Hiking in the Black Forest

From the locks at Vogelgrund, I crossed over into Germany and followed the back roads up into the mountains near the Black Forest town of Titisee. The villages near the river were surrounded by orchards of plum and apple trees. The plums were obviously ripe on the trees and roadside stands were selling the first pickings of apples. These orchards disappeared as the hills got higher and higher away from the river valley. Finally, it all turned into the pine trees of the Black Forest.

The Black Forest, like the Vosges, is a popular place for hikers. The woods are criss-crossed with trails that are carefully mapped in terms of distance and difficulty. Some folks spend their whole day out walking. I only spent about three hours.

Some say the Black Forest gets its name because, when viewed from inside, the trees block out the light and make it like night. This is not entirely true. Some sunlight reaches the ground, especially where the hiking paths are carved. (Actually, many of the hiking paths are logging paths. Walking through the forest you see piles of firewood carfully stacked for later pick-up.)

So not black....but definitely a lot of shade. And in every direction you look, the tree trunks go on forever, or at least into the distance where the blend together and appear almost as wall.