G3VGR SCHLUCHTENSTEIG      Fischbach - Sankt Blasien      

After 3 days of tramping along the rough paths of the Wutach, I was looking forward to an easier day. It was a sunny morning and I took another stroll around the promenade at Titisee before starting out on today's section of the trail. The bus deposited me back at Fischbach around 0930 and I started up past some farmsteads to a wood. There was some logging activity there and the sound of chainsaws was a poor substitute for the birdsong I had been accustomed to. Despite the fact that this is a managed activity, it is always sad to see a great tree come crashing down. I've never subscribed to the Ronald Reagan conservation view of "A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at?". Soon I reached the summit of the Bildstein, which overlooks the Schluchsee and also provides fine panoramic views towards the Feldberg. From here, the trail led down to Aha, at the western end of the lake. Despite sporting a couple of marinas, Aha looks like a construction site, so I didn't linger there.

The Schluchsee is the largest lake in the Black Forest and I started along the road that follows the lake shore. After about 2 miles of walking the hard road surface, I reached the Unterkrummenhof roadhouse, where I was able to sit outside for lunch. This is a popular spot as many people enjoy to either walk or cycle here from Aha. After lunch, I followed an uphill road behind the restaurant with forest on the right and views over the Schluchsee to the left. This was a very long uphill walk and certainly helped digestion of the heavy lunch. Eventually, I reached the Krummenkreuz Hütte, which is the highest point of the Schluchtensteig. From here it was a gentle walk through the forest until I reached an open area of pasture land, heather and blueberry bushes at Blasiwald-Althütte.

I had been walking about 14Km on hard surfaced roads since Aha and my feet were getting sore from the pounding. This changed when I reached the Windbergschlucht and it was nice to get back onto a very rough steep downhill path. This was an excellent final stretch to finish this section of the trail as I made my way down to the bottom, passing a nice waterfall on the way. Shortly after the end of the Windbergschlucht, I had my first glimpse of the impressive dome of the Schwarzwalddom and was soon at my hotel located adjacent to the Abbey. St. Blasien is a beautiful town and the interior of the Abbey is very impressive.


Early morning mist at Titisee

Typical Schwarzwald farmhouse at Fischbach

Schluchsee view from Bildstein

On the Bildstein with Feldberg behind

Schluchsee

Lunch at Unterkrummelhof

View from Mugenländerweg

Krummelkreuzhütte

Althütte

Windberg Wasserfall

Sankt Blasien

Domkuppel


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