A nice long hike

A view of the Hohentwiel from Hohenkrähen 

Yesterday Saturday, July 23rd, between light rain showers, Luise, Victoria and I went on a 7 mile hike. Eugen dropped us at the bottom of the Hohenkrähen valley, which belongs to a large chain of volcanoes in the Hegau region, about 7–8 million years ago, when a layer of volcanic ash and stone was laid down. At the top remain some ruins. We had a backpack with rain gears and bottles of water & juice. We first hiked to the very top of the Hohenkrähen, height of 650 meters (about 2130 ft) which took us a good half an hour, it was a bit strenuous. But our effort was well rewarded as we had fantastic views all the way around us. We could see cities like Singen, Aach, Radolfzell and even the beautiful island of Reichenau on the Zeller See of the Lake Constance. We also had a clear view of other hills like Magdeberg, Hohenstoffeln and of course the Hohentwiel. Then we headed south and walked 6 kms (3.7 miles) to the famous Hohentwiel (where I was last Sunday at the -rainy- festival). The Hohentwiel, also an extinct volcanoe, has a beautiful fortress constructed in 914, whose ruins lie at 686 meters (2250 ft). It was a 1.5 hour stroll, with only one rain shower, until we got to the bottom of the hill and then again we had to work our way up. Only this time we didn't go quite all the way to the top as we still had to make it back to Singen on time. So we descended and walked another 3 kms (1.8 miles) to the city of Singen. We were a bit hungry, so Luise treated us to a sausage sandwitch in a yummy brötchen (german round bread) and also a nice cup of Latte.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohentwiel