6/6 Dasburg to Vianden

This was to be a long day- 27km - about 17 miles with some big hills. Rain and high humidity forecast. Our hostess graciously let us make some sandwiches from the breakfast bar and we headed out dressed for rain smack into it.
Back across the bridge in Luxembourg we picked up the route along the road I cranked up a pretty good pace. There was almost no traffic and we got to cruising along so well we missed the route turn and by a good bit! Consulting the GPS I noted the trail came back to the road so we just continued on to where it returned. Then  we turned off into the brushy wet trail which went vertical for at least 300 meters or more. Ouch! The legs were like lead after the prior day and we were swimming in our rain gear with the humidity . At the top we reach a junction with the E3 east / west route which joined us now. For our efforts we were treated to views of drizzle and the road below- which we gradually descended to over a trail with slick roots hidden by leaves. The conditions and terrain were such it took an hour to cover a km. consulting the maps we saw this pattern was to continue weaving up the hills and back to the road. Concerned we wouldn't arrive till after dark we stuck to the road. And there was plenty to enjoy along the river with flowers here and there, the river itself and little traffic which was good as we had to stop and step off the road when a car passed as there is no real shoulder. But where the road hugged the river was a sidewalk along the retaining wall. Eventually there were sun breaks alternating with big squalls so we just carried our umbrellas. Much more pleasant. There are many campgrounds along the N10 highway and the river is popular for trout fishing. We passed through Stolzembourg and noted an American flag flying and another war memorial beside a bridge. We then stayed on the road as the skies opened up and negotiated our way past a massive hydro project. where there was actually a defined walking corridor. Feeling a bit guilty for not having walked the formal route, but at least we had walked! and arrived footsore at 4:30 into our hotel Petry in the beautiful old castle tourist town of Vianden. Not sure what would have happened given the weather, terrain, and our energy level had we stuck on the formal trail but I suspect there would have been a bus involved. We have rest day tomorrow to explore. So we did our sink clothes and had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant with of course some new beer choices both good. Tammy had a ribeye steak in a pepper-sauce while I opted for a local dish - trout encrusted with almond. We slept very well.