European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 19, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Touring the Vosges Ribe Auville Colmar be Urwiller anti thann. Leaving the vineyards and heading West up into the mountains one enters a very different landscape. This is the hates Vosges High Vosges a wild and windswept Region where the changes wrought by the heavy hand of Man have been comparatively minor. It is an area dominated by thick forests Cut Here and there by streams and rivulets and dotted by Kettle Hole Ponds. Only occasionally is the unrelenting bleakness of the Woods broken by villages and modest farms. But the few shabby Little towns seem More an afterthought than a purposeful Effort at settlement. Amid the High Vosges windblown peaks and thickets of evergreens the c civilized landscape and genteel Prosperity of the wine Road Are Only a Distant memory. The Altitude a 4,672 feet at the highest Peak the grand Ballon a subjects the High Vosges to extremes of weather that do not exist in the More temperate Rhine Valley Only a few Miles away. During the Winter driving can be treacherous and some roads Are closed. Even in the fall stretches like the col de la Schluch the Region s highest pass 3,737 fee can be Slippery and Snow blown or wrapped in icy Mist. Much of the High Vosges appears economically disadvantaged. There is Little Industry and the thin soil sprinkled Over Sandstone substrata has precluded intensive agricultural development. One agricultural usage for which the High Vosges is Well suited is forestry. The extensive Woodlands provide raw materials for the Many sawmills scattered throughout the Region. But the must common farm activity is Dairy farming. Throughout the Region Small herds of Dairy cows Graze in Hillside pastures. And an important offshoot is cheese making which is entered around Munster in the Southeast. In recent decades the growing importance of tourism in the Region has prompted the conversion of some Dairy farms to farmhouse inns. The main attraction of the High Vosges is its unspoiled Countryside. It is an Ideal Region for outdoors enthusiasts hikers Hunters Cross country skiers fishermen. There Are several downhill ski areas including an extensive one at cer Ardmer and the former world cup site at Markstein. It is a perfect Region for touring by car. The landscape is crisscrossed by narrow twisting roads that make for slow relaxed driving. They curve around mountains through thick forests and Down into Liny pocket valleys. Above two horses in a Mountain Field stretch for an Apple offered by a passer by. At right a weathered tree reaches into the cold air of the Vosges mountains. Roads in the area Are not As Good As the ones in the Black Forest but a because the area is less touristy a they Are also not As crowded. The highest rugged St Section of the High Vosges is bisected by a Road that retraces much of the world War i front line. This is the route Des cretes Ridge Roada dark and spooky byway haunted by the ghosts of Long dead Young men who perished fighting Over this inhospitable piece of real estate. The Ridge Road runs for a distance of approximately 100 Miles from  Aux mines in the North to Cernay in the South. Originally built by the French army for strategic purposes the route today is one of the most Scenic drives in the Vosges. But amid the Beautiful scenery Are reminders of the military past. Outside Labroche a memorial honors the men of the French 152nd infantry regiment who Quot saved Alsace Quot in 1914 by holding off the German 1st bavarian Landwehr. A few Miles Down the Road at Bohrod Row upon Row of Metal crosses Mark the grave Sites of Young germans who died in the same Long lost War. On a snowy Winter Day the Hilltop Meadow dotted with Birches and Pines is a cold and melancholy place. This is the Darker Side of the Vosges its Long history of bloody conflicts that Rique Wihr vintner Andre Hugel Calls Quot the tragedy of a Border  his brother Jean takes it one step farther. Quot we Haven t missed a War in 2,000  in world War ii the Vosges became part of the Quot thousand year Rek a Quot when the germans annexed Alsace and Lorraine after the defeat of franc e. I Ater the continued on Pige 10 the Village of Goldbach is the last Stop before the steady climb to the grand Ballon. Does Marr 19, 1991 stripes Maga inv