This post maybe a little shorter than the others because I am writing it after a very long day of just over 32 km. It all went well, with mostly easy walking, but I’m feeling a little tired this evening.
I set off from Himmerod at around 8:30 after discovering at breakfast that I was indeed the hotel’s only guest. I hope they have people coming in over the upcoming long weekend because the place was huge and it can’t possibly be a viable concern with one guest a night!
I set off beneath a clear blue sky, but it was a misty morning and the blue sky soon vanished as the mist set in. The walking was very easy for the first part of the day with the trail following the Salm river more or less on the level.
However, just after a large mill and farm, the trail was blocked for logging work. I had seen an announcement about this the previous day in Manderscheid, saying that it was necessary to do a detour via the village of Musweiler. However, unlike previous detours on the trail, this one was not marked and it took a fair amount of map reading, and a couple of wrong turns to get me back on the Eifelsteig. Musweiler was a pretty little place but, apart from one lady, seemed totally deserted.
When I returned to the trail, I had the honour of crossing the 50th parallel, not that I felt any different after!
I took my first rest after two hours. I think the view from the bench would have been quite spectacular if it hadn’t been so misty.
All morning long, I kept getting brief whiffs of the powerful waxy scent given off by the pink flowers that grow alongside many of the paths. I have mentioned this scent in other blog posts. Every time I smell it, it takes me back to a batik workshop in Cirebon on the island of Java where I spent an afternoon in 1991 watching them work and haggling over two magnificent pieces of batik. I still have no idea what these flowers are called, but I admit I have a soft spot for them because of the memories they conjure up. And I find it amazing that a flower should give off a scent so similar to that of hot wax.
I made another brief stop at a bakery on the outskirts of Landscheid where I had an excellent espresso and Nussecke, a chocolate and hazelnut cake that gave me a real surge of energy along the rest of the path to Bruch.
By this time, it was 12:30 and the sun had finally burned away the mist. Even so, for a Saturday, there were very few people around. In the course of the morning, I only saw one man and his dog, and two ladies, heading in the opposite direction whom I warned about the detour that they would have to take.
I stopped for almost an hour in Bruch, which was the official end of the 13th stage of the trail. However, as in Mirbach a week before, accommodation was scarce, and I had been unable to find anywhere to stay in the village. This meant I had to leave the trail and walk to Wittlich, 10 km away.
Komoot quickly came up with an itinerary that began pleasantly enough with a hike up out of the village before turning onto a forest path. However, the track that I followed proved to be quite overgrown in places. It was also a clearly an area where wild boar were extremely active as the ground had been turned over in many places as they searched for roots. The hunters must have been around too because from time to time the air was filled with the stench of rotting game carcasses butchered on site. I shall definitely not take this same route tomorrow to return to Bruch.
Things improved after I reached the high point between the two valleys and began to descend to Wittlich. Most of the walking from then on was on country roads, many of which were lined with wild apple trees. The boughs were heavy with fruit, and I sampled a few different varieties as I went along. They were delicious and I was fortunate enough not to find half a worm in any of them!
Wittlich was a fairly large place with an interesting old town. Here too the 2021 floods had left their mark. The riverside had clearly recently been renovated, with some buildings still in a pretty poor state. Even my hotel had been closed until March 2023 following the floods, and there was a note in my room apologizing for the ongoing work on the ground floor.
I had an excellent dinner in a friendly family-run restaurant recommended by the hotel receptionist, and then collapsed into bed, where I finally managed to finish this post before falling into what I hope will be a deep and long sleep. Tomorrow, I have to return to Bruch and then carry on to Zemmer, the midpoint of the 14th stage. At just 24 kilometres, should be a doddle.
Footsteps 