I’m writing about my 60th birthday trip back to Germany after 18 years away. I’m up to Day 7, which was Monday, June 17.
It began with a yummy and leisurely breakfast at Waldhotel Heller. I was the only guest that first morning, and I remember I had plenty of wonderful Brötchen, just like old times, plus some yogurt. Then I still had time to plan out my route.
The night before, I’d looked up my favorite restaurants, especially castle restaurants, but they all seemed to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. (I later learned – when it was too late – that one of my favorites, Altenbaumburg, was closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Oh well! Next time!) So I decided to start Monday with enjoying the Pfälzerwald by doing some hiking through the forest. On the Pfälzerwald website I found what was supposed to be one of the prettiest trails, to the Karlstalschlucht. And it passed two castles! So I could add to my castle count as well as going on a beautiful hike through the woods.
The drive was half the fun! I was on the edge of the village, so I drove through the whole village of Iggelbach, then on a very narrow forest road, then to good old B48 (which heads north all the way to two of the places we’d lived in Germany), then to the village of Trippstadt.
And the path began at my Castle #171, the Trippstadter Schloß. (To count as a castle, it must have a name, be over 100 years old, be a castle or a palace or a fortification, and I have to touch it. I’d never touched this one before, so it was number 171.)
I had a little trouble finding the trailhead, but that was a nice excuse for roaming the grounds.
You can see it was a cloudy day, but it was nice and cool, which I appreciated after we’d had some heat in Virginia.
At last I found markers for the Spazierwanderweg Karlstalschlucht, which basically means Fun-hiking-trail Karl’s-Valley-Gorge, and is 5.1 km long in a loop trail. A longer loop was marked in green for the Rundwanderweg Karlstalschlucht.
It took me a little wandering around at the back of the property of the Trippstadter Schloß.
Here was confirmation that, yes, I was to go through the gate.
The start of the trail went along a wide meadow, downhill toward a forested area.
I passed a few sculptures by the trail.
And it was just lovely to absorb that I was back in beautiful Germany, walking through the countryside.
I came to a small village, or maybe just an Ort.
These guys were interested in me walking by.
And then I started going a little deeper into the woods.
Then, much to my delight, I found Castle #172, Burg Wilenstein!
I couldn’t go inside, but I could roam all over the grounds.
According to the brochure, you can use the castle for classes and seminars, and it’s even got lodging inside. But it was all closed up that day and I just enjoyed exploring the outside.
One of my favorite things about castles is the shapes juxtaposed against their backdrops. I love doors leading to nowhere like this.
Looking off the edge in the back, you can see there’s thick forest.
And more wonderful shapes.
So that was the beginning of my hike. From there, it was on to the Karlstalschlucht – which I’ll cover in the next post.