Superb mountain stage through the forests of the Vosges Mountains. Mostly uphill, on well-walkable paths. The ascent is gradual, so the hike is challenging but not very tough. The last section also descends gradually into Le Hohwald. The route passes Chateau Schirmeck, concentration camp Natzweiler and cascade du Hohwald.
The short stage and quiet evening have done some good and things are going much better. We decide to continue walking, but just to be sure we book a hotel in Le Hohwald for the evening. It’s a stage of about 25km with almost 1000 meters of ascent and 660 meters of descent, so feeling fit is needed.
We take down the tent and take the little train back to the start of the GR5. As we leave the village, the hike begins with a tough climb, up to Chateau Schirmeck, from where you have beautiful views of the village. It’s a 13th century castle, or rather ruin, as most of the stones were used for the houses down in the village and the church tower.
We follow the trail uphill further through the forest, and at a little spring along the path, we hold our hands under the cool water for a while, to cool ourselves down a bit. Very welcome as the first 10km are all uphill.
Halfway up the slope it suddenly gets a lot busier, and we come across lots of youth and groups of people. A little further on we see what they have come for; not for a walk through the forest, but to visit concentration camp Natzweiler. There are still a few barracks and a watchtower on the site, with a large memorial and a field full of crosses. What a strange sensation to suddenly be walking here, and what a contrast to what we are doing….
Further along the route, a shelter is indicated, maybe a good place to take a break. Unfortunately, it is nowhere to be seen and we continue walking until we come across a beautiful mountain meadow in the sun. Even better! We take a long break and set up the tent to dry. It was still quite damp from this morning’s dew, and since we are sleeping in a hotel tonight, it better be thoroughly dry.
From here the trail is fairly flat, slightly uphill to the highest point of the GR5 so far: 1073 meters near the Champ du Feu ski area. You can see that we are high up and that there is often fog here; there is a lot of green moss against the bark and branches of the trees.
The weather now slowly begins to turn, the wind begins to blow harder, the temperature drops, and it begins to drizzle. We hesitate whether to put on the rain jackets, but we wait and see. On a dry patch of grass under a large tree, we make a little break before starting the descent to Le Hohwald.
We have now hiked 17 kilometers and the last 7.5 kilometers are downhill. Along the way we pass a large waterfall, cascade du Hohwald, what a picture!
The foresters here have been very busy with cutting down trees, but unfortunately not in clearing them. There are many trunks lying across the path. Malou’s energy is starting to run out and, especially after these obstacles, we are happy to arrive in Le Hohwald.
We won’t leave our hotel for the rest of the evening either… For the first time this trip, we watch a tv-show. About people who start over in another country!
We are happy that today went so well and enjoy our quiet evening.
