Mystery? Uniqueness? Murk?
What is it that comes in your mind when you are thinking about a moorland?
Twenty minutes away from Rostock is a beautiful area to go for a walk. It’s not like a simple hiking road, it’s more like a mysterious adventure tour. I am talking about the moorland of Ribnitz-Damgarten, a small town located in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
The moorland all in all is quite big and certainly worth visiting. But I wanna introduce one special place in this amazing area.
You will find the place when you walk the “Ribnitzer Großes Moor Exkursionsweg”.
After a few kilometers through the moorland, where you get the chance to enjoy wild nature, the dark gluey mud, the huge, thin and blooming trees, listen to the croak of the toads, voices of birds and buzzing insects, you will reach a lake. A very small lake. More like a pond. The surface of the water reflects the sun, the trees, the sky. Everything around and above you. But don’t focus on the sea. Focus on the beauty around the water.
When you reach it, you will see an arc on the water. Not a real arc made by steel or anything like that, an arc made by trees. Made by nature. Two trees touching each other’s crown as if they yearn to be together for all time. The trees alone are not the highest. Not the strongest. Not the most unique. But together they are incredibly beautiful. Ivy wraps around the trees, which makes it even more impressive.
When I was there I had a magical moment. The sun was right behind the arc, reflecting its rays in the pond, painting an enormous circle in front of the arc. I immediately had to stop when I saw and realised it. The circle felt like an invitation. The moorland, which can be quite dark, sometimes gives a heavy, despressed mood and makes you realise that every step you make is important and that you should watch your steps. That moorland, where you can hear and see birds, insects, and holes made by boars. Where you can smell the different aromas of trees and flowers and taste the variety of nature. This beautiful but at the same time mysterious, unique, dismal, eerie area.
The circle of light felt like an invitation. Even knowing that I would never reach the circle on the water, I finally had the feeling of arrival.