I started the day on a bus back to Fynshav, where I arrived late last night on the ferry from Bøjden. I’d taken the bus from Fynshav to Sønderborg last night, and now I returned to start my walk back to Sønderborg. I walked a total of 25km, on roads from Fynshav to Høruphav, and then through forest along the coast and following the Gendarmsti (path) to Sønderborg.
It was cloudy and rain was supposed to fall mid-afternoon, so I needed to be in Sønderborg before that rain. Along the roads to Høruphav was through beautiful countryside, at times with great views, but not a lot to write about.
In Mjang I passed a tree that had been tree of the year – a blood beech. I am sure it was more impressive earlier in the year, and in Kirke Hørup, the local white painted church.
Between Kirke Hørup and Høruphav I walked along the edge of a housing estate. I took a break with a coffee at the local Brugsen and walked down through the old fishing village, before reaching the coast and the first sign of the Gendarmsti, the path which I would be following to Kruså, close to the German border.
Gendarmstien is named after the old border gendarmes, who, for a number of years guarded the land border between Germany and Denmark and controlled shipping along the coast. The patrol took place on foot, and each gendarme had a certain piece of the border to patrol. In some places there were already paths and roads that the gendarme could use on his route. Elsewhere, new paths were laid across private land. The border gendarmes patrolled along the current border in the time from the Reunification in 1920 until 1958.
My first kilometers along the path towards Sønderborg, passed along the coast through Sønder forest, with great views along the coast.
The weather changed almost minute by minute – grey one minute, sunny a few minutes later.
It began to get darker as I passed the outdoor swimming pool and Sønderborg castle.
Although it wasn’t a long walk, I was extremely tired. I sat and watched the clouds roll over Sønderborg. Although it rained, it looked as though it would be worse than it actually turned out to be.
