We arrived around 1 pm in Annweiler am Trifels. It took some time to get here, because we had our flight to Stuttgart first, continuing by bus to Karlsruhe, from where we reached the train station in Annweiler am Trifels by train.
It also took some time to find a shop in wich we could buy some spiritus for our Trangia spirit burner set. Although some petrol stations sold barbecue accessories, they had no spiritus at all, which was very strange. Then we went to the other side of the town to look for a larger store. After some tips from locals we finally found the Wasgau supermarket and to our surprise, the spiritus was there to be bought..
We had already walked a few kilometres through the town searching for the supermarket and could then, around 2 pm, finally start the real trek. The tour start point was behind the train central station in Annweiler am Trifels and todays destination was Eußerthal. Our first impression after a few steps uphill was: Oh, it will be tough! Another point was, it was already late.
On the way to the first view point
First view point
Looking left from the view point
On the other side, going uphill the mountain “Kleiner Adelberg” and “Großer Adelberg”, looking back to Annweiler am Trifels and surrounding mountains, was fascinating and relaxing. The first view point had a nice view on the Trifels Castle, the number one sightseeing attraction in Annweiler am Trifels.
Trifels Castle (German: Reichsburg Trifels)
Drinking water on the way
Mountain hut
Going uphill and down dale through the Palatinate Forest (German: Pfälzerwald) was truly beautiful. On the one hand the civilisation was never far from us, having excellent views from the surrounding hilltops. On the other hand we were pretty much alone on the paths and could thereby enjoy the wished silence.
The first animal we met on the way was a shy fox. He crossed the road quickly, as scared of not to disturb us. The forest was silent to the most part and the only noise-makers were the wild boars hiding somewhere in the hills.
We arrived relatively late in Eußerthal. It was an impressive entrance with wonderful resting places. The sun was still shining and we had to walk through the little town Eußerthal in order to reach the first wild camping place we have booked. Many friendly people in the town saluted us as we walked.
Resting place near Eußerthal
Eußerthal in reach
Looking back to the resting place once more
It was clear that our wild camping place in Eußerthal was somewhere on a mountain called Beutelsberg. On the way we came across Birkenthaler Hof, a nice guest-house with a promising restaurant, where we refilled our water bottles. We chose the restaurant for the lunch tomorrow. They serve freshly made fish in many variations.
After 12 kilometres (and a few more in Annweiler am Trifels) we stood exhausted in front of Beutelsberg. We must admit, carrying the whole equipment via this mountainous region was not so easy and though Beutelsberg was our finish part of the first day, it also was one of our toughest experiences so far. However, in contrast to this challenge, we were rewarded with an excelent view on Eußerthal.
View on Eußerthal
Fascinated by the view on Eußerthal we recovered a bit and decided to choose this beautiful view point for our breakfast location tomorrow.
Just close to this view point our wild camping place for the first night showed up. In the first step we built up our tent. To still our hunger we prepared something to eat, had a tea, met other hikers, and finally went to bed. We fell asleep very quickly. It was a calm night, interrupted a bit by wild boar sounds in the morning hours.
First tent place on the tour
Hot meal in the forest
Hot tea
This post is a part of the following article: Wild Camping in Germany