Beautiful stage through the forests of the Vosges Mountains with magnificent views on the mountains. The hike initially goes from Saint-Quirin to Abreschviller where there is an opportunity to do some shopping. Then the route leads into the forest, to climb to the top of the Donon at almost 1000 meters. From here it’s a small descend to Col du Donon.
Today we finally start the first stage of the Vosges Mountains.
The alarm goes off early so we can walk off the campsite at 8 o’clock ‘sharp’. It’s still pretty chilly when we wake up with a cup of coffee, but before we start walking, the vests already come off. We walk straight from the campsite onto the GR5, into a forest path. Pretty soon we make a nice climb, which we have done very little in the recent weeks, so it is immediately clear that we have left the countryside. But this is what really gets our hearts racing. Not just from the ascent, but especially from hiking with our backpacks on the trails, along a babbling brook, in the middle of nature.
After about 5 kilometers we walk into a small village, Abreschviller, where we visit the local bakery and a tiny grocery store. With provisions for the rest of the day, we walk out of the village again. From here begins the 19km climb to the first mountain peak above 1000 meters; Col du Donon, which is still 700 meters above us. Fortunately, the trails are easy to walk and the ascend is fairly steady, so it goes smoothly.
Since there are stretches of trail further up in the Vosges where there aren’t many campsites and hotels, we want to look at the shelters we come across along the way (made for hikers to take shelter along the way, and in this area bivouacking for the night is allowed) to assess whether we would like to pitch our tent here. For tonight it isn’t a must, as we have booked an apartment on top of Col du Donon (luxury!), but in the future this might be necessary.
The first abri we come across after 11.5 kilometers of walking is immediately a great one. A beautiful wooden house, on the edge of rocks with an insane view of the mountains. It has a patch of grass next to it, big enough for our tent. And no roads or villages nearby, so no one will come here at night. That offers perspective for the future! But for now, it’s a beautiful spot to take a break, with a tower in the distance that could be the highest point of our hike.
After this pause we continue our hike and walk through quiet forests, where we meet no one. Walking through the mountains and climbing is going well for us today, but as with so much; the devil is in the tail. The last 1.5 kilometers to the top are narrow zigzag paths where you have to be very careful, and they are also a lot steeper than the rest of the route. Arriving at the top, however, this last climb turns out to be more than worth it. Magnificent views over a large part of the Vosges Mountains and with an old Roman temple standing like a crown on top of the mountain.
The wind is strong, so quickly we start the descent. It is another 3km to the col. Along the way, a friendly lady points out an easier route down. But alas, we have to take a pass on that… We’ll just keep following the GR5 anyway.
Our muscles need some adjustment after all the climbing, so that makes the descent quite tiring. But before we know it, we reach the col and walk past some hotels to our little apartment. What a luxurious end to our first mountain stage!
In the evening we go out for dinner in the restaurant of a nearby hotel (yes, backpacking really is hard work…) and tired but satisfied we go to bed. What a day, we really enjoyed it!
