A Sunday Hike at Maria Laach

This past Sunday, we spent the afternoon hiking around a lake in the Eifel area of Germany.  The area is hilly and very green.  It’s just beautiful to drive through.  It’s also an area that was created by volcanic activity.

This lake was created when a volcano cone collapsed well over 10, 000 years ago.  Here you can find a great link about the lake and it’s volcanic history.  On the far side of the lake CO2 bubbles up in the water and this is seen as the “dying breath of an old volcano”.

There is a nice path that circles the lake, and there are also boats for rent when the weather is nice. (6 euro for 1/2 hour with 2 people, each additional person is another euro) We had a hot day, but it was raining so we we not able to rent boats this time.  (Hoping to have a chance on the next visit!).

You can see the Benedictine Monastery from the lake.  The Monks own the surrounding farms and the lake.  As you walk to the lake from the parking area, you can see the chickens and cows milling about.

The area is dog friendly, so we of course brought Jack along to check it all out.  He met several other dogs along the way and seemed to be very pleased with his day out and about.

The trails were all very well kept and there were several benches set up along the way for those who needed a break. (Like these two.  They sat and chatted while looking over the lake while Dirk and I walked the trails.)

We didn’t spend as much time here as I would have liked.  The day was a little too warm to do much hiking with Jack.  We brought plenty of water for him, but when he is tired and hot, he just sits down.( A lesson we humans should learn too)  So, this is a spot we will return to when the weather is a bit cooler for the dog.  There is so much more to see, and I am really looking forward to a return trip soon!