Sunset, goats, and a bunch of great photos

It was a special hiking group that was now making its way through the Hickengrund to capture the most beautiful photo opportunities in the southern Siegerland region. This was especially true because of the group’s size—nearly 20 hikers took part—but also because of the cameras and cell phones that were constantly being pulled out to capture the beauty of the Hickengrund section of the Rothaarsteig.

The so-called “InstaHike” (a portmanteau of “Insta,” short for Instagram, and “hike”) was a marketing campaign organized by the Rothaarsteig Association in collaboration with the Siegen-Wittgenstein district, for which people could apply. Participants were invited to document the tour with photos and videos, share the content on social media, and tag both channels as well as the other participants. The goal was to achieve the widest possible reach with the posts.

“The InstaHike is a great opportunity for us to increase our presence on social media,” explains Ilka Robke of the Rothaarsteig Association, “Once again, numerous photos were taken and shared.” The InstaHike on the Rothaarsteig takes place every year, alternating between the Sauerland and Siegen-Wittgenstein.

This time, the group headed to the Hickengrund and, led by Rothaarsteig Ranger Matthias Speck, hiked from the Holzhausen train station first into the Wetterbach Valley and from there to a forest bench above Niederdresselndorf. Along the way, the group was accompanied by two of the nine “Hickenziegen.” This provided great photo opportunities and kept everyone in high spirits. “We were very lucky with the weather and had a beautiful sunset,” said Ilka Robke. 

But the participants didn’t go home empty-handed either. In addition to a backpack from Rothaarsteig partner Tatonka, everyone enjoyed great catering from Gasthaus Fiester Hannes in Holzhausen, made plenty of new connections, and garnered a lot of attention for their own social media accounts. An absolute win-win situation.

Download the press release as a PDF here.

Press Contact:

Ilka Robke, Rothaarsteigverein e.V.
Im Ohl 12, 57392 Schmallenberg
Phone: 02974-9692890, Email: info@rothaarsteig.de