The Black Forest

Damian was on a retreat in the Black Forest last week for work. The retreat ended on Friday so I hopped on the train and met him there to spend the weekend hiking and searching for the Big Bad Wolf, Briar Rose, or Little Red Riding Hood. 

We stayed in a town called Altglashütten.

We took our first hike to Schluchsee, the largest lake in the Black Forest.

The next day we hiked up the Feldberg. 

The farthest mountains in the background of this picture are the Alps:

From the top of the Feldberg, we hiked through various terrain...

and then came upon the Feldsee, a hidden lake between the mountains that used to be a glacier.

After many hours of hiking, we stopped at a hütte (cottages that are setup in the forest with food for hikers and skiiers) and ate Black Forest cake. It was delicious, but very different than the American version. This one had amazingly fresh cherries and whipped cream flavored with a strong liquor.

We didn't find any Brother Grimm's characters, but we did come across this fascinating creature... ;)

Sunday, on our way back home, we stopped at the German Clock Museum.  We had to pay some tribute to the history of clock-making while in the Black Forest - the home to the cuckoo clock.