Rheinsteig - Koblenz to Braubach

Last week, Frannie and I used one day for a 20 km hike on the Rheinsteig. The short story goes something like the following:

First 18 km mostly through woods with 2 good climbs and one steep downhill. Felt good to be out, Frannie seemed to enjoy it as well. But I didn't need that hill between 18 and 19 km. Still after getting to the top, the reward was some great views of the Rhein and the castle Marksburg.

The longer story is a bit more involved. The previous week while looking at the map of Rheinsteig, I noticed that the trail passed Koblenz directly on the opposite bank of the Rhine. So is seemed like a good idea for my second hike on Rheinsteig to walk across the bridge and follow the trail up river.

So one morning last week found Frannie and I crossing the bridge over the Rhine. When we dropped down from the bridge on the other side, we were on Rheinsteig. The trail follows the river for less than a kilometer, then turns up through the villiage of Pfaffendorf. pass the church and into a valley as it climbs 300 metes over the next 5-6 km. At the top is Lichter Kopf, a tower build in WWII to allow German troops to watch over this part of the Rhine. That was until the heavy winds at the end of February that blew the tower down. Now all that is left is the twisted remains of the base of the tower.

The next 4.5 km offered views of the Lahn river that flows into the Rhine. At this point the trail begins a 145 meter drop in a 1/2 km called Ruperts Klamm. In Ruperts Klamm, there are places where the trial disappears. You just follow the flow of the water and scramble over any rocks in you way. It really looks more dangerous as it actually is. And there are covered steel cables that can be used in some of the tougher spot. Of course, those didn't help Frannie. There were a couple of spots that were difficult for her, but she managed to get through the Klamm without incident.

The trail continues down to and across the Lahm, then climbs the other side, passing by a hotel. Then we head down to that 18 km mark. At this point, I was feeling OK. but I was out of water, so the climb between 18 and 19 km was a bit harder than I would have liked. Frannie and I took a rest at the top, not knowing that if we had walked another 80 meters, we would had had a wonderful view of Braubach, the Rhine and Marksburg setting on the hill over the town.

Marksburg castle is one of the best preserved castles in Germany. It is certainly in the top 5 of castles to visit. Unlike the glamor castles built to satisfy 17th and 18th century egos, Marksburg is a true medieval fortress castle that claims to have never been over-run by invading armies. Well worth a tour.

The last kilometer was all downhill, depositing us in the middle of Braubach. Frannie and I found the train station and took the bus back to Koblenz. This was Frannie's first bus trip. But I don't think she noticed much. All she wanted to to was find a place to lie down and sleep.