Westweg Day 4: Wegscheid Hut – Ruhestein

Today we walked several ridges. Not all of them had a view but every single one offered us a narrow path lined by blooming heather and it was like walking on a beautiful pink carpet.

Where there were no views from the ridge, there was a tower we could climb to see the forest reaching towards the horizon in every direction we looked.

In between the ridges we dipped down into a valley, and nearly every time there was a restaurant there, trying to slow our progress by offering drinks and refreshments, and boy did the pies look good.

Having a long day ahead of us, we only stopped twice. First stop was at Understmat. We arrived shortly after noon, perfect time for lunch. Energy replenished by spatzle and bratwurst, and yes we could not deny ourselves a piece of the blueberry pie, we set out for more climbing and more ridge walks before the trail took us down to Mummelsee. There’s a little body of water in Mummelsee. Whether the small lake is natural or man made I do not know, either way it sparks quite the curiosity. The parking lot was full, so was the restaurant, especially the tables overlooking the lake.

We found a small store here. It shared the building with the restaurant and without a long wait we could all we desired here, for much nicer price. We bought some pop, and another piece of blueberry pie. We were also able to pick some buns and sausage here to use for breakfast tomorrow.

Afterwards the trail hopped on another ridge and we followed it all the way to ……, just where the National Park Boundary ends and we felt comfortable camping.

Camping was not our plan tonight, two small huts were indicated on the map, just like the one we spent a night at yesterday and we hoped to use one of them tonight but when we arrived to the intersection the map suggested we would find them, we were surrounded by thick forest only. For quite a while we searched the area in vain. The night was falling. Soon the daylight would fade. We no longer had the luxury of time and so we settled on a flat spot in a forest, right in the middle of a small side trail. It was the only place where the surface was durable and our stay would have a minimal effect on the environment, if any at all. Hopefully tomorrow the hut we hope to stay in will be where our map promises we should be able to find it.

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NOTES: August 22, 2019

We completed little more than one stage today. People who are physically fit would not find doing the same 20 miles we did extremely difficult or exhausting. The stage was a mix of forest roads and actual trails which were rocky sometimes and just after leaving Darmstädter Hütte there were several fallen trees blocking the path but generally walking was not strenuous.

There were numerous restaurants along the way, and opportunities to purchase water and food, or refill water bottles with tap water for free.

Limited resupply is possible in Mummelsee, mostly bread and salami are available or purchase there.

There is a possible alternate route which leads to a bigger town Seebach. We did not take it but according to our booklet it’s a popular option for those who want to resupply or want to treat themselves to a comfortable hotel room.

Accommodation is sometimes available at

Darmstädter Hütte, we had no luck as they were full. This is a Hütte one can drive up to so I can imagine advanced reservation is necessary through summer months.