A Walk In The Bertrich Forest

BECAUSE yesterday's round did not start till 15:00, there was plenty of time to explore some of the surrounding countryside after breakfast and still get back for registration.

I started by heading out of town past Bad Bertrich's Mamma Mia restaurant, where I ate on my first night

I soon came to the first - and, as it turned out, only - shrine of the day

Close-up of Mary and Jesus - note the cheap lighter and box of matches for lighting devotional candles

Interesting range of waymarks - I chose the castle in the hope of finding ancient ruins

Before entering the forest, I passed a bus stop near a tunnel dedicated to Diana

But, as a mural of a hunter on the nearby Hotel Diana suggests, the tunnel is not named after a princess, but rather the Roman goddess of hunting, whose statue was found here in 1858

The path on the castle walk is quite narrow at times, but shade can be welcome when summer sun beats down

However it pays to stay alert as parts of the path are badly eroded

Devil's Bridge

Much of the greenery is quite dak, but there are also brighter patches

Approaching the site of Entersburg, which is described as a spur castle, ie one built on a rocky outcrop

Turns out the castle was destroyed by the Archbishop of Trier in 1138, and this watchtower, erected in the 1890s to commemorate the spot, is sadly disfigured by a health-and-safety notice put up three years ago to explain that the building is unsafe (but nothing seems to have been done since to make it safe)

Decent views

But hard to see why it was thought a worthwhile site for a castle

Putting a fallen tree to practical use

Nature has other uses for fallen trees

Much of the path, both going and coming back, runs alongside, and occasionally crosses, the Üssbach, which at times, depending on whether the walker is ascending or descending, gives the illusion of flowing upstream

The round-walk is less than four miles, but feels more thanks to the undulating terrain