When planning the walk, Day 3 had always been the one that we were the most concerned over. Although the distance is comparatively short, when compared to some of the days in weeks 2 and 3, it was the climb of over 1100m to the summit, the navigation to get there and in particular the weather that preyed on our minds.
Fortunately, we need not have been concerned. We set off from Cernay with the weather gods on our side. The WFW app worked well, especially when combined with digital IGN mapping (the French equivalent of OS). While the climb was hard, by breaking it down into manageable chunks we made it to the top and down the other side, despite the best efforts of the local French foresters who clearly had no respect for marked trails.
Other than KM 0 and the 2 cemeteries in Cernay, this was the first time that we felt like we were actually walking along the front. Climbing up to Hartannswillerkopf National Cemetery, the path through the woods followed an old trench line where you could still see dugouts and even the metal brackets for a machine gun mount. Most disturbing of all was the lone plaque nailed to a tree commemorating Captain Commandant Roche Amic who was KIA 4 days before Christmas in 1915, during the battle of Hartannswillerkopf. This was a visceral reminder of the horror and waste of life that occurred in these now peaceful and beautiful forests.
Making the summit felt like a great achievement, especially having lost an hour following the given route along the path that was littered with enormous, felled trees. We perservered for 45 mins clambering over logs, packs off and on again, which was tiring and slowing us down-we only covered about 500m in this time. We sensibly made the decision to clamber 30m back up a steep slope and re-join the road.
This was the longest day so far, although there will no doubt be many others, and we descended into Linthal in fading light, tired but pleased with an epic days walk.
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