Organ Pipes

And the weather held! And so I made my way to my last stop on my tour: The Organ Pipes. Another stop with cool stones - maybe I'll become a geologist after all.

The path to the stones alone was a real experience. The track wasn't difficult, but it felt a little like I was exploring the jungle. This was mainly because the path went right through the forest and the birds there seemed to be trying to outdo each other with their singing voices. It was a real bird concert and I walked right through it on my path. I gave you a little taste in my WhatsApp status. Otherwise, everything was just different shades of green and there was dense undergrowth next to the path. In the middle of the path there was a small fork where I wasn't sure at first if I was in the right place and then I let my intuition guide me.

Interim information for anyone interested in stone on how it was formed: As the lava cooled over the course of a few years, the outer, already cooled layer isolated the still liquid interior, which developed into exact, identical basalt columns as it also cooled. The cooling caused shrinkage and this shrinkage caused - as has been scientifically proven - tension in the rock. Vertical tensions could still be balanced by the elastic, molten rock below, but not the horizontal tensions, and so the basalt cracked. The rock usually cracks in hexagonal structures, but there are also octagonal columns. (Wikipedia)

Let's put it this way: my intuition likes beautiful pictures and climbing sections, where I am very happy afterwards that the entire field of stones seemed to be very stable and that no avalanche of rubble was released. I was standing in the middle of a field of these cool chipped stones and there were two options: continue up and find a way back or go back and continue along the path a bit further and then cross the field of stones again. Since I was already at about 1/3 of the height, I chose the first option and, as I said, I was very happy that the stones held. I would also definitely not recommend the path in the rain, as the stones then become quite slippery. After the field of stones there was a good stretch of pure jungle path where I could only move to the summit by bending down. The view was worth it:

Afterwards we went slowly and in a controlled manner over a small part of the stone field back to the good track and then back to Fridolin.

Stop three was also a success! Now it's off to the next campsite and find some peace and quiet.

Your Britta