The Hidden Pool

I still believe it all to be a dream.
After all, things like that really can’t happen in the 20th century.
It must have been a combination of dehydration and the shock of the cool water.
Even the follow up makes me question if it really happened or not.

Here is my tale.

About 7 years back I went backpacking my way through Europe. I was staying near the small town of Ibach in Germany.
There are many beautiful mountains and forests around. It was the middle of summer and one of the hottest the locals can remember.
I decided to take a day hike up in the mountains to do a little exploring, so I put together my daypack with a little snack and water and headed up the hill.
As I walked up the road through the trees I came across a small stream.
It really wasn’t much more than a trickle, but my curiosity arose to find out where this stream came from.
I left the road and started walking through the thick forest.
The water never really seemed to get any stronger as I ascended the mountain in my quest.

Luckily the trees provided much needed protection from the sun, but the steep grade of the mountain made my trek extremely exhausting.
AS I followed the stream I noticed the foliage becoming thicker and harder to maneuver through. I was beginning to think my quest about ended when I heard something.
Strangely I swore I heard laughter. Not loud roaring bellows, but soft faint giggles. The sounds were pleasant and soft.

Peaked by new found curiosity I continued my climb and my crawl along the stream and through the dense brush.
Each push I made seemed to find a new branch that caught on my shirt or arm, backpack. Still I pushed on.
I struggled against the brush for what seemed like hours and as I was about to give in I saw past the leaves a wondrous sight.
One more push and my head broke through in to a very small, secluded patch of heaven on earth.
It appeared the trees and shrubs had formed a little bowl around a perfect pool of water.
The sun shined down from the sky and lit the water where a small waterfall came out of the mountain. There was a soft moss that lay before the water and trees and bushes made a thick wall that surrounded this perfect little patch of land.

As I pulled myself through I noticed the dirt that clung to my body as I seemed to sweat from every pore.

I sat down for a moment in the warm sunlight and treated myself to long drink of water.

As I sat in the sun I felt the heat radiating from the sky and I walked over to the edge of the small pond.
I put my hand in and the water was cool.
I looked around the small grove and decided a quick dip in the water wouldn’t hurt anything.