Last Autumn, Padma and I hiked atop one of the Seven Hills at Petersberg on the right bank of the Rhine. We saw a couple stations of the cross and I wondered if there might be others. I later discovered on Wikipedia that the Petersberger Bittweg trail begins at the bottom of the hill and has 12 stations of the cross which were constructed in the 17th and 18th century. But Wikipedia only had photos of nine stations. So I made it my mission to one day photograph them all. Today was going to be that day.

From our living room we can look downriver and see Petersberg in the distant hills. Well, on most days at least.

This morning, I looked and the hills were all shrouded in fog. Doesn’t matter, I thought. If I waited for nice weather in winter in Germany I’d never leave the house.

I arrived at the trailhead of the Petersberger Bittweg and found the first station right away. It’s only a two-kilometre walk to the top, but with a 280 metre elevation climb I was grateful I had an excuse to stop every few hundred paces for a photo break.

I started the hike wading through mud but by the time I reached the summit I was ankle deep in snow.

Despite being the middle of the winter, the forest was gorgeous and I was thankful I didn’t let the view from my living room deter me from a Sunday morning hike.