At Kamp-Bornhofen we stayed at a fairly modern and refurbished establishment near the river. Bornhofen looked to be a small wellness/pilgrimage town with a large old church and associated buildings and a series of hotels nearby. It seems to me that what our host a few days ago at Kaub had said seemed to be true, in that there are fewer tourists around this year and that some places here are struggling. Bornhofen was very quiet even for a Sunday afternoon.
Whilst a few of us wandered around the place eating the inevitable ice creams, a couple of the others got a massage to ease pains and the rest played cards over a beer or two in the riverside beer garden. The weather was warm again.
We dined fabulously at our hotel after our hard days work and then it was time to take off again for our last day on the track.
The walk from Kamp-Bornhofen to Braubach was always going to be one of the longest and toughest in terms of climbing. The total walk we had chosen for the trip is usually 1 day more than we were doing and this was one of our longer than usual legs to help cut out one day over the eight days total.
Our eldest walker (71) was feeling the pinch a bit and another was having blister issues so these two opted to walk a few kilometres at the start along the river whilst the rest of us took the inevitable climb out of Bornhofen to travel along the ridges for a few villages before the track came back towards the river. As it turned out we almost ran the two 'alternates' down just as we were coming into our walk end at Braubach.
For me this was quite a tough day even though I am clearly a lot fitter than when we started. The weather was warm so sweat was everywhere and the climbs were long and more frequent than usual. There were no villages along the upper ridge areas.
We must be getting into walking season as again this day there were plenty of walkers along the track. We were moving a lot faster than almost all others but we were also a lot fitter looking too. Whilst keen walkers were about, the shapes were a bit on the fatter side and it was more a trip into nature than a serious trek for most. But it was good to see so many about.
We got into Braubach about 3 pm, about the same as usual where we met up with the other two and exchanged notes on the day.
A drink or two in the nice little courtyard and then after a shower and rest we were ready for our last dinner together.
We dined at our hotel as it was in a great setting and the menu suited most of us. Some are tiring of the rather limited choices at times but we struggled through by getting another selection of spargel (white asparagus) to encourage us along. I had not tired of it.
This particular hotel must be part of the bicycle and lodging places along the Rhine as there were a lot of bikers here. And they were not travelling together but mostly as couples.
As with the rest of the towns in this area, Braubach looked to be a little quiet for the season. And all along this part of the river system, people seemed to be older. Maybe this area is where the oldies come for a break and a less stressful holiday?
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