egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Chester our brave messenger dog volunteers to enter the fortress first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 A look from the inside through the embrasures outside. Most bunkers still have the white paint affixed inside Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 ...passing debris, whatever it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Closer to the peak we pass wide fields of barbed wire , protecting trenches and surrounding bunkers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Most chevaux-de-frise are still connected to each other with hooks, perfectly working Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 I am not talking of some few, I am talking of tons, all transported by the funicular railways and by men towards the top of the mountain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Note how the line of chevaux-de-frise makes a gentle right turn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Now very close to the peak of Buchenkopf I noticed walking over about 1 meter high barbed wire. At first I did not realize as the wire was grown over by the vegetation and I thought jumping over my mattress, but.........I should have listened to Chester who rejected jumping over the green mattress...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 We are now some 50 meter from the peak and I need a brake........tbc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chester-famous Messenger Dog Posted 9 August , 2009 Share Posted 9 August , 2009 I am about to close this thread or have the pictures removed as my copyrights are disregarded. I will try a last ditch attempt and negotiate with the thread owner for royalties! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1052 Posted 9 August , 2009 Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Was the dam to the lake blown up during the war or was the draining of the lake postwar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 9 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 9 August , 2009 (edited) The lake was not drained, the reason seems to be siltation Found in the web that the Hexenweiher (Etang du Devin) is covered by treacherous quaking bog; underneath it is all water and swamp. Edited 9 August , 2009 by egbert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1052 Posted 9 August , 2009 Share Posted 9 August , 2009 That can happen to manmade lakes. It looks as though it was a nice place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pighills Posted 9 August , 2009 Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Oh Chester, you are soooo brave. Make sure you get your dues from the photos, it's not right that you should lose out after all the danger you placed yourself in to save your friend Egbert. Here, have a good old scratch behind your ear from me PS: glad to see you are fully recovered from your op last year and enjoying your holidays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarsA Posted 9 August , 2009 Share Posted 9 August , 2009 Hi and thanks for sharing. Was at La Ligne a few years ago, which as situated on a passing road is heavily visited. This is something else! Kind regards, Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete1052 Posted 10 August , 2009 Share Posted 10 August , 2009 Egbert, did you notice any navigable bodies of water in the Vosges where an intrepid sailor could sail his yacht? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
towisuk Posted 10 August , 2009 Share Posted 10 August , 2009 More, more!! Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff2050 Posted 10 August , 2009 Share Posted 10 August , 2009 Egbert. Many thanks for sharing these pictures of an area unknown to me Geoff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 10 August , 2009 Share Posted 10 August , 2009 I'm glad you decided to share your photos, Egbert. It's interesting to me to see it from the perspective of someone who has a military background. As I don't have this, my photos tend to be more interpretive - how it 'feels' to me. I take hundreds of shots but don't have the confidence or knowledge to label the military stuff. For a messenger dog who has just sprinted up a mountain that would give some humans cardiac arrest, Chester looks remarkably full of beans. [ = energetic] Did you take water for him? I don't recall any streams up there. I'm awed that you went in some of those structures, especially the one under Roche du Corbeau. I don't. Firstly because I can't be sure it's properly ventilated, secondly because I can't tell how sound the roof is and thirdly because it's extremely creepy. I get as far as holding my camera into the structure and randomly firing the flash. As you say, what you see at the summit is almost beyond description. I find it extremely affecting. The tension between nature and the seething relics... Egbert asked for itineraries and path descriptions a while ago. When he sent me an urgent email saying that he had the opportunity for one day in the Vosges tomorrow, where should he go?, I had no hesitation in suggesting la Tête des Faux. In a way, it's doing the best first, so I think you found Barrenkopf & Schratzmaennele a bit less rewarding, didn't you? La Courtine is one location where the French and German trenches are ten metres apart. It's unimaginable. I won't do Barrenkopf again because I find it very spine-chilling. I've been pottering round in that whole region of Alsace and the Vosges for, I suppose, about 20 years, in all seasons, so I'm always happy to try to point people at things to see. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 10 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 10 August , 2009 Guys thanks for your comments, all are very much appreciated! Thank you Gwyn for sharing your complementing pictures in the WFA link. They are much better quality than mine, but as you said my little cam saw it through the eyes of the WW1 addict. Chester was always offered water (remember it was 30 degrees celsius), but on the peak fell down dead lock and had to recover some 20 min. He is a pensioned messenger dog and had severe surgery last year. But a true Airedale never gives up in the line of duty. On the return trip , passing the Hexenweiher, Chester jumped in and a swamp blackened messenger dog came out. The next day we did the recommended Schratzmännele_Bärenkopf_Kleinkopf tour where I have also tons of photos from. With respect to your remarks of the Rabenkopf bunkers, I tend to adopt Chester's motto= no risk, no fun! If you have more complementing photos, may I encourage you to please share them here as well. The royalty affair with Chester is settled, he accepted my offer for an extra Pedigree Pal bone. so lets go on..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 10 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 10 August , 2009 Approaching the Buchenkopf summit at 1209 meters a stunning fortress shows up and invites for detailed exploration. This picture is taken from former No-Mans-Land towards the German fortress. Trenches were 30 meter apart on the summit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 10 August , 2009 Share Posted 10 August , 2009 Thank you Gwyn for sharing your complementing pictures ... They are much better quality than mine No, they're not. They're just different. Complementary. I don't have the level of knowledge to make informative captions, either. I take pics of lots of bits of rusty metal but I'd be hesitant to post them if I couldn't say what they are. Out of interest, some places up there have relics set into concrete, so that people can touch the real thing without endangering themselves. It also preserves them in the location. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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