Wollefsschlucht Gorge was what I was aiming for on Day 2 of the Mullerthal Trail. It has attracted tourists since 1881. I never heard of it before but it’s been on my list of places to visit since the lockdown. I was moving accommodation today so I had to hike with full backpack from Beaufort. It was a shorter distance (19km) than the day before but I could still feel it by the time I reached the hostel in Echternach.
There was a lot less less farmland on this route in comparison to the previous day. The woods are deeper. The Black Ernz river flows through house-sized rocks that sit along the banks. Birds bathe and splash in the musical pools as I passed by. I left the main route and followed a single trail to Grundhof on the German border. I had to pay attention to the map here as the trail would fork suddenly around a giant rock and join a different trail. The cliffs seemed steeper, darker, quieter. The day was slightly colder and there was a bit of mist in the morning. I didn’t meet any other walkers until Grundhof so at times I got a bit spooked when a branch would crack or a pheasant would fly off in fright.
Grundhof to Berdorf was completely different. First off it was steep, lung-bustingly steep. Even though it was stepped most of the way up I was still sweating by the time I got to the top. Once you reach the top it is all downhill to Berdorf. The area up here is known as Siweschleff or the Seven Gorges due to the labyrinth of rock that winds run through it. It is also premium rock-climbing country with nearly 30 different routes in the space of a few km. Instantly you start to meet lots of wiry young folk on the ground holding onto ropes while their friends clamber about above you on the high cliffs like spiders.
I could understand now why this area is known as Little Switzerland. Like its namesake it is a place of towering rocks, caves and labyrinths, surrounded by atmospheric Beech forests and cut through with streams that transform this quiet country into an epic walking adventure. Unlike Switzerland, the Mullerthal is much smaller (185 sq km compared to 41,285 sq km), and much lower (414m compared to 4,600m) but it makes up for size with its beautiful and unusual landscape. It is not what you expect from the last Grand Duchy in Europe. It looks it was carved out of the earth by a band of mountain dwarves.
It is also beautiful. Walkers converge on this trail from multiple directions. After the early morning quiet this is a bustling place. When you are not looking up at climbers you are catching childrens voices bouncing around within the walls as they run around the mazes. It is busy. Even the birds are out and about with flocks swooping through dried out river beds while you bounce along on the steel suspension bridges that navigate through there. This is one place I wished I could stop. The majority of the rocks were too narrow for me to go between with my rucksack on my back so I will have to go back some day to explore more.
After lunch at the Trail Inn in Berdorf I lost focus and ended up 2km down a different direction than the one I intended going. It was very pretty but with the rucksack digging into me my shoulders were not too happy with me as I walked back. After backtracking I passed through the Hohhlee Caves where the locals dug millstones from the rocks. Once I got here I knew I was back on the right trail.
This was the E1 trail and it follows the bottom of the valley floor towards Echternach. The cliffs here loomed higher as I walked. I passed the gigantic Perekop where bus loads of tourists stop to climb the narrow steps in a crevice to the top. It is easy to forget that you are never too far from a road here. Every now and then you can hear traffic above you as you walk along the trail floor below.
After slipping through another short rock maze and navigating more steps I finally arrived at Wollefsschlucht. It is a deep and narrow canyon, formed when sections of the cliff face moved away from the rest of the plateau. Legend has it that it was home to a large wolfpack back in Roman times when this was barbarian land. Local folklore has it that it is still inhabited by a shiny eyed wolf who will lead you to a bag of gold in a dark crevice.
The trail through here is atmospheric and brooding with steps going up and down and around towering crags like something out of an Escher drawing. The walls are steep and claustrophobic. The steps appear and disappear so much that they look like dead-ends but the trail keeps going. I climbed to the top, crossed a bridge out to a jutting crag called Cleopatras Needle. From here I could look out over across the woods below and across the river to Germany. I could also look down and see walkers moving through the gorge like tiny figures below. It is a magnificent spot and is completely different to anything I would see at home.
After Wollefsschlucht, it was only about 2km to the last hill overlooking the cathedral of Echternach where the cathedral bells were celebrating my arrival.
Score: 10/10
Let me know in the comments if you have any questions about this neck of the woods.
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