other European countries, for example our neighbours in Germany. Nevertheless it’s going in the right direction - and I hope this blog will encourage a lot of interest in the fascinating activity of walking and hiking.
How did it become a serious part of my life to put on my rucksack and my boots for a day of hiking? Well, it actually started with a small mark on a tree, which I discovered in a wood a long time ago. The mark was set up by the Danish Rambler’s Association and was a part of the marking for the European long-distance path E1, that pass though Denmark on it’s 4.900 km long way from the north of Sweden to the south of Italy, across all of our old continent. I simply had to follow the marks through the forest, thinking about the thrilling idea that these marks eventually could lead me all the way to sunny Italy!
That idea never left me again - and after a lot of other hiking adventures I finally realized it! To find out where the E1-marks would lead me, to experience the shifting natures and cultures of Europe, and to get the soil of all Europe under my boots! The art of compromise is always a part of our human life - and for my part it has been the compromise of work and leisure mixing together. The hike southwards could not be done in one long consecutive time, it had to be broken up by the nessasary (and much longer!) periods of working. But in a way this is not so bad after all. By doing small parts of the way everytime, I can concentrate about precisely that region I’m passing, experience the particular landscape and the specific culture, - and, very important, taste the local food and drink the local beer!
Right now, my E1-status is as follows:
From Copenhagen I started to follow the E6 (one of the other 11 European long-distance paths) across the small country to the border between Denmark and Germany at a point called Krusaa. From there I joined the E1 and have found out for sure that Germany is not a boring country only with “autobahn’s” and “sauerkraut”, but a rich land, filled with hiking possibilities and all kinds of landscabes from the sandy coast of the Ostsee to the hilly regions further south. Now I have come to the region of Sauerland in the middle of Germany, or to be more precise: the town Marsberg. Here in the dark wintertime in Copenhagen I’m dreaming everyday of being there again, getting my boots on and continue the hike against Italy!
Are you ready to do the same? Maybe you have the time to realize one of the E-paths in one take? Or will you follow my recipe: work and walk - but working with all the dreams of the next adventures! If you want to know more about the European long-distance paths, go to:
http://www.era-ewv-ferp.com/index.php?page_id=29
for more information. And my own Danish Rambler’s Association (called DVL in Denmark) has their site on www.dvl.dk, also with some goodies in English and German.
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