St. Goar - St.Goarhausen - Kestert

Daylight saving ended in Germany today and it seems it have brought cooler weather with it. With a maximum of 4C forecast today and frost appearing on the roofs of the houses, I made sure to rug up (scarf, gloves and beanie) as I headed out today.

Today is something of a mission. I mentioned in an earlier post that Rheinfels Castle's museum actually sells scribed pages from the 13-17^th Centuries but I didn't actually buy one. Today is about remedying that situation and then heading across the Rhine to St. Goarhausen to walk another section of the Rheinsteig trail to Kestert.

Walking to Bonn Hbf this morning reminded me how cold it was and that this is nothing compared to winter in these parts. I'm currently enjoying the warmth of the train and preparing myself for the chill to come.

It’s now 17:30 or so and I'm back on the MRB 32 train to Bonn; so, for me, it's been quite a long day. First things first; success at Rheinfels! I am now the proud owner of a piece of sheet music from 1600, according to its certificate of authenticity. The text is in Latin so I assume this is church choir music (or not?). The music notation is in the old fashioned style; that is, blocks rather than round dots to show the notes. That's how old it is! It is a thing of beauty. I think I just like the idea of being able to look at something that is over 400 years old, any time I feel like it.

It also fills me with intrigue; who wrote this music for us to read all these years later? Could they read music or were they just scribing this for a job? Was the music used for study or was it sung in church or in the castle itself? Given the old style musical notation, can we read and play/sing it today? It is just wonderful.

I was on to the ferry bound for St. Goarhausen by 10:30 and then on the Rheinsteig trail before 11am.

The on-line guides I checked out this morning suggested that the best place to start would be the railway station. As ever, sign posts at the station clearly marked the direction to the Rheinsteig and, for the next five hours l, the blue and white signs of the Rheinsteig guided me with unerring accuracy and confidence, as ever.

The first climb set the tone for the day; steep and long.

Looking back to Rheinfels - the scale of the original buildings is almost unimaginably large

My scarf and beanie were off about 3/4 of the way to the top, the cold forgotten for now. At about this time, the trail split. One way followed the Rheinsteig and the other followed the Rabenacksteig. 500m or so long, the Rabenacksteig carries warnings to take great care and even specialist climbing equipment, if you're a novice climber. This sounded a little tricky for little old me so I followed the Rheinsteig and am I glad I did! Just glimpsing the Rabenacksteig from above, I could see ladders and cables to help climbers, so steep and severe were the rocks and cliffs. Thank you, no!

The reward for climbing steep trails when its only 0 deg C ...

From the top of the trail there were some amazing views of the Rhine valley with the grapevines, now bereft of grapes, leaves yellowing in their autumnal state; the coolness of the day and the yellow leaves reminding us that winter is coming. Maus Burg beckons us on from a distance. The hard climbing is done for a while and we walk along the top of the plateau, enjoying the sunshine.

More views along the valley with Maus Burg just appearing above the ridge on the right

The trails are a delight to walk and the sky is filled with birds of prey circling thermals and, higher still, airliners with their condensation plumes trailing majestically behind.

Maus Burg comes into view and it is with this vista that I decide this might be the place to stop for lunch.

Is this not the perfect place to stop for lunch?

There is a seat and the fleischwurst brotchen from Bonn taste better than usual with this view to contemplate while munching fresh bread rolls.

Heading down the trail provides this wonderful close up of Maus Burg

From here we walk down into the valley below Maus and then up (again, quite steeply) to the top of the next hill.

Now heading up the next valley, a look back to Maus Burg and the village below

I'm heading to Kestert via Pulsbachklamm. The trail to Pulsbachklamm takes in pasture and market gardens across the top of the plateau again. I love that through these fields there are walking trails. Always two people wide, they appear to be wide enough for a small cart but any wheel ruts are long gone, replaced now by the steady tread of walking shoes and boots. But I am guessing that these trails have been here for years, hundreds of them, perhaps. What I find amazing is the respect the walkers have for the trails and the farmers' fields. Rarely are there fences to mark the fields but no-one (as far as I have seen) ever cuts through the fields or even cuts a corner. The trails remain solidly walked on and the fields remain free of trodden crops.

Heading to Pulsbachklamm, we first come on a disused coal mine, or more accurately, a disused coal car. This mine was worked from 1745 to 1961. I assume this was a huge seam of coal or the local mining practices were small enough to meet the locals’ needs. Maybe a little of each as this is an amazingly long time of be working the one mine. Even after 50 years of no mining, the spoil heaps remain in place, one of them spilling down the cliffs creating a landslide effect.

We then make it to der Pulsbachklamm; an amazing valley with sheer rock cliffs . I doubt the pictures can provide adequate feeling for the scale and size of der Pulsbachklamm. The cliffs are sheer and high. The trees are beautiful and, in the distance, you can hear the distant sound of water flowing through the base of the valley. The view is extraordinary and, as I said, just has not been captured by the pictures. Sorry. I guess you'll have to come and have a look yourself!

From here we continue on, following the trail at almost the same height for the next few kilometres. The picture below show some of the beauty of the trail and the trees this time of year.

Walking the Rheinsteig trails is an ongoing discovery filled with delight

I then stumble into Kestert and here begins my first real mistake of the day. I thought I'd read that there was a ferry at Kamp Bornhofen so I thought I would walk along the river, catch the ferry back to Bad Salzig and then the train to Bonn. But there was no ferry and even walking out the other side of Kamp Bornhofen revealed an ongoing lack of ferries anywhere in immediate view. What to do? Simple! Back to Kamp Bornhofen, find the railway station and the next train back to St. Goarhausen. With time to spare it was off to Cafe Nikenig for a pot of coffee and a piece of marzipan cake. With no one to share with, I (not too reluctantly) ate the whole thing with joy and gusto. It was good and just what I needed to get me through the afternoon.

So, back to the ferry and into St. Goar again. With less than two weeks before my sojourn in Bonn ends, how fitting that the 'Melbourne' should pass while I was watching! Fate or karma or whatever you like.

As the sun set, the temperature dropped until it was as cold as a mother-in-law's kiss. But, to cap another amazing day trip, a full moon rose over Katzenburger Castle as the train pulled into St. Goar station. An amazing end to a long, tiring but wonderful day in the Mittelrheine.