It was Sunday morning, and it was raining. Hans and I have just obtained our certificate for the Liebesbankweg trail that we did the day before. And we were having second thoughts to drive further that day.As we looked up at the sky, we both knew it wasn’t promising a good day. Do we stay here in Hahnenklee and make this a lazy Sunday , or drive to Romkerhalle, which was 21 kilometers further?  Finally , we opted for the latter, hoping that the sky would soon clear up so that we could do the Romkerhalle hike. We left Hahnenklee at 12.30 and arrived in our destination at 13.00. We parked at the parking area near the waterfall. It is also the starting point of the hike in Okertal.

Parking Area :  Parking at Romkerhalle Kraftwerk

                         Okertal 18  38644 Romkerhalle

It was a good decision, as the weather fortunately got better when we arrived in Romkerhalle. In fact, it proved to be just the perfect day to do the hike. Found at the parking area are information boards about the hike and some suggested hike routes. Because we would be starting a little later, we chose for the shortest hike : that of Romkerhalle-Treppenstein hike (which follows the yellow signs). And as time would allow us, maybe eventually combine it with the next longer route (which follows the red signs.)

ROMKERHALLE – TREPPENSTEIN HIKE

The Romkerhalle –Treppenstein Hike, a part of bigger hike in Okertal which is the Okertaler –Klippensteig, is a 7-kilometer circular long hike which starts at Romkerhalle . It passes some amazing viewpoints, cliffs and rock formations. It is doable in 2 hours straight walking, but because we always made lots of stops, it took us 3 hours to complete it. It is considered an average hike, meaning a fit physical condition is needed and good trekking shoes are required. There is a restaurant middle in the forest where the hikers can take some break. Otherwise, it is recommended to bring enough fluids.

We started the hike at 13.00 in the afternoon and finished at 16.00. From the parking area, we turned right and immediately left, following the marks for Rundwanderweg 3 which has yellow signs. At this point the trail follows both yellow and red marks. The beginning of the trail is immediately steep, and we were walking in between long pine trees.

It was good 20 minutes when we arrived at the first viewing point : the Feigenbaumklippe. There are huge rocks in this area; some huge boulders are on top of the others, producing quite an impressive formation. A nice viewing platform and some wooden benches are also available here.

 

Not far from this cliff, about 50 meters, is the next impressive rock formation – The Mausefalle. After having some pictures taken, Hans and I continued our hike, and after 10 minutes, we reached the Hexenkuche. Again, this is also made up of big boulders piled on top of each other. We went further, about 100 meters to follow the sign to a viewpoint. After that, we walked further and arrived at the Kaste restaurant. At the left side of the restaurant is a separate path that led us to Kasteklippe. The views from here were fantastic.

Moving on, we passed over Bergmansklippe. At this point, we have decided to just follow the yellow signs as we didn’t want to arrive so late in Wernigerode. So we followed the steep foothpath in going to Treppenstein. At the bottom of the path, we turned left and went up to Treppenstein rock formation. The climb was made easier because of the steps made on the edge of the rock. We climbed up to the highest point, and again, were rewarded with wonderful views of the surrounding area.

After that, we had a rather dull footpath for about 2 kilometers, and we were already wondering if we were still on the right track as we didn’t see any signboards anymore at this point. Luckily, with much doubts, we reached Bergmannscherweg, and from here we followed the sign to waterfall. It was again a steep descent and after a while we found ourselves on the busy road again, and on the left side of the road is the waterfalls. Now, somebody has told us not to expect too much about it, and she was right. The waterfall paled in comparison with lots of waterfalls we have seen during our adventure in Norway. Anyway, this marked the completion of our Romkerhalle hike.

It was a wonderful day, a perfect day for hiking as it was not too warm. We were glad that we chose to go though with our plan. It was again for us a pleasurable, active and productive day.  On to Wernigerode…

Our customary pictures together 🙂