On our sixth day in Germany we walk around Erfweiler in the Pfälzerwald. It will be another hot and sunny day.

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The Hahnfels tour around Erfweiler

We have selected the Hahnfels tour of some 14km that takes us around Erfweiler on the forested hills. We start at about nine in the morning. It is already getting warm and we are glad to walk in the trees. The sign of this cock will guide us today.

We walk uphill on sandy ground and reach our first viewpoint, the Hahnfels. It is a sandstone block and we have a good view of Erfweiler with the Dahn fortifications.

This is Ursula’s panoramic view.

The village of Erfweiler was very poor, until they managed to earn some money in the mining and related charcoal industry in the 19th century. Only then they could afford a church.

The next viewpoint is another sandstone block amidst the trees.

Our footpath winds gently through the forest.

We cross the valley at this spring (Breitenbachquelle – this is Ursula’s romantic photo).

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And more… up and down and up and down and up… 

Uphill we walk again to the Schaffelsen (literally “sheep rock”). Climbers have just started to tackle this rock.

We stop at the viewpoint called “Wasgau”. I ask myself, whether “Wasgau” is related to “Vogesen” – the name of the mountains across the border in France. Also “Was-” points to swamps, as I have learnt in the Black Forest (Stübenwasen is a swampy area where I do cross country skiing in winter).

Downhill again and then uphill again. We reach the fortification Alt-Dahn hanging on one of these sandstone rocks.

The path takes us down one last time – we reach Erfweiler. The climate is mild enough to allow edible chestnuts to grow.

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The romantic valley behind Erfweiler

From Erfweiler, a final round tour of about 5km takes us into a small valley with this romantic small lake…

… and the Eibach spring.

From far signs have announced the highlight of this valley, the waterfall. This is the waterfall…

Well… okay… we Swiss are spoilt by waterfalls – but the geology behind this small waterfall is interesting: 120m higher up there is a spring. The nascient creek disappears in the ground, re-emerges just above this waterfall and then rushes down into the valley.

Our hotel “Die Kleine Blume” appears at the end of the street. We finish our walk through the shaded forest with all its places of interest. We have met about ten people on this sunny Sunday; Erfweiler is a quiet place to relax and move. And how good that we could move in the shade here. The temperature has risen to more than 30 degrees today.

We finish the day with a buffet of specialties from Pfalz such as “Saumagen” (kind of sausage wrapped up in pork stomach) and “Leberknödel” (liver dumplings). No light meals. We can “afford” that after our long hike.