Dragon Posted 17 May , 2016 Share Posted 17 May , 2016 April 1916 was bitterly cold in the Vosges, with heavy snowfall making the men's lives deeply unpleasant. I was there exactly one hundred years later - just over a fortnight ago - and during the night of 26th/27th April, 40 cm of snow fell. The cols through the Vosges were almost impassable and were closed to HGVs. The Route des Crêtes, Joffre's road along the mountains for military transport, had been closed all winter 2015/6 and with the new snowfall there was doubt that it might be cleared before the official opening date of 1st May. In the Vosges they call spring snow la neige du coucou. We were able to get up to the area of le Linge, the 1915 battleground, and visit the two military cemeteries. This is Hohrod-Bärenstall, the German military cemetery, at midday on 27th April, 2016. There are some more photos in my Zenfolio gallery La neige du coucou: Hohrod-Bärenstall , if you would like to see them. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 17 May , 2016 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2016 This is Cimetière Wettstein, the French military cemetery, April 27th 2016. Wettstein is lower than Hohrod-Bärenstall, and the snow had begun to melt. (There will be more images, including military structures at height, but I haven't finished editing all my photos yet.) Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilbo139 Posted 17 May , 2016 Share Posted 17 May , 2016 Superb photos..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 17 May , 2016 Author Share Posted 17 May , 2016 Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fattyowls Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Just epic as ever, thanks Gwyn. Pete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 18 May , 2016 Author Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Thank you! It felt epic. I was in the Vosges in April 2014, when there were spring flowers and warmth. Now 40 cm snow and cuckoos and... I was also very restricted by a torn meniscus from a fortnight before and using crutches. Knowing that there had been heavy snowfall exactly a hundred years before, it felt quite a privilege to be experiencing the same weather conditions and see the winter mountain landscape as the men would have seen it. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sly Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Hello, I always enjoy your photos Gwyn, Thanks Sly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger H Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Excellent shots Gwyn. Roger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CROONAERT Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Excellent shots (again) Gwyn. I know you mentioned the possible weather conditions before you set off, but I must admit to being surprised by the quantity of the snow. Makes for some beautiful photos though! Did you manage OK with the knee? (You could have borrowed my dog and taken a sled if you'd asked!!! ) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 18 May , 2016 Author Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Thank you all for the nice comments! There will be more photos to come. Dave - this was going to be the trip when I went up Voilu. The knee put an end to that idea, but we couldn't have gone up there anyway with the snow. Diligently doing my physio exercises in the swimming pool every day before we went helped, but given that when the accident happened there was doubt that I could endure such a long drive, I'm just really pleased with what I could do. Your dog would've been really bored with the pace! As you know the area, here's a record shot (taken from a moving car) of the Route des Crêtes near Markstein on 29th April! That part of the road was open on Friday 29th and the sun cleared the snow left on the road. I was able to get out and tramp around the vestiges up there in the snow (pics to come). Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveMarsdin Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Wonderful photos, thanks for posting Gwyn. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yorke Scarlett Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Fantastic shots - An area that I must visit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myrtle Posted 18 May , 2016 Share Posted 18 May , 2016 Lovely photographs Gwyn. I tore my meniscus walking the GR5, so empathise ! Hope it's on the mend. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 19 May , 2016 Share Posted 19 May , 2016 Imagine having to live/fight there under these circumstances... Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beechhill Posted 19 May , 2016 Share Posted 19 May , 2016 Neige de coucou; how poetic! Edit: Thank you for the very beautiful photos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonrb Posted 19 May , 2016 Share Posted 19 May , 2016 Great photographs, thanks for sharing. Jon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 20 May , 2016 Author Share Posted 20 May , 2016 Thank you - it's nice to know that people liked them. Visiting the Ambulance Alpine du Mittlach recently, I was distressed to read that men were lifted in baskets from that small hospital in the valley by cable to the mountain tops so they could be taken down the French side of the frontier for care, and that some simply froze to death before they reached the summits. This is a short blog piece called Beyond Bitter: winter on the Vosges front from my personal blog, not my Blue Line Frontier blog. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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