silva nigra

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This post is about a 19km walk from Waldhausen to Friedenweiler. I suddenly find myself in the High Black Forest.

I woke up next to an old mill. It had a silo that looked a bit like a guard tower. It had been a very good night, cool and refreshing in my tent under a night sky sparkling with stars.

breakfast

The owners of the mill lived just across the street from it. When I went to the back of their house to retrieve my power bank from the charger, I found a tray with bread, butter, cheese, tomatoes, grapes, jam, coffee, and milk. There was a note that said: PLEASE HELP YOURSELF. GODSPEED!

the way up

The road went up, up, up all day. And it was warm. The sweat ran down from my eyebrows and stung my eyes. I tried to wipe it off with the sleeve of my shirt. It didn’t help much.

One time I reached a lake and decided to take the short way around it, but when I was about halfway I got to a steep set of stairs. For a moment I thought about offloading the Caboose and taking her down the stairs, but then I just shrugged and turned around.

I took a forest path for the rest of the way. It was a bit harder to walk than the road, but it was quiet, and the trees sheltered it from the sun.

in the black

And then, when I reached a village called Eisenbach, I saw a street sign and realized that I was in the High Black Forest. It was at about 1000m altitude, so the “high” part was understandable. Why was it called “black”, though?

I decided to ask a lady on the street.

“Well, I guess it’s because of all the fir trees,” she said, “they make the forest look rather dark. Didn’t you notice?”

When I said yes, it did indeed seem to be pretty dark in the forest she got an excited look on her face: “Even the Romans,” she said triumphantly, “even the Romans called it silva negra – black forest!”

pictures

the walk from Waldhausen to Friedenweiler:

the old mill in Waldhausen

I sit in front of the old mill in Waldhausen.

breakfast in Waldhausen

a window and a door in the Black Forest

path through the fields in the High Black Forest

ducks in Lake Kirnberg

stairs at Lake Kirnberg

Lake Kirnberg

the way to walk from Waldhausen to Friedenweiler

forest path near Oberbränd

a view of the Alps near Eisenbach

forest road near Friedenweiler

got a room in Friedenweiler