Early walk through beautiful forest to Kinding past many small shrines and eventually to great views into the valley from Schellenberg.  (each of the shrines is marked on the Kompass map by the way!)

After we left Kinding we made another steep climb through forest above.  Towards the top we passed the Hügelgraben: three hilltop burial mounds dating back to the Bronze Age.

Lunch at the hilltop with great views of he valley before descending through the Felsentor – a big natural stone arch which served as the gateway to our descent into the town of Unteremmendorf. 

Final walk along the valley to the lake at Kratzmühle where Paula and I stopped for the now traditional end-of-walk lake foot cooling ritual.

But unbowed Maddy pressed on, made another climb to the palace of Hirschberg and completed the whole 26km route to Beilngries on foot.  Paula and I took the more gentle option of the bus to complete the final leg of our journey.

Final celebration dinner at Millipp’s in Hauptstraße.  I had “Forelles”, a trout from the river Altmühl while Paula established her tradition of completing Bavarian walks with a plate of pike served on a bed of fresh vegetables.