Mountains, mountains, mountains!
As the weather has been ideal, I have been doing my best to do as much hiking as possible lately. Switzerland, as I have mentioned many times before, is really a hiker's paradise: not only are there mountains, hills, lakes, and natural wonders aplenty, but they are easily accessible to anyone with a Swiss Railway half-fare card.
Aside: the half-fare card (aka the halbtax or demi-tarif) costs a scant 150 CHF a year and gives you a 50% discount on virtually all forms of transportation in the country -- trains, boats, buses, trams, funiculars, etc. A quick calculation reveals that it only takes about a half-dozen trips between Geneva and Lausanne a year before one earns back their money, thus the card is generally cost-effective for nearly everyone who lives in the country. Now, you ask, what if you don't live in the country? What do you do? Well, if you've come and visited me, you know that the answer to this is: you pay -- a lot! A half-fare card for a single month costs 100 CHF (what a deal!) and in general is less economical than just getting a full-fare pass for the few days that you will need it. So, the net result of the half-fare card is that -- like many things in this country -- it heavily taxes people who do not live in Switzerland to the benefit of those who do. The more you look at things in Switzerland, the more you realize that things are frequently set up this way. But, I digress .....
Mountains! Lots of mountains! First up, the beautiful Hohturli and Oscheninsee.
A few weeks ago, I found myself without much of anything to do on a Sunday and I decided to open up my trusty Walking in Switzerland -- which is out of print and sells for $30 at Amazon and I found at Book-Off for $3 -- and pick out a day hike. Being a masochist, I chose the only single-day hike in the book that was categorized as "hard." The hike starts in the remote mountain village of Grisalp, trundles up a beautiful valley, then cuts aggressively up to the pass at Hohturli.
Fig. 1: Hohturli pass. The "trail" follows the cliff wall on the side right up to the pass without any screwing around.
As a veteran hiker, I've been on a number of hikes that might be called "grueling," but I think this bit of ascent probably makes the top five. The "trail" makes no attempt to switchback or meander, instead it takes the "method of steepest gradient" and heads straight for the pass.
Fig. 2: At places were the rock is just too steep and too dangerous, a system of cables, ladders, and stairs keeps you safely on the path.
Once you get to the top, though, you are rewarded with breathtaking views:
Fig. 3: The Blumlisalp glacier. Unfortunately for all of us, Switzerland is great place to see global warming in action. Glaciers like this are retreating so fast that many have even disappeared.
As is typical in Switzerland, there is a hut at the top of the pass (owned and run by the Swiss Alpine Club) as well as a couple of other places to stop and eat or sleep along the way. I decided to stop at a place right near the Oescheninsee for a relaxing coffee. The Oescheninsee, by the way is absolutely gorgeous:
Fig. 4: The Oescheninsee. Although I did not take it, I am told that there is an actual trail that follows the green ledge, roughly halfway up the cliff. I think that's going to have to wait until after I get over my fear of hiking along cliff faces above freezing water.
As the Oescheninsee is a popular place for hiking and relaxing, the local tourist board decided that it would be a good place to showcase the work of some local artists. All of the work is made out of local tree stumps and rocks and such, and some of the artists did their best to make the piece "fit it." Of course, I had no idea of any of this when I got there, so it was at first extremely creepy when I saw faces staring back at me from fallen trees.
Fig. 5: If you didn't know any better, would you realize that this was a piece of art? It definitely has a creepy backwoods sort of look to it; I think I can be forgiven for thinking that I had wandered into some sort of Blair Witch scenario.
Fig. 6: This one clearly looks a lot more obviously scuplted, but not any less creepy.
Fig. 7: OK, this one is pretty obviously art -- what with the obvious tag and all.
Aside: the half-fare card (aka the halbtax or demi-tarif) costs a scant 150 CHF a year and gives you a 50% discount on virtually all forms of transportation in the country -- trains, boats, buses, trams, funiculars, etc. A quick calculation reveals that it only takes about a half-dozen trips between Geneva and Lausanne a year before one earns back their money, thus the card is generally cost-effective for nearly everyone who lives in the country. Now, you ask, what if you don't live in the country? What do you do? Well, if you've come and visited me, you know that the answer to this is: you pay -- a lot! A half-fare card for a single month costs 100 CHF (what a deal!) and in general is less economical than just getting a full-fare pass for the few days that you will need it. So, the net result of the half-fare card is that -- like many things in this country -- it heavily taxes people who do not live in Switzerland to the benefit of those who do. The more you look at things in Switzerland, the more you realize that things are frequently set up this way. But, I digress .....
Mountains! Lots of mountains! First up, the beautiful Hohturli and Oscheninsee.
A few weeks ago, I found myself without much of anything to do on a Sunday and I decided to open up my trusty Walking in Switzerland -- which is out of print and sells for $30 at Amazon and I found at Book-Off for $3 -- and pick out a day hike. Being a masochist, I chose the only single-day hike in the book that was categorized as "hard." The hike starts in the remote mountain village of Grisalp, trundles up a beautiful valley, then cuts aggressively up to the pass at Hohturli.
Fig. 1: Hohturli pass. The "trail" follows the cliff wall on the side right up to the pass without any screwing around.As a veteran hiker, I've been on a number of hikes that might be called "grueling," but I think this bit of ascent probably makes the top five. The "trail" makes no attempt to switchback or meander, instead it takes the "method of steepest gradient" and heads straight for the pass.
Fig. 2: At places were the rock is just too steep and too dangerous, a system of cables, ladders, and stairs keeps you safely on the path.Once you get to the top, though, you are rewarded with breathtaking views:
Fig. 3: The Blumlisalp glacier. Unfortunately for all of us, Switzerland is great place to see global warming in action. Glaciers like this are retreating so fast that many have even disappeared.As is typical in Switzerland, there is a hut at the top of the pass (owned and run by the Swiss Alpine Club) as well as a couple of other places to stop and eat or sleep along the way. I decided to stop at a place right near the Oescheninsee for a relaxing coffee. The Oescheninsee, by the way is absolutely gorgeous:
Fig. 4: The Oescheninsee. Although I did not take it, I am told that there is an actual trail that follows the green ledge, roughly halfway up the cliff. I think that's going to have to wait until after I get over my fear of hiking along cliff faces above freezing water.As the Oescheninsee is a popular place for hiking and relaxing, the local tourist board decided that it would be a good place to showcase the work of some local artists. All of the work is made out of local tree stumps and rocks and such, and some of the artists did their best to make the piece "fit it." Of course, I had no idea of any of this when I got there, so it was at first extremely creepy when I saw faces staring back at me from fallen trees.
Fig. 5: If you didn't know any better, would you realize that this was a piece of art? It definitely has a creepy backwoods sort of look to it; I think I can be forgiven for thinking that I had wandered into some sort of Blair Witch scenario.
Fig. 6: This one clearly looks a lot more obviously scuplted, but not any less creepy.
Fig. 7: OK, this one is pretty obviously art -- what with the obvious tag and all.In the end, I did something like 4600 ft of elevation gain and 10 miles of distance. I would definitely agree with the book's rating of "hard," but that would not prevent me from recommending the hike to anyone who has a Sunday to spend in Switzerland. After all, what else are you going to do?
A couple of Sundays ago, I went with the Swiss Alpine Club on a hike in the Valais. Although it didn't math the brutal vertigo-inducing terror of the first hike I took with the group, it was not as slow or easy as my second experience and was thus just about right. I was, again, the youngest member of the team (by about 15 years, at least) and, again, the only one who spoke any English. Still, people were super friendly and did their best to make conversation with me and generally keep me involved. It was an awesome hike.
Fig. 8: The big lump in the distance is Mt. Blanc, the highest point in Europe.
Fig. 9: "Lake with Flowers." For the interested photographer, the camera and settings I used to get this awesome effect were: Canon SD 400 camera, "macro." Macro is the little button with the picture of the flower.
Fig. 10: Myrtilles - blueberries. These were all over the trail, with the plumpest ones being at lower elevations. Watch out, though, as there is another bush that grows nearby and produces similar looking fruit which are un-tasty and poisonous.
Fig. 11: Framboises - raspberries. These were incredible. Juicy, sweet, bite-sized. Although not as common as the blueberries, these were also easy to find.
A couple of Sundays ago, I went with the Swiss Alpine Club on a hike in the Valais. Although it didn't math the brutal vertigo-inducing terror of the first hike I took with the group, it was not as slow or easy as my second experience and was thus just about right. I was, again, the youngest member of the team (by about 15 years, at least) and, again, the only one who spoke any English. Still, people were super friendly and did their best to make conversation with me and generally keep me involved. It was an awesome hike.
Fig. 8: The big lump in the distance is Mt. Blanc, the highest point in Europe.
Fig. 9: "Lake with Flowers." For the interested photographer, the camera and settings I used to get this awesome effect were: Canon SD 400 camera, "macro." Macro is the little button with the picture of the flower.One of the coolest aspects of the hike was that the trail was surrounded by fruit bearing bushes. Although I am generally afraid of eating things that don't come wrapped in cellophane, I was assured that none of these were poisonous and that I could gorge myself to my heart's content. It was awesome; at some point, I stopped picking blueberries because I just wasn't hungry anymore. I never though that could happen.
Fig. 10: Myrtilles - blueberries. These were all over the trail, with the plumpest ones being at lower elevations. Watch out, though, as there is another bush that grows nearby and produces similar looking fruit which are un-tasty and poisonous.
Fig. 11: Framboises - raspberries. These were incredible. Juicy, sweet, bite-sized. Although not as common as the blueberries, these were also easy to find.That's it for the mountains. Next time: a critical analysis of translation issues in Calvin et Hobbes.
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