Klosterweg (Monastery Trail) Wäller Tour

I'm on vacation this week. And of course, I'm not the type of person who spends their precious free time lounging around in their four walls. I don't want to say that a day like that isn't good for them. However, this is an exception in my life. Admittedly, I've planned an organizational day during this vacation week to check my outdoor gear and, if necessary, sort through and replace things. To be honest, I haven't had a chance to do any of that in my everyday life over the last six months. I've either been at work, taking care of my household chores, or, as usual, busy preparing for and following up on my hikes and pilgrimages. Of course, sometimes things get left undone. Today, another Wäller Tour was on my agenda, one I had already done just over three years ago: https://www.westerwald.info/d/waeller-tour-klosterweg/ Since this trail is a one-way hike, I couldn't resist walking from Waldbreitbach to Rengsdorf this time. If I remember correctly, I drove to Waldbreitbach in May 2022 and took a hiking bus offered by Wiedtal-Touristik towards Rengsdorf. Today, I took a relatively more relaxed approach. I boarded the RE 8 in Koblenz around 9 a.m., got off in Neuwied, and took bus line 130 from the train station there to the "Altes Kreuz" stop in Waldbreitbach. When I arrived in Rengsdorf, I reached the "Rathaus/Schillerstraße" bus stop relatively early and boarded bus line 160 towards Neuwied Bahnhof a minute later. Personally, I find this tour rather challenging. I don't want to draw a comparison here, firstly because it's been too long since I last did it. Unfortunately, I've hiked and completed quite a few kilometers of pilgrimage in that time. What I find rather unfortunate, of course, is that even beautiful hikes and pilgrimage routes tend to fade over time. If possible, I'll keep this tour in mind and, if possible, do it again in the coming months. This route offers a real change of pace, not only in terms of its paths, trails, and views. Starting from Waldbreitbach, this Wäller Tour offers a bit of a challenge for experienced hikers (pilgrims).

Today I finally did my first tour of the new year. It started off well again 😡😡. I actually wanted to do the next stage of my panorama trail, but as a train was cancelled again I changed my plans and drove on to the Westerwald. From Rengsdorf I went up to Kurtscheid via the monastery path in freezing temperatures but great sunshine. From the old water tower you have a great view over the whole of the Westerwald. Through the Fickenbach valley I went around the Neuerburg castle ruins to the Mother Rosa Chapel before going back up to the St. Marienhaus monastery. This time I didn't go on the nativity trail (open until January 25th) down to Waldbreitbach to the parish church of the Assumption of Mary with its impressive root nativity scene. A really great tour with lots of views.

A very nice tour, which I hiked in three stages in October of this year, as I always had to hike back to my wheels. That way I practically walked the path twice. One of the most beautiful things I found was the early morning on the observation tower in Kurtscheid, where the surrounding valleys were immersed in a cloud bath. It was a bit reminiscent of hiking in the Alps, when you look at a sea of clouds from the summit and nothing seems to exist except clouds and peaks....🍁🍂🍃