Tour 1: ‘River Gold’ Montenau – hiking in East Belgium

Nice walk in Montenau, full sun but cool.

A great tour that I definitely have to do again in the summer with great views, highly recommended

Nice hike at our neighbor in Belgium Montenau. Then came the first time this year, I forgot to change the clock on the camera, so I can't assign the pictures to the right location. That's a shame because it was a wonderful hike. Link to Youtube: Here you can see the course of the hike in the video. https://youtu.be/65zxZhhegbo

Today I had actually booked a balloon ride over the Dauner Maare, but unfortunately it was cancelled this morning due to a lack of wind. So I quickly decided on Plan B, another pleasure tour in Belgium, namely the No. 1 Flussgold in Montenau, a nine-kilometer-long circular route that runs from Montenau through the Wolfsbusch and along the course of the Amel river back to Montenau. Although I turned right at the end. I should have stayed straight on the narrow path. It is beautiful in the village of just under 350 inhabitants. The houses are whitewashed or decorated with Eifel slate, the front gardens are well-kept, and when the wind is right, you can smell the delicious Ardennes ham that is made here. If you want to experience the real East Belgium, this is the place for you. The word "wolf" in the name Wolfsbusch is not a coincidence; the animals populated the large forest area until the 19th century. Today, only shy red and wild boar roam here. Julius Caesar, dwarves and the Celts: you will encounter all of them on the almost ten-kilometer-long "River Gold Pleasure Tour" through the Wolfsbusch. Some have left their traces in the mystical forest area near Montenau, others only their stories. The Wolfsbusch is a magical and at the same time strange place. The stories that surround the forest are as varied as the nature that I walked through today. One of them says that the quarries that can still be found throughout the area were built by dwarves. However, no traces of the long-bearded forest dwellers have ever been found. People are still looking for the treasure that the dwarves had hidden in the Wolfsbusch... A good 100 years ago, gold was again being sought in Montenau, and there was even a small gold rush. However, no major finds were made. "A man had to mine for up to ten years to give his wife a wedding ring made of Eifel gold." Today, gold digging is no longer allowed here. So that you can still feel like a real adventurer, a gold scouring trough has been rebuilt in Montenau, where you can search the surrounding rubble for gold. In the past, gold deposits gave the river in Montenau its charm, today it is its landscapes. The Montenau ham smokehouse is set up so that you can follow the production of the original Ardennes ham from A to Z "live". On weekdays you can watch the workers at work through large glass panes. If you love real ham and want to get to know one of the best addresses in Belgium, you will find it just an hour's drive into East Belgium, in the tranquil village of Montenau near Amel. One of the refuges of the original Ardennes ham is located here. I parked on the street opposite the St. Raphaël monastery at Wolfsbusch in Montenau, which is known beyond the borders as a place of peace and relaxation. Overall, the pleasure tour would be even nicer if most of the paths were a bit narrower. They are mostly wide forest paths. Nevertheless, I found today's tour beautiful and in the forest it was partly mystical because of the tall trees, the abundance of moss and the sun that kept shining through. There are already some mushrooms there, like chanterelles, chanterelles, chestnut boletes and birch mushrooms, but today I just looked and didn't collect any.

The Amblève valley, upstream of its known part, is worth more than a detour, it is a region to discover and explore for the variety of landscapes and undergrowth, with in autumn marvelous shades of color of the meadows and woods, crossed by pleasant paths and a restful calm!

The parking lot at the monastery is the perfect starting point for this hike. From here, you go through the monastery courtyard down to Amel, which you follow on a small, idyllic path. Small bridges, the rippling water and the occasional rapid are great photo opportunities. The path also leads up - from there you have a wonderful panorama over the Amel valley. This first half of the route is actually a single highlight. The second part begins with an incline. I break off the planned route twice and choose a gentler climb up to the highest point, where I leave the forest path and follow the Stoneman mountain bike route. There are mystical rock formations here, but you should still pay attention to the path. Roots and rocks make the descent difficult, and it is made worse by the leaves, which make the route almost invisible but slippery. Now Komoot tells me to follow another path uphill - but I can't find it no matter how hard I try, so I decide instead to briefly follow the variant along a forest path in order to come across the planned hiking path later. Here another steep climb follows - I take a break more than once to catch my breath... Finally the hike turns left, along more paths and smaller forest paths - sometimes with great views. Another path continues through the forest, slightly downhill, back towards the monastery. Shortly before the end of the hike there are 2 millstones on the side of the path and a 'gold panning plant' (which is no longer functional in November) indicates that the tributaries of the Amel used to be mined for the precious metal. Once again a great hike through my home region - the autumn weather with a bit of fog also contributes to this.

Today we went a little further into Belgium. Right at the start of the hike there was a gold search 😆😂. The route took us a little along normal forest paths, a little mini road, lots of small paths (stony/rooty) and a long way along the Amel where it was quite wild. Very nice 😍