Day 21 - Triberg and Lake Titisee, Germany - Europe 2022

Day 21 - Triberg and Lake Titisee, Germany

Shortly after 11:00, our entire group drove from the hotel to Triberg to hike around Triberg Waterfall. The Triberg Waterfall is one of the tallest, if not the tallest, waterfalls in Germany. Parking could be problematic, as it was Sunday, and likely that parking lots would fill up. In addition, many military families from the Stuttgart Base were in the area for the long weekend. 

The hiking route we planned to take started at Bergsee Lake. Parking spots were available in the free public parking area just up the road from the small lake. Using a new app, Komoot, we followed an intermediate hike toward the falls. There was a cash-only entrance fee of approx €9 per person, which we paid. The hike we chose took us first toward the middle of the falls and then up toward the top of the falls. It was a gorgeous, although not a very wide, falls. Upriver from the middle platform and overlook, there was a collection of rocks in the river that made a scenic and excellent picnic area. Following our snack break, we continued the hike away from the falls and into the woods. This area has larger boulders and more green ground cover and tree moss than where our friends live. The woods reminded us of Washington state, except the trees were smaller. 

Eventually, the trail brought us back toward the waterfall. The lower falls platform offered awesome views and we ate more snacks on the benches in this area before walking a little bit back toward the middle falls viewing platform to make sure we observed as much of the falls as possible. 

The next leg of our hike brought us into the small touristy downtown of Triberg. Miles was looking for a hat pin with the city’s name on it for his collection, which gave us an excuse to pop into a couple of very touristy shops. The House of 1000 Clocks had clocks of all kinds, including the iconic cuckoo clocks of this region. Miles acquired his hat pin and we all headed back to the car and then the hotel. The hike ended up being over 6 miles. 

Our next destination was Lake Titisee (Tit-E-Say). Kyle had homework to do and Edon was tired and chose to stay at the hotel with Kyle. The rest of us piled into the car and enjoyed the picturesque forests and valleys on the drive to the lake. It was surprising to see houses down in the valleys that looked almost identical to the ones we saw yesterday at the museum. They had living quarters in the front of the building and stables in the rear. They were built into the hillside, just as we had seen yesterday.

After finding parking by the lake, we passed through throngs of folks at the shops and cafes on the bank of the lake. Many people on mountain bikes were present as well. There were paddle boats and canoes for rent at the lake and several families and couples were out on the lake. Many people were also sunbathing and a few were swimming. There was a path that seemed to follow the edge of the lake and we started walking on it. Quickly the crowds thinned out. Eventually, we went around the entire lake. At the end opposite the cafes and boat rental area was a campground. Some sites were quite small and people were packed in tight in some areas. There was a really large castle-looking house on the edge of the lake that we discovered was a convention site for the electric company. We passed a Hostel International hostel also. Just before going back to the car, I noticed a gelato shop. They actually had several vegan options and both Miles and I bought gelato. The chocolate gelato was so delicious. After paying for parking, we drove back to the hotel.

Edon joined me on a picnic in the park near the hotel. The metal art on display in the park was fun to see in the light!

Edon and I came back to the hotel and I headed back out to climb the hill in the center of town that we didn’t end up climbing yesterday. It was just about sunset and I managed to wander enough to see the sun set behind the next hill and valley over. It was spectacular. Interestingly, the sun seemed to sink much more slowly than at home. After more wanderings in the woods and neighborhood at the top of the town, I made it back to the hotel in time to join Miles and Edon in a game of pool. Terrible as usual, my playing was enough of a handicap to my teammate Edon that Miles was able to win the game. After showering, I stayed up late working on the blog, then headed to bed.