7/4 Col du Donon to Le Hohwald

The was a long day under the best of circumstances which these weren't. I had been experiencing shin pain on the right which was aggravated by the steep decent from the temple. The reason for this was unclear after all these miles except I had noted the soles of my boots particularly the heals were almost worn away-perhaps? Also Cieras feet took a pounding. I asked about a Taxi the night before but the hotel desk said it was too late and impossible the next day. So as I looked out the window contemplating options a taxi drove up next door to the hotel!! I ran over and after a friendly animated discussion secured a ride to the valley town of Schirmeck. So it was that after breakfast off we went to the town slashing 10km and a big descent from the day. There was the street market in progress. We obtained supplies. Walking by a store I noticed hiking boots! So in we went - a hunting store primarily they carried one brand Meindl - which I had heard to be good and one model suitable for our activity. As any walker knows the foot wear Is critical and often requires protracted trials etc. but these felt immediately good, the soles a bit thin but pliable - goretex as well. Taking what felt like a big gamble I bought a pair. As I write this several days later ( bad wifi in the interim) I can report no blisters or break -in issues at all!!! The soles are a bit slippery on damp rock and this requires your attention and poles help in these circumstances. The shins seem a bit better too.
But back to this day- after checking out the town we took a second taxi up the hill to the Nazi concentration camp Struhof. We spent quite a bit of time in the museum before walking down the street to see the camp. Many strong emotions around this visit and to simply call it "sobering" as some have said falls entirely short. Afterwards, we walked onto the GR5 which passes the camp and made our way towards Le Hohwald our destination for the night. Coinciding with the GR is a named routed in memory of the camp victims. It was marked with a red/white/red rectangle and a yellow triangle. At a trail side map we noted this route went to Le Hohwald as well so we decides to take it. While we missed the Cascade along the GR coming from the Seattle area this wasn't a concern . In fact the route took us to a fantastic rocky lookout where we could see the next couple days of walking before us with landmarks such as Mt St Odile and down range the peak castle of Haut Kronenburg while a bit of Le Hohwald lay below. So the descent through the woods took about an hour and air thickened as we went. The town is quite picturesque and immediately enjoyable for the summer mountain resort town that it is. But not overly touristy - really few people about. We stayed at Tillys B&B which turned out well - our large family suite even had a washing machine which went to work while we went to dinner at an Alsatian restaurant. I had a big Tart Flambé which is pretty good hiker calories. Waiting for desert a big thunderstorm passed by cooling things down. Sleep came easy.