Whoo, what a view: This I want to see with my own eyes ...
Sure, I have been on Stiby Backe before with my work, but never up at the lookout point on top of the "mountain". My rheumatic body is not made to walk quickly in a group on rough ground, so I have always been that adult who stayed down at the picnic spot with those children who - for some reason! - dont want to go with their classmates up to the viewpoint.
So last friday I drove there to explore the place myself. The weather was wonderful, it was almost summer temperatures (+19 c, today it's +3 c, cloudy and snow in the air), sunny and no wind ... which can give even old hags - like me! - spring feeling.
The first thing I noticed was that it was more than I who was out enjoying the nice weather ... it was already 5-6 cars in the parking place.
I have two choices before I start walking ... take the "path" to the left or go straight ahead. I chose to go left ...
Memories of Ice Age...
Stiby Backe is one of Listerladets mountain residue. The mountain's highest point is 70 meters above sea level.
From there there is a sweeping view of Kråke-Nabben, Listershuvud (another "peak") and Hano (a small island).
"No, I chickened out at these stone blocks ..."
" - Down comes you always...
(we used to joke about that, on the good old days when we rode horses!)
... the only question is how!"
This was pretty scary ... the soil was full of pebbles
and it was moving under my feet"
Stiby Backe rises markedly over Listerlandet plains. It has quite a large plateau, which lies 60 meters above sea level. The bedrock consists is eyesgranite of karlshamns type. The mountain is a residual mountain, which existed in the Cretaceous period, 100 million years ago. Cretaceous deposits of the future tropical oceans are in mountain environments.
During the last ice age residual mountains core finalized was ground. Most of the highest portions consist of flat extensive outcrops. Some of the rocks has glacial striae, which extend the ice flow direction.
The side facing the impact side is called "stötsidan". This was smooth ground when the ice slid over it. On the opposite side, leeward, there was an accumulation of loose broken moraine material. Such a form called "drumlin" and has a large geological interest.
On Stiby Backe has moraine deposited on both sides of the hill and south of the rock core. The streamlined "drumlin" is most marked along the mountain's western side and is 4 km long and 1.3 km wide.
When the ice melted, the country began to rise. It was established - over time - terraces on the mountain's east side and beach ridges on its southwest side, here at between 48 and 31 meters above sea level...
A rich flora...
Northeast of Stiby Backes top the soil is nutrient and ther growing a hornbeam beech forest with ivy winding around several of the tribes.
In the spring flora is richest with warious sippor, vårlök and violer. Later, the typical deciduous plants on the forest such as skogsbingel and buskstjärnblomma.
In dry meadows grow backsippa, blodrot, solvända, warious klöverarter, ängsnejlika and ängskovall.
In the groves grow desmeknopp, getrams, gullviva, small nunneört and sloknunneört.
The reserve has also a rich bird life with tree lark, nightingale and a large number of singers, among other things, barred warbler.
Different kinds of cemeteries...
Not far from the top are burial mounds from the Bronze Age. In the southern part of the reserve is a cholera graveyard where some of the 50 victims of the 1853 Act of cholera in Listerlandet rests...
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Okay, this was the facts about Stiby Backe ...I was there to enjoy the view in the first hand, and the genealogist in me wanted to see the cholera cemetery ... but the first thing I looked for - carefully! - was something quite different.
I looked after cow dung (= komockor) !
Call me stupid if you want , but the adventure continues...