I’m slowly but surely blogging about my 60th Birthday Trip back to Germany. Day 7 was Monday, June 17, and I set off to hike!
I already talked about the beginning of the trip, when I passed two castles, #171 Trippstadter Schloß and #172 Burg Wilenstein.
From there, it was mainly a peaceful and beautiful walk through the woods.
I did come to the Klug’sche Mühle, where I had hoped to eat for lunch, but like so many places in Germany, it was closed on Mondays. (Hey, there are lots of small family-owned restaurants, and they need rest days.) Still beautiful, though.
I think these signs mean I’d come 3.7 kilometers and had 3.4 kilometers to go. Also that it was 1 kilometer further to get to the Karlstalschlucht itself. (Schlucht is basically “gorge” – so it means Karl’s Valley Gorge and has a stream running through it.)
Of course Mühle means “mill,” so the closed restaurant was an old mill.
With swans being pretty.
And back into the woods, still heading down toward the Schlucht.
And the path did start going along the stream, crossing frequently.
There were signs of a recent storm, and the owner of the hotel had said this path was closed. But I hadn’t found any such notices online, and it turned out that they had gone quickly to work to make it passable. Though maybe that’s why I had the forest to myself. (The only people I remember seeing were some backpackers at Burg Wilenstein.)
Just so incredibly peaceful! Here’s a short video clip to give you a peaceful moment.
A giant rock next to the path had this plaque. It was commemorating a visit to the valley on August 9, 1862, by King Ludwig I of Bayern, Grandduke Ludwig III of Hessen, and Hildegarde of Austria – with more titles in there (She was also Princess of Austria?) that I’m not sure about translating. Anyway, some royalty enjoyed this spot.
And lots more hiking along the stream. With my heart bursting for the joy of it.
I was now fully in the gorge. This is looking back up at the sides of the gorge.
Lots of these wooden bridges, making my way up the valley. It wasn’t a wide valley, so I imagine they had to put the path on whichever side had the most room at each spot.
Then finally I got a glimpse of the pavilion whose image serves as a symbol for the trail.
Of course, I had to hang out on the pavilion for a bit. Have I mentioned what a beautiful place this was? Always with the sound of rushing water.
The path started back up out of the gorge on the other side of the pavilion.
But of course it was beautiful to look back.
Okay, by the pictures, I was still by the stream for quite some time.
(Believe it or not, I did greatly pare this down from the number of pictures I took.)
I hope this gives you a feel for walking by a stream in a thick green forest on a pleasantly cloudy day, with the temperature about 70 degrees.
The markers still told me I was on the Spazierwanderweg Karlstalschlucht, and here the path did start to go up again, to then loop me back to Trippstadt. (German trails are so well-marked!)
Here I’m looking back down at the stream. It wasn’t a strenuous climb, but it was a climb.
Most of the rest of the hike was along a ridge. I could see a road pretty far below for part of it.
And at about this point – about ten minutes away from my car at the very end of the hike – I got caught in the rain. At first I thought I could wait it out, but it became a downpour.
Fortunately, I was wearing my rain jacket. But when I did get back to my car, it was pretty drenched.
And I had to take one picture back in Trippstadt. I had parked near the Bücherei, the Library – and here’s a sign for the Summer Reading Program!
So – that was my amazing, beautiful, peaceful, and inspiring walk through the Pfälzerwald!
And it made me remember the many, many times I’d walked in the forest in Germany when we lived there 1996 to 2006. And made me remember that walking in a German forest is something that makes my heart happy. Yes, even if I get caught in the rain. Just a beautiful time and a beautiful day.