Day 45 – to Donon

The overnight rain had just about stopped by the time we headed out from the van, after an hour or so reading while waiting. It left a humid morning. Not really knowing where I was headed, some may have heard that before, we started up on a steep path through the forest behind us, towards the ski area we were at yesterday. After a couple of hundred metres ascent I took a path that contoured the forested hillside and eventually passed some wonderfully situated residences, built in an Alpine style. By coincidence then in descending I picked up the Frere Joseph Pilgrim Path built by residents in 1784 and marked with a series of two metre high stone crosses.

The Vosges is a bigger region than people may think. In the restaurant last night I had looked at a guide book which was on display, and keen to experience most of the area I drove a hundred kilometres or so north to the Haut Vosges area and the mountain of Donon. With some fortune, but mainly planning, I managed to find a high car pull in on a forest road, about 4 pm. The humidity had stayed, but the cloud was gone, so by the time we headed out to hike the nearby top, it was cooling pleasantly. The top is question was only a kilometre or so away, Le Petit Donon, at 987 metres, and a scramble in several places. A peak looking over at its sister, Donon, which I will save until tomorrow, and a peak that has a considerable history.

In 1914 Donin was a priority for the Germans. Late in August they cleared the French from the valley, and with an unsuccessful counterattack there were heavy losses on both sides. The fighting mainly took place on the steep slopes between the two Donon’s. The location of where the dead were buried was marked with provisional wooden crosses. In 1916 a stonemason was employed to replace the wood and inscribe epitaphs. The graveyard now is visited by very many, as is quite unique, very close to the site of the battlefield.

A few people passed by late in the evening, trail runners, mountain bikers, and I was joined by a German couple sleeping in their hatchback preparing for a hike tomorrow. It was an excellent stopover, completely quiet after dark apart from the resident beasts.