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December 01, 2023

Volcano Trail - There is no bad Weather...

... just bad clothing.

River Rhine

My latest section hiking project is the Volcano Trail (Vulkanweg). The 200 km trail start on the banks of the Rhine in the town of Andernach, meandering westwards to Gerolstein and thereby connecting many geological features of the Eifel region.


Day 1: So far it had been raining, drizzling, pouring down, hailing, and snowing. But with my current setup of clothing (and spares) I have had no major issues except dealing with slippery conditions on the trail.



Lost place: A former catholic school for orphans - creepy!


View on Laacher See


Day2: More bad weather and several hundred meters of elevation had to be conquered. But there were also nice views, a cavern and an old quarry (really old: the Romans started exploiting it already 2000 years ago.)



Gänsehals tower




Genoveva cavern


Gone with the wind




Kottenheimer Winfeld quarry




Day 3: Offered sunshine, high winds, great views, a visit to a Roman settlement, a stroll through the medieval town of Mayen, a walk by another medieval village named Virneburg, a climb up the Eifel-tower (not the one with the 2 Fs) and got rewarded with a delicious dinner.

Katzenberg fortification

Oh those Romans...

Genoveva Castle in Mayen


Mayen market place






Castle ruin and village Virneburg




Eifel tower




Booser Maar

Lamb goulash

Day 5: Mostly rainy with some sunny spots in between, not so much sightseeing in the beginning but with an intriguing highlight at the end of the day.



Morfelder Maar


Ulmen Jungferweiher (virgin pond)

Centuries ago the tunnel had been used to drain the lake on the other side in order to transport water to nearby mills. Since April of this year, the restored tunnel can be visited. Very cool! On the other side is the village Ulmen with its castle ruin overlooking the Ulmen Maar (lake).

Ulmen - former drainage



Ulmen lake

Ulmen village

Castle ruin Ulmen

Day 6: The weather continued to be unpleasant but I got to see a lava-bomb and visited a volcanic lake (Maar).

The lava bomb of Strohn

This basaltic block of 120 tons had been thrown out of a volcano, and by rolling down its flank grew layers like a snowball up to five meters in diameter. Next stop was the Immerather Maar, the smallest and shallowest of all lakes of volcanic origin in the Eifel.






Meanwhile I got to the halfway point.
To be continued...

8 comments:

  1. So true, no bad weather, just bad gear....good gear and prep = good pics and memories

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    1. That's it exactly. I have learned a lot from advanced long distance hikers and have more than one weather app on my phone. I even could survive a couple of nights outdoors if I'd have to. Cheers, Sonja

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  2. Den Spruch am Anfang finde ich komplett daneben, leider erlebe ich hier sehr schlechtes Wetter schon seit Wochen, da hilft mir nichts dagegen.
    Trotzdem bewundere ich deine Tour, die du trotz allen Widrigkeiten unternommen hast, Respekt! Ganz toll gefallen hat mir der Eifelturm, den ich von den Buchstaben her sicher verwechselt hätte. Dank deinem Foto weiss ich nun mehr :-)
    LG vom Werner und Loki

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    1. Hallo Werner, mir wäre schöne Wetter zwar auch lieber, aber mich zieht es immer wieder hinaus, und ich brauche das Naturerlebnis. Irgendwie muss man ja durch die trübe Jahreszeit kommen. Da kann mich dann auch das Regenwetter nicht von abhalten. Allerdings würde ich bei diesen Temperaturen nicht im Zelt übernachten wollen. Da ziehe ich die heiße Dusche und ein warmes Essen zuhause oder in einer Pension vor. Kopf hoch, bald werden die Tage wieder länger... ;-) Liebe Grüße, SonjaM

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  3. That's an impressive hike. Both the distance and the spectacular scenery. The weather is what it is and you may as well enjoy it! (Easy for me to say…)

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    1. Hi Richard, I have no issues with the bad weather because I do actually enjoy being outdoors. The only thing that is mandatory to be at the end of the day is a hot shower, a change of warm clothing and a great meal. Cheers, SonjaM

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  4. ui, da hast Du ja alle Wetterlagen mitgenommen, aber die Bilder sind natuerlich wieder supertoll. Tiefe Bewunderung fuer Deine Wanderleistung!

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    1. Vielen Dank Yvonne, solange am Abend ein gutes Essen und eine Dusche samt frischer Kleidung auf einen wartet, ist das alles gut zu ertragen. LG SonjaM

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