From wild camping in Le Wurzelstein to an AirBnB in Colmar

Thursday

09:03: I slept really badly during the early part of the night, until at least 04:00. The wind picked up during the night, blowing up from the valley in strong gusts. I’d set up the basha broadside on by chance, as I’d laid it out over the only flat bit of ground I could find. The flapping kept me awake despite my earplugs. Now I’m two hours late getting started, but I’m glad of the extra sleep. I’ll need to let my AirBnB host know I’ll be late ASAP. The sky is overcast and a light shower just fell.

10:01: Packed up, said goodbyes, heading towards the route. I’m stopping for breakfast a few hundred metres downhill. This is all ski territory — lots of lifts in the landscape.

10:29: Moving again. Light showers. Everything in my bag is damp. I need to spend an afternoon in a park on a sunny day airing and drying all of it.

10:51: Stopping to peel off a top layer. It’s getting warmer as I descend. Clean out shoes too.

10:56: Moving again.

11:04: I hear what sounds like cowbells down in the valley to my left.

11:09: I’ve walked off the edge of the second of the three 1:25,000 scale maps I bought for the Vosges crossing. Folding the third one now.

11:18: Done. No mobile signal yet, so I can’t contact my host in Colmar.

11:40: Back on tarmac for the first time since starting on the climb to the ridge from the high pass yesterday evening. Light rain. Very mild.

12:15: Climbing the next ridge. I see cows in a field and the jangling is coming from their direction.

12:32: At the ridge. That was a tough climb. Another 1,500m or so to the next pass. I’m at 913m. The rain’s stopped.

12:46: Farms. Lightly wooded meadows. Over the next col and into the next valley.

13:00: Still no usable phone signal. I’m about to join a waymarked GR that’ll take me all the way to the outskirts of Colmar.

So I’m stopping for lunch now. Stale baguette and pesto.

13:23: Lunch complete. No utensils used, less delay. Pesto is a superb lunch option except for the fact that olive oil appears to be a superfluid. It escapes from every container.

13:08: Moving again. Follow the yellow horizontal stripe.

14:54: Making great progress on well-marked turf and rock forest tracks. Still at 875m!

15:26: I’ve seen my shadow for the first time today. I have no water left.

15:58: Spent fifteen minutes dicking around trying to find the waymarked trail until I realised the yellow horizontal stripe has transformed into the green rectangle. Grrrrr.

16:46: That was a tedious descent. 20 minutes to Turkheim says a sign.

16:49: On the valley floor. 330m altitude.

17:04: Back among vineyards for the first time since leaving Champagne.

17:10: The outskirts of Turkheim. New houses.

17:22: On tarmac.

18:36: Just stepped into Colmar.

19:04: at the AirBnB.

19:11: Huge room in a really funky, creaky 100-year-old apartment building. The flat is 130m²!

21:00: Washed and in fresh clothes. I put on all my clothes to wash but didn’t include the fleecy, thinking it was OK, but in fact it pongs. I’ve also hung out all my camping gear in the room to air and dry — the sleeping bag, bivvy bag, magic carpet… all except the basha itself, which I don;t mind being damp in its bag for a couple of days. The rest of the stuff needs to air or else it’ll get very ropey very fast. The night time temperatures mean that I don’t need the bivvy at all. Next camp I’ll try the bag alone.

I’m in the very beautiful (restored) 15th Century timber-framed old town centre, in a Syrian restaurant. I’ve ordered falafel, hummus and tabouleh.

21:56: Delicious food but shit service unfortunately, because I arrived moments before a table of ten. I’m not being offered the chance to order dessert of mint tea so I’ll hit the road. €15.50. Terrific value. I’m wiped out.

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