Day 22 of the Walk to the World
Cup – MAY 31st
Ripsdorf to Adenau– Rip Van Winkle
to the Nürburg Ring
The sun was shining Am See when I looked
out this morning, but by the time we were ready to move
on, the clouds were massing. It was only studying the
map last night that I realised that we had been walking
at over 2000 ft for much of the day – not quite
so surprising that it was cold for the end of May.
Anthony goes home tonight, his own
son Rich is flying to Hong Kong tomorrow and it’s
important he’s there to see him off, so he is walking
with me and Tom again today. No getting lost this time,
we had studied the map and followed an excellently signed
bicycle route out of Ripsdorf which was still and quiet
at 8.40 a.m. Next was Dollendorf after a walk through
a beautiful river valley and then down to Ahrhutte and
the river Ahr. We followed the path downstream to Ahrdorf
(no guesses for what’s German for village) with
lovely views of another sleepy village as we dropped down
from the path. Every village we walked through today has
a tall pine tree stripped of its branches except for the
very top and another tree full of paper streamers tied
on to the branches – must find out what that’s
all about?
Chris was waiting with the van and
we rang to find out exactly where he was. Minutes later
as we’re walking to meet him, he drives past the
end of the lane about 60 metres away. Off sprints Tom
to find his Dad and registers 23K on a radar gun causing
laughs from the German officials and cheers from his fellow
walkers. Coffee and the last of my oatmeal biscuits followed.
8 miles down, 10 to go – we were having an easy
day.
The next 5 miles was a slog, the drizzle
became heavier and we had to walk on a busy road with
no cycle path (despite it being the cycle path route)
for 5 miles but eventually the van came into sight and
lunchtime. After sandwich and a custard tart, I had a
doze for 30 minutes. My shin was feeling less painful
but I was really tired and it was hard to summon up the
energy to start again until I thought of Tim.
Chris had told us it was a hard climb
along a hairpin road and even suggested an alternative
route that was 4 miles further – no chance. We set
off at a pace and climbed the hill up to over 550 metres
altitude and covering 3.75 miles in an hour. Exhausted,
I was pleased to take time as we walked past one beautiful
vista to another – real Sound of Music stuff –
and then the steep drop down into Adenau, a bustling town
and our finishing point for the day.
Tonight’s bonus is that the balcony
of our hotel has views of two corners on the Nürburg
Ring and before a shower, I watched 5 Mercedes on the
track at speed. Tonight, we are driving up to Cologne
to take Anthony back to the airport and meet Sandra who
will be with me again for the remainder of the walk.
King of the Mountains - Tom –
could probably have run up the last hill
Distance covered – 18.2
miles. Total covered – 429.9 miles
