Mosel Hike
Day 5: Traben to Klüsserath
6/28/02, 9:15 On a bench looking up to the Wolf-Kloster ruins. Trail mostly through woods so far.
Traben from trail - Wolf Kloster ruins
9:45, on a bluff above Kröv-great place to camp! Spectacular views to both the south and north along a ridge between the windings of the Mosel. This river is amazing in the extent to which it winds and curves back onto itself. The Rhine looks like a straight line in comparison. As a result, there are many possible routes from place to place. Today I could have taken a shortcùt from Traben-Trarbach to Bernkastel which could have cut the distance from 14 km to 6.5. But I don't have a detailed enough map to have confidence in finding my route. I'm using a guide book/map that I got from Moselland Touristik ("Moselland Wanderführer" - only in German), has short descriptions of suggested day trips on both sides of the Mosel with 1:50,000 maps. In fact, taking the shortcut, strong hikers could even make it from Bernkastel to Trier in a day.
Overlook above Kröv
2:30, Bernkastel. Got here around 1:00 and have been walking around the town, quite nice with many Fachwerkhäuser but also many tourists. Nice trail from my last break to here, mostly downhill and through a variety of landscapes. About 2 km before Bernkastel, there is a restaurant ("Eiserne Weinkarte") and then a nice walk through vineyards down to the river. A couple of km before that is the fortified wall the French army built in 1795 (Graacher Schanze) which is still there and in fact you can walk on it.
Trail near Graach and on the way to Bernkastel - Bernkastel
7:45p.m., Klüsserath. Got here on the boat at 5:45. I was going to stay at Bernkastel tonight but it was so touristy and lots of "rooms taken" signs. Plus I want to get to Trier tomorrow night (so I can be in Düsseldorf for the World Cup final on Sunday). So I decided to take a ship this far (cost 14E) and then hope to make it as far as Trier tomorrow-will be a long day, about 30 km. And I've got new blisters even though I only went about 16 km today. Klüsserath is like night and day different from Bernkastel. Plenty of (Dutch) campers but no tourists! In fact I'm staying at the only hotel in town, "Zur Bruderschaft" (to brotherhood), inexpensive but a little run down. The local wine (which I'm drinking at the hotel restaurant as I'm writing this) is called Klüsserather Bruderschaft. There are a few private places to stay as in most towns on the Mosel but this is the only hotel (and the only restaurant) I've seen.
Klüsserath
Total distance today: 43 km (16 hiking and 27 by boat)
