Coltsfoot at the Olefdam

This has nothing to do with cold feet. Coltsfoot (tussilago farfara), or in German Huflattich, is one of the first wild flowers showing up in March - about at the same time as Daffodils. They signal the arrival of spring, and if one hasn't started to shake off the dust from the hiking boots, this is the time to do it. We selected an easy hike around the Olef-dam, to avoid too much up and down on our first spring hike.

The Olef-dam is near Hellenthal, more famous for its wildlife park with shows of birds of prey. One may simply drive up to the bottom of the dam, which was built between 1954 and 1959 and is almost 55 meter high. It is built from concrete pillars, and probably the only one of its kind in Germany. However, we started at a different point, to take in some views of the surroundings.

We admit the path around the lake it can be monotonous, but for a good stretching of your legs it works quite fine.