Here It Comes! A Visit to Krimml Waterfall

Live water heals memories. I look up the creek and here it comes, the future, being borne aloft as on a winding succession of laden trays. You may wake and look from the window and breathe the real air, and say, with satisfaction or with longing, “This is it.” But if you look up the creek, if you look up the creek in any weather, your spirit fills, and you are saying, with an exulting rise of the lungs, “Here it comes!” —Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek

I’m told that Krimml Wasserfall, or Krimmler Waterfall if you prefer, is the tallest waterfall in Europe. The cascades are broken up into distinct falls and the landscape makes it impossible to see the entire waterfall when you’re standing near it. Instead you hike up and discover the falls a bit at a time. With an hour to see them, this presented a slight problem—we simply couldn’t see the entire waterfall on this trip. But seeing half was quite impressive.

It’s quite easy for your spirit to fill when you feel the spray swirl around you and hear the roar of frigid whitewater meeting stubborn rock. Maybe this is why we seek out big waterfalls, but small plunges offer their own lift. A giant like Krimml amplifies that spirit lift with awe. A visit locks in new memories.