Gepostet | 02 February 2025 |
Vosges - Route des Crêtes
Wann | 24.2.23 - 28.2.23 |
In welcher Gegend | Sélestat, Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, Le lac blanc, Le Hohneck, |
Status |
February at the Swiss border had been sunny and actually much too warm. Since I had assumed that things would continue like this, I had considered the trip to the Vosges.
As life goes, everything changes. A cold front from the north had been announced and interestingly arrived. When I think about how often snow was forecast for January and February (huge amounts) and how little it came (centimeters), then the meteorologists could have been wrong here too.
When I set out on tour on 2/24, Selestat was my first destination. One of many towns on the Alsatian Wine Route. Selestat was in hibernation and the city tour was over after 45 minutes. I can imagine that it gets busier here in the summer.
But on February 24th, the cafés were either closed or relatively empty. The sights are beautiful, but Colmar, Ribeauvillé or Riquewiher have more flair and are therefore magnets for tourists.
Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg I've seen umpteen times from the E25, but never visited like some other castles or ruins. That's why I went up to the castle even when the weather was foggy. It was so foggy that I actually couldn't see anything or take the usual pictures.
The castle itself is well preserved and even on such a foggy Friday there were quite a few visitors
Later I drove to the Lac Blanc and the Lac Noir. But my highlight was the skiing area at the Col du Calvaire. With temperatures above 0 Celsius, there was actually only a kind of muddy slush on the streets and the slopes in the afternoon. But it was busy, lots of people. And on such a foggy Friday there were also many people walking around the two EDF reservoirs. Both reservoirs were not full, rather half empty. As their was limited snow in the hills, most likely the reservoirs will not fill up in winter.
I wanted to stay overnight on the Route des Cretes and hike on Saturday. Despite information from acquaintances, the D61 was closed till La Schlucht, so I drove over the Col de Wettstein and also looked at the WW1 memorial cemetery. Thousands of soldiers are buried near the Col du Linge – Germans at the Hohrod military cemetery, French at the Cimetière Militaire Col du Wettstein
I should have stayed over night, but I kept driving. The Col de La Schlucht was well attended by skiers, similar to the Col du Calvaire. And along the D430 it was similar. White 5 - 10 m wide snow tracks made their way down the hills. And even at 4:30 pm there were still people moving their skis downhill
My day ended at the Ferme Auberge Breizhousen. The D430 was closed up to the Grand Ballon. I assume that it was for conservation reasons, because the 5 cm of snow I saw couldn't be the reason.
My auxiliary heater was needed, because around 7:00 p.m. the temperature was below 2 Celsius and the wind was pounding the rain against the sheet metal of the Dog.O.Mobil. I chose my spot for the view, stupid idea because it remained foggy.
When I woke up around 7:00 it was quiet, no cars, no rain, a wonderful stillness. I opened the window and saw the Dog.O.Mobile covered in frozen snow. As it was warm in the Dog. O. Mobil I first freshened up and then I had breakfast. At 8:00 it was still freezing cold and the sky didn't look promising. It was my 2 Belgian companions who inspired me to hike. Via the Hohneck (restaurant was closed) and from there to Lac Du Schiessrothried (all Auberges on the way were closed as well).
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm open to new things and so I changed the Komoot tour after the lake. I wanted to go back via Spitzköpfe instead of hiking to the Col du Wormspel. Everything was looking good but I missed the damned turnoff sign to the Spitzköpfe
The trail is marked in blue from both sides, and names Spitzkopf as a destination, in my defense. Going back isn't my forte and that's why I moved on. The detour was worth it, but 8 km became 12 km and 550 meters in altitude. You can find pictures of the entire trail on Komoot.
When I arrived at the Dog.O.Mobil the weather had changed again. It was windy, the sky was dark and the temperature remained low, only - 4 Celsius. To be honest I was done and I didn't want to go for another stormy night
I needed some bread and something sweet, so I drove to Gerardmer. Gerardmer and La Bresse are not the burner in February. Gerardmer advertises the ski area, the lake and a casino with various table games & slot machines. I wouldn't add anything to that. All I needed was a supermarket and there are quite a few of those
La Bresse could also be in the Alps because it is fully committed to sports tourism. The largest ski area in the Vosges is La Bresse-Hohneck and in summer all kind of bike sport is popular. I guess I don´t need to mention the #vanlife community, who are looking for a space along the Route des Crêtes.
My first pitch on Saturday turned out to be inaccessible, i.e. the street was covered in snow. My second attempt at the Col des Hayes was snow-free and apart from me there were only hikers or quad bikers on the road that left before it got dark.
While it was cool on Saturday evening, it was COLD on Sunday morning. - 10 Celsius outside the Dog.O.Mobil and inside -8.9 at 6:00. I turned on the auxiliary heating and at 7:30 I had comfortable 3 Celsius
The weather forecast was not what I was looking for, temperatures between -10 and -2 in the coming days in the area of the Vosges that I am interested in.
I decided to leave on Sunday and decided to take a known tourist tour to leave the Vosges. The N66 is one option to go to the Grand Ballon, the Ballon de Allsace or the Route des Crêtes. My journey took me to Wildenstein, Kruth and down to Thann. The weather was hazy and so I only made short stops and also treated myself to a coffee in Thann.
I ended the day with sunshine and a walk in the Black Forest.