Wire route – master cartwrights, carts, chains and merchant guilds

Today I finally tackled the long-planned repetition of the wire trade route. After I went from Iserlohn to Lüdenscheid in 2020, I wanted to go in the other direction today. A good decision, in my opinion, because the section between Altena and Iserlohn is simply the nicer one, in my opinion. In any case, it was very nice again, on comfortable paths with optimal hiking weather.

I have walked a section of the wire trade route on various hikes. And I always said to myself, one day I will walk the entire route. Today was the day. The many small sections have now come together like puzzle pieces to form a complete picture. In a figurative sense too. Because the sections include many beautiful memories of the paths I have walked and of the people I have loved. 😌

After three years, I hiked the Drahthandelsweg trail again today. This time, my memory was confirmed: I much prefer the second section from Altena to the first, even though it's more strenuous. I simply find the area more beautiful🤷‍♀️ After a pleasant break in Altena, I was able to tackle the strenuous 🥵 climb. The castle is unfortunately not on the trail. If you don't know it yet, you should definitely include it in your itinerary. It's worth it 🤩. Altena Castle has housed the world's oldest youth hostel since 1914. The second section of the trail to Iserlohn was a bit more varied and beautiful than the first 17 km, which is good for motivation.💪 It was beautiful again, and I'll definitely do it again. 🤩 Oh yes: Deutsche Bahn was actually punctual on both routes🥳.

The tour is quite demanding, but has a lot to offer. From my perspective, the nicer part is definitely from Altena to Iserlohn. But I wonder why the wonderful view from the Hegenscheid airfield towards Werdohl is not included. It is better to do the Höhenflug detour there, it is only a few hundred meters. Otherwise, the section nicely closes the south-north axis of the starting points of the Höhenflug and the forest route.

Missed the turnoff while on the phone. That meant walking a few more meters!🤪

Even the bad weather today couldn't keep me longer on the plan: On the Drahthandelsweg it went from Lüdenscheid via Altena to Iserlohn. The arrival / departure can also be optimally planned by public transport (bus / train). On the way you can get to know the earlier wire processing through many information boards. In Lüdenscheid you follow the well-signposted hiking trail "D", which is mostly accompanied by the pilgrimage route of the diocese of Essen, which leads through the Vogelberg residential area in Rtg Fuelbecker Talsperre in Altena. From there you go to the heights of Rosmart, which you follow via Horst Rtg Breitenhagen. This section initially has a lot of tarred paths, but later climbs back into the woods above the Lenneschleife. Through the residential area it goes down to Altena on the Lenne, opposite back to the slope Rtg downtown or Altena Castle. Section 1 of the Drahthandelsweg ends here in the center or train station. However, since I wanted to directly connect to section 2 and find the route more beautiful, I went over the castle and there, following the entrance to the high-altitude flight, down to the Nette and opposite back up to Rtg Egge. Here you also come across the Drahthandelsweg, which came up through the residential area of Mühlendorf.