The Second Lake

With the first of two lakes visited (see previous post), we planned our walk to be around the second one on the next day. And so after a sumptuous breakfast, on Thursday (9 May) we were back to Bärental's little train station. This time, we were travelling maybe five minutes longer and in the opposite direction from the day before.

Just like with Titisee, Schluchsee ("See" meaning lake in German) is both the name of the lake itself and of the small town at one of its ends. But unlike the first one, the latter in its current form is not a natural lake but a reservoir. There was a natural, much smaller, lake there before, but with the building of a dam between 1929 and 1932, it became what you see now. Also, Schluchsee is much larger and about three times as deep as Titisee. It has a somewhat "wilder" atmosphere and is a tad less touristy than Titisee.

You can read about Schluchsee here on wikipedia (and of course there is also an entry for Titisee on wikipedia, linked in my previous post).

My trusted little booklet was consulted once more, and we followed a circuit called Jägersteig ("Hunter's Climb") around the lake and through the woods, with some rather spectacular views from the path's highest point. And again, don't be fooled by the tame looking pictures - the views really WERE great, and the air so fresh one wanted to fill it in jars and put a lid on to pull them out on a hot stuffy day in town.

The weather was similar to the day before; a mix of sun and clouds, but it was a little warmer, and I needed my white-orange windbreaker/rain jacked only for the very first part of the trip. 

Many other walkers were about, a good number of them with dogs. It is always fun to watch how excited and focused a dog can get in an environment such as the woods, where I am sure a dog's nose and ears come close to sensory overload. Fortunately, most dog owners appeared responsible and kept their dogs on leads; it is not advisable to let even the best behaved dog run free where woodland animals are around, many of them raising their young this time of year.

We often seem to come across the nicest resting places when we really don't need a rest at all!

The kind of path I find almost irresistible - but it wasn't part of our circuit.

Flowers growing so close to a little beck they are almost in the water.

Back down from the highest point and close to the lake, we stopped at a beer garden for - you knew it! - a shandy and a little rest before walking along the shore of the lake into Schluchsee town. This time, we waited for the train and did not walk back to Bärental; by that point, we had walked around 14.5 km and that was fine.

At the hotel and after our usual coffee, sauna and dinner, we went out once more for a brief walk to the end of the village to watch the sun set over Feldberg - a beautiful and, to me, touching experience.

There was only one day left now, and we were going to mark it by walking on the highest mountain around, Feldberg.