A wooden walkway sweeps an elegant curve over marshy land sodden with winter rain and melted snow. Behind us, the ancient stone walls of Beaufort Castle rise imposingly over a swollen stream. Not far in front of us, the walkway ends and the path splits into three. An ungainly gaggle of signposts help the summertime tourists make their choice. We, however, are not in need of help; we’ve lived in this corner of Luxembourg for years, walked this path dozens if not hundreds of times before. Our mind is made up already – we’re confidently hiking straight up the Haupeschbach valley towards Berens.
The low winter sun sparkles through the bare beech trees, briefly illuminating an arctic-white stone on the hillside to my left. A marker stone, identifying some otherwise invisible boundary. My attention is pricked; I’d never noticed that before, nor, as my eye instinctively explores the surrounding area, the path nearby steeply rising through a densely wooded valley. Winter does this to the forest; the die-back often reveals new secrets, dormant old stories waiting to be re-told.
No other invitation is necessary. Our plans change immediately – we’re going to follow that path. A tangible sense of anticipation and excitement warms the chilly midwinter air, leading to an animated discussion between the kids as we climb. It’s a forgotten smugglers’ path to the castle; there’s going to be a great view at the top; we’re probably going to see a deer; if we bear right, we can probably get back onto the path towards Berens. Probably…
The path continued enticingly, easy at first, then rising steeper through rusty ferns and sprawling brambles. The patches of snow became more frequent as we climbed, but there was no view at the top, nor a secret entrance to the castle, just a few unseen corvids cackling angrily at our disturbance of their otherwise pristinely serene hiding spot.
After bearing right and negotiating a steep descent on a tsunami of fox-brown leaf litter, we arrived back on our original path and continued our hike.
But the seed of an idea had already germinated.
Luxembourg Outdoors 