Good morning. I am a bit later in posting this. After accidentally erasing my almost finished blog last night, I pitched my lap top off the second story balcony. Did you know that you can spin one like a frisbee? I was impressed at how far I could sail it into the darkness. It took me a while to find it. Lucky for me, it landed in a fir tree. I was I initially afraid the hotel staff would discover me climbing the tree and think I needed rescuing. I have already had one too many rescues and should the authorities have a record of the “event,” they would send me to the Swiss looney bin. I am in the German-speaking region of Switzerland and that brought up some uneasy thoughts, especially since I am midway through a novel about WWII. I have a few more scratches but my lap top seems to be fine. Oh well, all’s well that ends well.
I had to take all modes of transportation, except for a donkey cart to St. Luc where I caught a funiculaire train to Tignousa, and the trailhead.
First junk (antique?) store I have seen in Switzerland.
Tignousa is well known for its Planet Park, a unique playground with a spade shuttle, slides, and Planets Trail. Along the first quarter-mile of my hike, there were stations for each planet, art, and telescopes. It was a fun diversion.
But all fun things come to an end and it was back to straight-up climb.
I crossed lots of these small streams and a few bigger ones.
So many beautiful waterfall along the way. There is something so peaceful, almost hypnotic, about the sound of rushing water.
The struggle up-mountain seemed never ending
I had to cross the snow on the side of a hill and one misstep would have landed me this half-frozen lake. Good incentive for caution. I had to cross many glaciers and snow. Thank heavens for mini-spikes.
Finally, pant-pant, gasp-gasp, couple of swear words, and a gallon of sweat, I reached the pass at about 9200 feet. I could feel the thinner air. This marks the divide between French - speaking and German - speaking Switzerland.
There was a very narrow trail right after the pass that was spooky narrow. Right foot left foot slow. If I fell, it was trailhead off a cliff. Many years ago, on a guided trip, Swedish Daniel cautioned me that in the mountains you do one thing at a time. If you are going to take a phot, you stop, snap, and then continue walking. I have followed Daniel’s Rule ever since. It has probably save me numerous tumbles.
I kept thinking that if I could just reach the top, going down hill would be much easier and faster. Au Contraire. It was brutally sheep and rocky. A number of times I slid, but never fell, thanks to my sticks. I still preferred it to uphill.
I have no explanation. I saw no Native Americans so it wasn’t ours. They were big enough for 2-3 people. I guess if you want to travel to Switzerland and sleep in a teepee? Whatever floats your boat.
The most beautiful sight - the Swartzhorn Hotel in Gruben. It sits on a hill, and then I had to go up four double sets of stairs.
The rooms were dormitory style and as you see two of them were already claimed. I had one of the single rooms but I shared a bath with 2 other single rooms.
Dinner was much like hut dining except there were individual tables. The main course was a decent chicken and rice. In hut style you always get a salad and watery mystery vegetable soup. The dessert was
Crème Caramel. Filling for those starving hikers.
So I bid you good night and by the way I was just kidding!
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