The location was the town of Wiltz, which lies in the top third of Luxembourg - a country that neither of us had before visited. It's a very green, undulating area, with lots of summer meadows and woodland, and the route I had selected for today was described on Wikiloc.com as something like 'The woodlands and watercourses at Wiltz'.
Our route was the red one.
Based on the map (OpenStreetMaps - it's what we use for most of our walks abroad unless they are of a nature to suggest that a more detailed map is required), I had suspected that we would be in the trees for most of this walk, so I grabbed a couple of snaps early on when views presented themselves:
It turned out that we weren't nearly as hemmed in as I had expected, and even when we were in the trees, there were some clearings, including this one, covered in foxgloves:
Waymarks were plentiful...
...which might have been useful if we had known which, if any, we were trying to follow. As it went, there was no difficulty at all in following our route on the map.
There was, however, a little difficulty with two short sections of overgrown paths:
We battled through the first such section, but backtracked from the one shown above, feeling (quite literally!) that the number of nettles was incompatible with bare legs. It was easily bypassed via a road then a track.
The final section of the route ran parallel to the railway and a river, the former we had to cross a couple of times, the second time at a station. It was an odd place for a station, seemingly being beyond the end of the nearest road, deep in the forest, and with no haibitation around it. Curious.
Whilst nothing spectacular, it was a more pleasant outing that I'd expected, and a decent leg-stretch (9.5km, around 200m of ascent).
Foxgloves impressive - even better when enlarged. I too turned back today trying to find Little Haweswater as opposed to Haweswater (the one near my abode) I had been unaware of it until it was mentioned by Mark Richards (Beatingthebounds) then I saw it on the map so went to investigate. Overgrown nettles, iris, knee high grass and marsh deterred me. I walked round to approach from the north and found it amongst thick low growing tees - it was a stinking mud bowl with a feeble stream running through. I retreated and completed a six mile walk ending at the new jazz café in Arnside for a cookie and pot of tea. It was not really worth a post on the blog, but a pleasant walk.
ReplyDeleteIt's that time of year when it feels sensible to take waterproof trousers not due to the possibility of rain, but in case of nettles.
DeleteHello Mick & Gayle .. I am pleased to find you both well and out walking so much. Having been effectively bedbound for a couple of weeks, I came across your blog and have been busily quartering Britain with you, and beyond .. very entertaining, if a little tiring. I am in awe of:
ReplyDelete- your wonderful data gathering and spreadsheet skills
- your energy, stamina and thirst for adventure
- your lovely Bertie
.. not to mention youthful appearance etc. etc.
if ever you are in Kent, please do drop in. We are conveniently situated in Linton about an hour from Dover, 45mins from the Tunnel, you have an open invitation to stay the night if you want an early start or something
kind regards
Jerry (from the Pyrenees, remember? :-)
Hello Jerry!
DeleteWe certainly do remember you - in fact, when I took a tumble on the Welsh Coast Path in 2016, breaking my fall with my nose on a rock, resulting in a big gash, the text I sent to Mick explained my injury succinctly as "I've just done a Jerry!". Having emulated you on that minor fall, I'm hoping I don't go on to do the same with your recent (more alarming) injuries, which I read about in your blog post last week. We both hope your recovery is a speedy one.
Thank you for your kind invitation; we will take you up on it sometime - we usually cross the Channel two or three times a year.
Hmm, you have to take your 15 minutes of fame wherever you can I suppose :-)
DeleteHope to see you before long
Nice one Gayle - and now Mick's fitbit taunts are explained....
ReplyDeleteWe also remember Jerry, encountered in Lescun and in the Peak District. We hope he recovers from injuries sustained in the Carneddau.
I am feeling much better now, thank you ... and I remember you too, you sold me a book I think, at an AAC meeting! And now I have another interesting blog to read, too :-)
Delete