The Moselsteig – Day 16 – Beilstein to Cochem and Klotten

This was the day when everything came to a sudden end… But more about that later.

The day began in the best way possible with a terrific breakfast at the hotel with lots of tasty local produce. I set off feeling good about the day ahead and the 20 km to cover to Klotten. The stage should have ended in Cochem, but I hadn’t been able to find anywhere to stay in that major tourist destination, so would be doing 7 extra kilometres.

From the hotel, the trail followed the river for a couple of hundred metres before turning off into the vineyards with a brief and steep initial climb.

There was another warning sign at this point about a tricky trail ahead. The terrain became more unstable underfoot on the flints and slate of the vineyards, slippery from the previous day’s rain. This tricky section of trail through the vineyards was very narrow, with sharp descents and steep climbs, along with the occasional gate to open, narrow steps set into the vineyard retaining walls and even roped sections. And all that to remain at more or less the same altitude over 3.5 km!

The trail then descended to Bruttig-Fankel. A sign at the side of the trail informed me that a floating water mill used to be moored there. A pity that no one has thought of rebuilding one. Then again, I imagine the modern weir and lock for shipping could compromise that these days.

Even though this was a gentle descent, the pain in my calf became a little more intense, no doubt due to the number of sharp descents and climbs on the first part of the trail through the vineyards. I was even starting to limp slightly, so I took a long rest on a bench in the village, doing stretching exercises and rubbing Voltaren into my calf.

As I rested on the bench, a flock of Canadian geese were grazing on the grass in front of me against the backdrop of the vineyards.

From Bruttig-Fankel, the trail rose steeply with a gain in elevation of about 250 metres over 1.5 km. There was yet another warning about good balance and sure-footedness, but it wasn’t really justified this time. True, the trail was steep, but there was no particular difficulty about it. Plus the climb seemed to stretch my calf muscles and the pain eased off a little.

At the top, there was a metal pylon, something to do with the electricity grid according to my guidebook, but it didn’t seem to be connected to anything.

The spot provided a terrific view of yet another bend in the Moselle around the village of Ernst.

A little further on, in Valwigerberg, another village perched high above the river, there was a pretty little chapel with a beautifully decorated interior.

From there, the trail began to descend towards Cochem. It was a steep descent at times, with yet another warning about sure-footedness. The pain in my calf returned on the steep and uneven trail, and then, all of a sudden, on a flight of steps down to a wider track through the vineyards, I felt something snap in my calf. I even had the impression of hearing a sort of “boing”. The pain was intense for a few seconds, but I flopped down on a bench to take a long rest, and it seemed to ease off.

However, when I set off again, it became increasingly clear that something was seriously wrong. Fortunately, the trail was fairly even at this point but, even so, I was walking with a serious limp.

Things got worse when I came to a barrier across the Moselsteig. There had been a landslide which meant that hikers had to descend from that point through the vineyards and follow the cycle track along the river into Cochem. The steep and stony descent through the vines was what finished me off. When I reached the cycle track, I was hobbling along and relying on my hiking poles for support. It took me over half an hour to cover the final kilometre into Cochem, drenched by a brief shower of rain on the way.

There was clearly no way I could cover the extra 7 km from Cochem to Klotten where I had booked a hotel for the night. And, moreover, it was obvious that the Moselsteig was over for me this time. Attempting to walk with such an injury would only make things much worse.

Fortunately, I had arrived at a point where the railway line closely follows the Moselle, with stops in nearly every village along the way. This meant I was able to take a train to Klotten and limp the 50 metres to my hotel where I spent the rest of the afternoon resting. It was the hotel restaurant’s ruhetag, which meant that I had to go out later to find dinner. That ordeal confirmed that there would be no more hiking on this trip.

I imagine that the problem was the result of a number of elements: the fallout of that tricky descent from the Calmont, the fact that I had walked quite quickly the previous day without ever resting in an attempt to beat the rain, the culmination of 16 days of hiking, and above all the fact that I generally don’t do enough stretching exercises on a hike (unless I begin to feel some pain, by which time it is probably too late). As I said, in a previous post, there are lessons to be learned from every hike.

Anyhow,  I won’t let things rest there. I shall be back, hopefully in May next year, to hike the section that I missed from Cochem to Koblenz. To be continued…