Short stage from the col to the town of Schirmeck. The route starts along the road, but soon enters deciduous and coniferous forests on easy to walk trails. The last part goes through the built-up area of Schirmeck with a small detour, because the pedestrian bridge over the railroad is no longer usable.
It turns out that you can also catch a cold while hiking… Malou is not feeling well and has a fever, but we have to keep going because we only booked the apartment for one night. Fortunately, there is only a very short walk on the program; from Col du Donon we descend to the town of Schirmeck, about 10 kilometers further.
The weather is lovely and the trails are easy to walk. The first few meters of the route run along the main road, but fortunately we soon re-enter the forest. The French drive pretty briskly on these roads….
It is nice to walk in the shade of the trees. It is a beautiful forest, with lots of flowers. We descend and soon we arrive in Schirmeck. There is no campsite here, so we have to take the train to the nearby town of Rothau. Once there, we walk another 1.5 kilometers to the campsite. The reception is closed, but we can already look for a place and check in later.
Since the campground 25 kilometers away is closed, we planned to wild camp tomorrow. But we decide to wait and see if things are better tomorrow morning and then decide what to do. Just start the next stage and still go wild camping, spend the night in a hotel somewhere, or stay at the campsite for another day. For the rest of the afternoon, apart from some shopping, we take it easy.
