First stage of the Wilderness trail – hiking in the footsteps of the wildcat

Part 1/4 is done 🤗. The trail begins very nicely, directly on a beautiful path through meadows and forest. Unfortunately, that doesn't stay that way for long, the next approx. 8-9 km lead through beautiful landscape, especially in spring past the daffodil meadows, but the wide supply road runs straight ahead, that's almost boring 🙃. From about half the way, the path changes again and becomes a beautiful path through forests and meadows. The first ascent to the Dreiborner plateau is quite humane, followed by a long, easy descent to Erkensruhr. What comes next is more mountaineering than hiking 🫣. A steep ascent of about 1 km, which can also be bypassed via an easy variant, which does not affect the landscape. The descent to Einruhr is easy and you get beautiful views of the town. Since I live in Heimbach, I chose the way back by ship, a very nice end to the day 🤗🌞 Conclusion of the day: Some places are a bit stupid, but a nice tour

From Monschau to Einruhr. Since we arrived the day before and spent a night in Monschau-Altstadt, we did not set off from the official starting point in Monschau-Höfen

So, today the 4-day Eifel Wilderness Trail finally starts, which I had to postpone for 2 weeks for health reasons. The weather is not quite as good as it was back then, but now we have nice company 🙃 The Eifel Wilderness Trail leads through the Eifel National Park, almost 84 km. We booked the whole thing for the first time through the tourism association as a package tour. Saves planning time, but not necessarily money 😅 Traveling by public transport took us almost 4 hours, almost as long as the hike, but it's actually quite doable 🙂 The backpacks are not the lightest at 11.5 kg and 9.5 kg including water and a few luxuries (e.g. spare shoes and hair straighteners 🤭). Today's tour takes us from Höfen (Monschau) to Einruhr (Simmerath). "Wilderness Trail" naturally means you can expect a lot of natural paths, which stage 1 can only partially fulfill. It feels like you walk more often on wide forest paths than on the beautiful paths that are fortunately available. There is hardly any asphalt and you are almost exclusively away from any civilisation. Apart from the start and finish, you only cross a road and shortly before the end you briefly go through a small village. We didn't see any people away from civilisation (but unfortunately that also applies to animals). Pretty wild 🤠 The peace and quiet, the autumn colours and the varied route made the hike all in all a successful start to the multi-day tour. 🍁 Our accommodation today is the Haus am See in Einruhr. Something went wrong with the room reservation through the tourist office, but we still got a room. Eating was more difficult because Einruhr is already in hibernation and not much is open anymore. Thankfully, we didn't have to starve 😋

With partly drizzly weather, we started the 4-day Eifel Wilderness Trail in Monschau-Höfen today. We liked the first stage very much and it was easy to walk on with many small winding paths, often even downhill and with two stream crossings. Apparently it was still a bit too early for the daffodil fields, but yellow flashed through everywhere. At the end there is a decent climb before you get to Einruhr, the stage destination, in about 3km.

The first 12km of the trail were rather monotonous and peppered with a few "forest highways". But the second half of the route was all the more beautiful. Varied views and great, narrow paths really made you want to go hiking. Sometimes by the water, then on open spaces with a view, over rocks and again through the forest. After the town of Erkensruhr you have to choose between an easy and the normal route. I chose the normal route and took the steep climb. After 21km it was already crisp (see elevation profile). There are many good places to rest and the trail is well signposted. Hiking map can safely stay in the backpack

New project by Waldorf & Statler.... is starting off quite nicely... 🤠🤠... especially note the last picture‼️.... hmmmm...😁👍👌

The night was good. Even if a few people celebrated a bit further down on the bank, I was able to sleep well for a few hours. The cottage was of course luxury and cooking and organizing is easier. First I made a coffee, because I wasn't in a hurry, I had already done about 2/3 of the way. It was raining a bit so I waited until it stopped as a nice weather hiker ;) My first destination should be the small town of Einruhr, where a number of boats across the Urfttalsperre start. It's a drinking water dam and it's accessible, but I chose the cemetery in Einruhr as a refill station (I prefer tap water when given the choice because it's fortified with the standardized concentration of minerals). 3 liters of water and 0.5l of electrolytes should easily be enough for the rest of the route. I still had a few bars to eat, but I usually don't eat anything in the morning. From Einruhr we started up a small mountain. Below was a sleepy town of Erkensruhr, which I crossed as well as the river of the same name (and its main street) before heading back up the mountain. It was a little cooler than yesterday, but it stayed dry and the weather was pleasant for hiking. After a few kilometers of ascent, I saw the steep slope further below me through the forest, river and town, when I came to an idyllically situated chapel with a small stream. Then it went on. The forest became more and more beautiful and a sign pointed to the next segment: the creation path, which is intended to unite the connection between nature and creation with a few stations. The following section of the trail was particularly beautiful, partly with spectacular moss-covered rock formations. This was followed by a great field with a beautiful view. At the top, the bench I had hoped for was waiting for me where I had breakfast and enjoyed the view and hike. When I was about to leave, Jens, the first hiker for the Taf, who was hiking the path in the other direction, came towards me. We talked for a while and exchanged ideas. Then I set off again. A beautiful heath section followed, which was in contrast to the previous one. In general, the day was much more path than on Saturday. It went on and little by little I met more and more hikers. One came towards me who had already come towards me on Saturday and I spoke to him because it is rather unusual to meet people several times on one route. He was Polish so we chatted in English for a while before moving on. Below there was a small river to cross before a long but easy mountain was to follow. After the path followed another long stretch on easy paths. Nevertheless, fantastic nature and tranquility. In between there were always nice passages, I took a break before heading towards the finish line. Towards the end there was a rooty trail next to the Perlenbach, which ended in a small Teinkwassersee. There we went up the final climb to Höfen, the official destination of the tour after a total of around 85km. This was the end of a great mini-adventure, from there we went back to Zerkall by bus and train. Overall, a great trail that I would do again at any time. The trail can also be easily divided into thirds, with Einruhr and Heimbach as perfect stopovers.

Four stages, 85 kilometers: A hike under the sign of the wildcat - The Wilderness Trail showcases the full landscape diversity of the Eifel National Park https://www.nationalpark-eifel.de/de/nationalpark-erleben/wildnis-trail/ Look forward to challenging routes and memorable nature experiences! Swap your everyday routine for rushing streams, fragrant flower meadows, deep forests, and sweeping panoramic views of the wilderness of tomorrow. The Wilderness Trail leads you through the wild beauty of the Eifel National Park on four daily stages totaling 85 kilometers. From Monschau-Höfen in the south to the northern tip near Hürtgenwald-Zerkall, the trail showcases the full landscape diversity of the approximately 11,000-hectare national park. The daily stages range between 18 and 25 kilometers and can be shortened in some cases. The large Eifel National Park, founded in 2004, is still considered a "development national park": Protected areas in this category have 30 years to allow at least three-quarters of their area to be left to its own devices – only then do they meet the international criteria for a national park. But today, the national park motto "Let nature be nature" already applies to more than half of the area, meaning that humans are leaving nature to its own devices. On the Wilderness Trail, you'll experience the exciting process of wilderness development up close! Flyer for the Wilderness Trail: https://www.nationalpark-eifel.de/cache/dl-Flyer-zum-Wildnis-Trail-3a07ff1deb6a5d7daacaf1a548c556ae.pdf Map showing the Wilderness Trail: https://www.nationalpark-eifel.de/cache/dl-Karte-mit-Verlauf-des-Wildnis-Trails-f9bdb240415e09c8a94e4ba5fa43e64e.pdf 🐻****************************************🐻 https://www.nationalpark-eifel.de/de/nationalpark-erleben/wildnis-trail/die-vier-etappen/erste-etappe/ "Along the daffodil meadows through the south of the National Parks... The stage from Höfen to Einruhr is the most challenging of the four stages of the Wilderness Trail. In addition to the comparatively long distance, you'll also climb a considerable amount of altitude! Höfen (540 meters above sea level) - Einruhr (280 meters above sea level) + Length: 23.9 kilometers + Elevation gain: ↑ 477 meters, ↓ 750 meters + Highest point: 625 meters above sea level (Wahlerscheid) + Lowest point: 280 meters above sea level NN (Einruhr) What makes this stage particularly attractive: + Interesting stops along the way + The free and barrier-free, multilingual exhibition at the Höfen National Park Gate on daffodil meadows and forest walks + Romantic meadow valleys, captivating in spring with a yellow sea of daffodils and in summer with fragrant wild herbs + The idyllic Erkensruh Valley + The natural forest cell "Im Brand" + The beginnings of the vast Dreiborn Plateau + The adventurous high-altitude trail near Hirschrott + The beautiful view over Lake Obersee + The Einruhr National Park Information Point with its water garden 🐻****************************************🐻 Arrival and departure by 🚌 public transport 🚃🚂 on this tour/stage: Start: Höfen Church, Monschau 🚌 Destination: Simmerath, Einruhr, Simmerath 🚌