Monday, August 5,1878 – Sam and Joe left by Baden-Baden rail to Achern, for a week-long tramp. He describes this first day in a letter to Livy:
Livy darling, we had a rattling good time today, but we came very near being left at Baden-Baden, for instead of waiting in the waiting-room, we sat down on the platform to wait where the trains come in from the other direction. We sat there full ten minutes—& then all of a sudden it occurred to me that that was not the right place.
On the train the principal of the big English school at Neŭnheim ... introduced himself to me, & then he mapped out our day for us (for today & to-morrow) & also drew a map & gave us directions how to proceed through Switzerland. .... We took a post carriage from Achern to Otterhöfen for 7 marks—stopped at the “Pflug” to drink beer, & saw that pretty girl again at a distance. ...
There was an Australian there (a student from Stuttgart or somewhere,) & Joe told him who I was & he laid himself out to make our course plain for us—so I am certain we can’t get lost between here & Heidelberg.
We walked the carriage road till we came to that place where one sees the footpath on the other side of a ravine, then we crossed over & took that. For a good while we were in a dense forest & judged we were lost, but met 2 native women who said we were all right. We fooled along & got here at 6 P.M—ate supper, then followed down the ravine to the foot of the falls, then struck into a blind path to see where it would go to, & just about dark we fetched up at the Devil’s Pulpit (where you & I were,) on top of the hills. Then home. And now to bed, pretty sleepy & requiring no whisky. ...
I have not been able to locate a "Devil's Pulpit" anywhere near this location. Devil's Pulpit is usually identified with Teufelskanzel (of which there seem to be several), one of which is close by the path of the Clemens family carriage ride, but nowhere near Allerheiligen.
August 6 Tuesday – Clemens and Twichell walked from Allerheiligen to Oppenau, Germany, ten miles. They then took a train from Oppenau to Heidelberg “through clouds of dust”.
The Renchthal Railway, Oppenau to Appenweier, is not mentioned in the 1873 guidebook, but is found in the 1878 guidebook, so it was available for our travelers. From Appenweier to Heidelberg, Joe and Sam would take the Rhine Valley Railway.
August 7: “We have had a long & most enjoyable day in a carriage up to Hirschhorn & back with Smith”
Bædeker describes Hirschhorn: ... is a small town most picturesquely situated at the foot of a lofty sandstone rock crowned with the ancient castle of the famous barons of Hirschhorn, who founded the Carmelite monastery at the foot of the hill in 1406. The tastefully constructed chapel of the latter, with its pointed towers and numerous tombstones of the noble family of the founder, is still preserved. The Erschheimer Capelle, standing a considerable height above the Neckar, also contains tombstones of the family. Charming retrospect of the town and castle from the road to Neckarsteinach.
August 8 Thursday – Joe and Sam took the train up the river valley to Wimpfen. See Heidelberg to Heilbronn
August 9 and 10: See Neckar River Boat Trip
August 11 Sunday: See Return to Baden-Baden