Himmel and Höllenberg – Riesling Loops

That was the last of the 14 Riesling loops, now all are complete. From the car park (free of charge) it is a steep climb up to the Höllenberg. Red wine has been grown there on 46 hectares since the 13th century. The particularly steep Höllenberg in Assmannshausen has a very high proportion of slate, which is why it is considered the prime location for red wine cultivation in the Rheingau and one of the best red wine locations in Germany (www.rheingau.de). Tip: If you run the loop clockwise, you will have some shade on the last few kilometers.

Actually, there was a lot of rain today, so we had to clean up and do housework. When I was cleaning the window, the sun even shone through. A look at the rain radar promised that the next rain wouldn't come for another 3.5 hours. We didn't think about it for long and decided on plan B. Why not another Riesling loop? 🤔 The next closest was the one in Assmannshausen. At just under 6 km it's not too long and it only takes a good 20 minutes to get to the starting point. This should be possible before the rain. First we went through the vineyards with beautiful views of the Rhine. It has risen over 1 m in the last week and is slowly returning to "normal" water level. We then moved further and further away from the Rhine and the vineyards became fewer. On the last stretch, which ran parallel to the road, we were both very surprised. We've driven on the road countless times, but we had no idea that there was such a beautiful path running alongside it. The path runs a long way below the road along the Eichbach and is very idyllic. On some sections of today's tour it was a bit slippery after all the rain, but it was still quite easy to walk. In the last 300 m we had asphalt under our feet again. The rain only started 200 m from the parking lot, so you can say: the rain break was used optimally. 🤗 P.S.: 🤦🏻‍♂️ Yesterday I forgot to switch the camera to “winter time”. That's why all the pictures were wrong or not assigned to the location at all. Luckily there weren't that many today. I moved everyone to the approximate position "by hand".

Today I was on the Rhine again. The Riesling loop "Himmel und Höllenberg" was the first part of the hiking day and offered a highlight almost at the end with a wonderful view of Assmannshausen, the Rhine and Rheinstein Castle.

Ok, it wasn't really hiking weather today, so in retrospect it wasn't really hiking weather at all. But as they say in my homeland: Wat mutt, dat mutt. Since I have an appointment with other Riesling loop enthusiasts for a Riesling loop tomorrow, I really wanted to do my 12th and 13th loops so that it would be the "last" and the "queen loop" tomorrow, so to speak. So off to the ferry in Bingen and crossed over and to the parking lot in Assmannshausen, the official starting point with plenty of parking spaces. As recommended, I ran clockwise. First we went into the vineyards - with great views of the Rhine - okay, not so great today, it was drizzling. Meadows, forests, ravines and even more vineyards. And it was really beautiful in the valley of the Aulhauser Bach - elves and moss princesses would definitely feel at home there. The weather wasn't ideal for this tour, but I realized what bad weather was when I continued on to the next and 13th Riesling loop to Hallgarten. You can find my other Riesling bows here: https://www.komoot.de/collection/2437723/-14-riesling-schleifen-rheingau official description: https://www.outdooractive.com/de/route/hike/wiesbaden-rheingau/riesling-schleife-himmel-und-hoellenberg/801800395/ Due to the slate location of the Höllenberg, the route climbs steadily, with the steep vineyard slopes and the Middle Rhine Valley always in view. At the Eckersteinkopf the path changes towards the Taunus forests. Orchards point to the Heim fruit farm and its Äppelwoi farm. At the “Wiesen am Klosterwald” the landscape alternates between mixed forests and lush meadows. A hollow path leads to the Robert König winery through a small forest before descending into the enchanted valley of the Aulhauser Bach. At the Assmannshausen domain from the Kloster Eberbach winery, the path comes back to the foot of the Höllenberg.

Even in the Rheingau the sky is gray from time to time.🤷‍♀️ However, this has not affected one of the northernmost Riesling loops. We went from the Rhine into the hinterland via the “Assmannshäuser Höllenberg” vineyard. With a few Pippi Longstocking 🤸‍♀️ words of wisdom, the round was quickly turned around. 😊