One advantage with staying at the Grimburger Hof is that it's directly on the trail, so no time is wasted in commuting. Despite a good night's sleep, I didn't feel too well and my temperature seemed high. I suspected I'd succumbed to a virus. The day's walk started gently, walking along a flat trail following the river through the Wadrilltal. The area has been left unspoilt. After 5Km, I reached the junction where the trail from Trier joins. From the signs, I was able to determine that I had now completed 50% of the trail. I went to celebrate this achievement with a drink and then realized I had forgotten to fill my water bottle. This would be a long uncomfortable day, with no villages directly on the trail. Worse still, I had run out of Obstler, so contented myself with a butterscotch sweet. The path carried on along the unspoilt Wadrilltal, which seems to be a wetlands area and classed as a Naturschutzgebeit. Near Reinfeld, the trail leaves the valley and climbs steeply over a forested ridge. During the ascent, I realized how unwell I was. I felt as weak as a kitten and the climb took a long time, having to stop for breath almost every 10 metres. I could only breathe shallowly, my lungs were painful and now realized I had Bronchitis.

On the way down, I met my first fellow thru-hikers. One was a man from Munich, shouldering a large pack and he was following the same itinerary as me. The other was a little old lady with just a daypack and a colourful umbrella. She had booked a "Wandern ohne Gepäck" package so could walk lightly on each stage. After a short walk along a brook, the trail started another ascent, ending in large open fields near Gusenberg. The other two hikers disappeared quickly from me as I struggled for breath on the ascent. The trail spent a few kilometers in the cold and windy fields, where I sat on a bench in the rain and mournfully ate my lunch, a stolen roll from the Grimburger Hof with a tuna spread. It was a relief to get out of the farmland and descend into the Löstertal, where the trail follows a circuitous route, successfully avoiding Hermeskeil. The route included passing under an autobahn and a viaduct before ascending to some farm fields with a fleeting glimpse of Hermeskeil, before ducking back into the woods.

It was raining quite hard now and would remain that way for the rest of the day. The last climb of the day brought me through some woods where I was pleased to find a Hunter's Club next to a main road. The hunters in the cabin allowed me to fill my canteen at last and also served me with a beer. I crossed the main road and started a gradual descent down narrow forest paths through the Forstelbachtal. This is a really pretty section and a narrow, meandering path follows a stream all the way down to Nonnweiler, where the stage ends just below a reservoir. I was disappointed to find it was still a 2 mile walk from the end of the stage to my hotel, the Hotel Parschenke Simon. I was even more depressed after using the hotel's free wifi to check the weather forecast for the next few days. Feeling quite unwell, I went to bed with a temperature, missing dinner completely. The GPS tells me I walked 28Km today, so not too bad for being "walking wounded"

Gasthaus-Pension Grimburgerhof	Bridge over the Wadrill
Through the Waldrilltal	The Wadrilltal, left unspoilt
Junction in the trail - left to Trier, right to Idar Oberstein	The trail follows the Wadrill for quite a distance
Leaving the Waldrilltal near Reinsfeld	The thru-hiker from Munich
Near the Taubenberg ridge	In open countryside near Gusenburg
In open countryside near Hermeskeil	Old viaduct near Hermeskeil
The last climb of the day through Steinerwald	Hunter's club next to B327 road
Entering the Forstelbachtal	Forstelbachtal
Artificial pond along Forstelbachtal	Beneath Talsperre Nonnweiler, end of this stage