Hiking in Koblenz

Instead of rowing on Saturday like Marco and I planned, we decided to catch a little more fall color with a hike. Marco said he had found some more places to hike in the Eifel area that he wanted to see and since Alex's intern partner in crime Sergi was off in Barcelona we figured he'd be up for getting out of his small room for some fresh air.


Now I had heard Erin's story of hiking in the Eifel area with Marco and some interns so I made Marco promise that he knew where he was going and we wouldn't get lost. Of course I realized I was asking a guy not to get lost so I partially knew it was all in vain.



It took less time than I expected to get lost because Marco wanted to make sure we started on a particular path and none of the villagers knew what we were talking about. We drove around for another hour until we found some tourists who were going to the same trail. We parked the car on the side of a small road near a waterfall knowing we wouldn't find it again for quite some time and headed out.

The first part of our hike was through the outlining farms of the town. We then ended up on a dormant volcano with some cool lava formations. Then we decided to hike back to the lake where we started looking for the volcanic trail. We had lunch by the Hot Spring just enjoying the scenery.


By this time it was 4:30 in the afternoon. If we hiked around the lake, we wouldn't start our trek back to the car until 7:00 and it gets dark quickly in the woods. So we decided to hike to the parking lot where we started and then make our way to the car. As we rounded the lake we found a pastry shop so obviously we stopped to have some cake and cocoa.


When we go to the parking lot we realized it was the wrong one and had no idea where the right one was. This is when Marco's favorite "short cuts" come in. This is where instead of following the road around the hill, you hike up and down the hill to double your distance. By the end I corrected him and said they were more like scenic detours.

If it wasn't for the detour, we wouldn't have found a lookout tour to catch a beautiful sunset. The detour also meant that we spent the next hour looking for the car in the middle of the woods in the dark. The only reason we found the car was walking toward the sound of the waterfall nearby.



By then I was hungry and tired while Marco wanted to go swimming. We compromised and went into the next town where they were having a festival of lights for an incredible steak dinner at a winery. After dinner I pulled my typical Jen in a car and pass out before Marco put the car in drive. Man I was exhausted but sleep doesn't come easy in this town...