Black Forest in Germany

We decided to use our second day of the car rental to explore the Black Forest in Germany. The German border is only about 30 minutes from Colmar. The great thing about the car is that it allowed us to see some of the beautiful countryside. After doing a little research, we headed off to Belchen Mountain, the 3rd highest peak in the Black Forest, with the idea of doing some hiking.
















When we got there, however, we decided since we didn't want to spend our whole day hiking, we'd take the cable car to the top and then hike. Luckily, we now could rely on Diana's German to negotiate the ticket purchase since the rest of us had very limited German.

Once at the top, we all enjoyed the beautiful views - my camera just doesn't do it justice. There all kinds of German hikers - it is certainly apparent how much hiking is part of the German culture. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the top that included some of the Munster cheese we had purchases at the cheese factory.














After we finished enjoying the sights at Belchen Mountain, we drove a little further into the Black Forest to the alpine lake, Lake Schluchsee. Luckily, we've had the best weather today so far on our trip for our outdoor adventure.