Weather:🌤️🌤️🌤️🌤️🌤️(perfect hiking weather!)
Picnic: 🥪🥪(2 out 5, wraps in front of a closed bakery)
Track: 🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪🇩🇪 (4 out of 5, nice track through forest and farmlands with orchards everywhere, with beautiful views over the Rhein valley)
Campsite: ⛺⛺⛺( 3 out of 5, nice flat spot in a grassy meadow)
Name of followed trail: Jakobs weg
Special mention: The family that gave us water today and the 3 children who were strong enough to lift our backpacks. It was good meeting you!
We’re camping tonight so with our short hiking days, there is no use of leaving early, unless we expect a good plage to stay. Today it’s a surprise where we’ll camp, so we take it easy.
We have a relaxed morning with a great breakfast at a French bakery and a very good cup of tea at the Teegeschwendner tea shop.
The walk takes us through forest and farmland, this time with a lot of orchards and beautiful views over the Rhein valley.
The area feels rich in resources because of this. Lush and green, full of fruit and flowers.
We go for lunch at a bakery, but in Germany the bakeries are closed for lunch… I knew this, but somehow forgot it… So we have wraps in front of the closed bakery instead.
We continue on the lovely, sometimes steep trail and enjoy the views and the nice weather we have today!
When we are in Unkelbach we ask for water at a house where Mark hears children play in the garden. Soon after, we have 3 curious children wondering what we’re doing. Their father fills our water bottles and we explain the trail we’re walking. The kids all try on Marks bag. All of them can carry the weight, and the girl even runs away with it 😅. Luckily we get it back. so we can walk our final 2 km into the forest. That was a fun stop for water!
When we get into the forest and are debating where to look for a spot, a man with a dog walks past and asks if we need help. We explain what we’re doing and he takes us to a nice grassy meadow in the forest. What a great spot! We thank him and pitch our tent.
I loved the hotels and needed the rest, but it’s good to be camping again!
My leg feels better every day, but it’s not done yet. We’ll take it slow until Koblenz, and see from there.
The slowing down has helped our bodies to recover from small aches and pains sofar. Funny to find out that hiking 20 km per day actually allows us to recover (yet still make some progress). There were times when 20 km per day with a backpack was more than enough for both of us. This makes the physical progress we’ve made really tangible.
I’m learning to take a more ‘one step at a time’ approach. As the route planner, I find it difficult to let go of the bigger picture. But when I do, I can enjoy the moment more. It’s a work in progress 😁😁