Day 153: Two Early Birds

Rufenholzhütte to Riesenbühlturm

Distance: 30km

02:17 - 17 minutes after waking up we leave our shelter for the top of Feldberg. It's a rocky track with plenty of roots. Care needs to be taken. Yet we have a good pace and at 03:30, we reach the top. The horizon north-east of us is already turning dark blue. A strangely looking, whited colored cloud standing out in the sky, adding a bit of magic.

With 8 degrees Celsius it's chilly. I keep myself warm with some push-ups and a Piz Palü tea, which I have been carrying since Flensburg. Now it's a great time to finally drink it. Up here on the highest point of E1 so far.

After a mediocre sunrise I say goodbye to my new photography and hiking friend and head down towards Schluchsee. A long, shallow descend. In the not-far-distance-anymore, I am able to make out Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau, some more icon Swiss mountains. 

.I'm planning on a sort day today. I take my time, plenty of photo stops and once at the lake, several swimming stops. There are plenty of possibilities along the way. The water of Schkuchsee colder than the one of Titisee though.

As I approach the village of Schluchsee it is getting busier. I have a stop at a public toilet, the post office and at the tourist information, where I find a power outlet on a lower floor. As it's only another two kilometers to my destination and the time is only 15:00, I spend some time planning my next few days while my phone is charging.

It looks like I will cross the border into Switzerland on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, making it to Wednesday by Sunday evening (with a very long day) or Monday.

With my batteries sufficiently charged, I set off again. I get some groceries for tonight and tomorrow and tackle the last climb up to Riesenbühl. Short but steep. 

The views from the observation tower are nice, unfortunately the Alps not visible. The day turned out to be surprisingly hazy. 

As it's windy as well, I descend again after a quick snack. There's a shelter to spend the night at the bottom of the tower. 

There are still some people around as I am writing these lines. But with the sun having disappeared in the haze, I guess it will get quieter soon, which would be appreciated in order to catch up on some well needed sleep after a long day.