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Via Alpina Thru-Hike

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Part 2: Switzerland, France (around Chamonix/Mont Blanc), back to Switzerland, and onto Lichtenstein

It was an enjoyable climb up the Colle Di Gran San Bernardo. Partly because progress seemed so swift as everything that we had been craning our necks to look at slipped away beneath our feet. The path was very good, the pilgrim trail route. We climbed with the road and had to cross it a few times towards the top. Suddenly, we were there, and so were all the people! As we came over the top we were greeted by the man himself, a massive statue of San Bernardo, showing the way to Switzerland. Then a hotel and a few souvenir stores, right there on the top of the col! Now we have walked over the tops of a few col's by now, most higher than this one and there have been zero souvenir stores until now. Just goes to show what happens when you build a road over one! Many people, motorbikers, cyclists and their dogs. There is a lovely lake on top too, also a bench with charging station! I went into one of the stores and they sold cheese, so I bought some fontina, a local cheese. We strolled into Switzerland and after another hotel and a restaurant, started the downhill walk. It was steep to begin with and we followed the road again. We had a rest in the shade of a stone shed and quite a big frog jumped on Mike as he sat on the grass. We had about 2 km further to walk, as far as the next lake, but found a really nice campspot we could not go passed, it was off the trail, near the river, flat grass and sheltered by some bushes. We decided to end the day short. We lay in the shade and had a sleep, keeping an eye on the weather which had turned quite blustery. In the end we only had time to pitch the tent and have a quick dip in the river before the rain came! Good timing! Nice to have a short day.


The lake, or rather dam, had a large installation of floating solar panels and the restaurant at the lake also had rooftop solar panels, and an information board explaining the technological features of the dam. The walking today was totally different from any other walking we have had so far on this trip. It was an easy grade downhill and passed some pretty features and villages. We saw two Jerusalem donkeys, complete with bells around their necks who were looking after a flock of sheep. They obviously loved the sheep and were very affectionate. This section of the Via Alpina shares a route with the pilgrim trail to Rome and we met many walkers who were on that walk. Much of the route is on wide, grassy paths.

We stopped in Liddes to buy bread, cheese, tomatoes etc and went to sit by the church to have lunch. We made great progress today, covering 11 km by 11:00, which just goes to show the difference an easy route makes. After Liddes we dropped again and continued to follow the raging river, which often ran through deep canyons. We stopped at a bench and watched some goats. We were now nearby Ors`eries and it looked like rain. We walked down a little path towards the river and found a small area to camp in. It was only about 14:30, so an early finish, but we did not like our chances of finding a bush camp easily on the climb out of Ors`eries. We were happy with the camp spot, had a wash in the river (you had to be careful not to be washed away, so we just stayed by the bank) and filtered some drinking water. It is lovely being in Switzerland, it feels immediately more affluent and land is farmed almost vertically, it seems as if it is all under pasture.


So, bad night in our little forest tent site. I started feeling pretty unwell during the night, coughing badly, difficult to sleep. It was horrible. Mike couldn't sleep either, he was also not feeling too good. We had both been coughing for a week, me maybe longer. The hotel stay had helped us recover, but obviously we had had a setback. It seemed too difficult to stay motivated. We have done hard things over the years and the level of motivation never waivers from as "high as you can go", but this is the first trip that we have battled ill health, and it feels as if we have been ill, or in recovery phase, for a large proportion of it. Anyway, Mike had already found a medical centre online and we greeted the day at 06:15. You just have to be realistic, as much as a doctor's visit is a major inconvenience, you have to seek help when you need it. As far as why the illness, well the walking is hard. We push our bodies hard and this is not wilderness, you can't always camp just where you want. Water is also an issue with overnight camping as you can't always rely on it and you can't carry enough. So whereas we have often done hard things on bicycles, they do give you a bit more scope. We feel our diets have been pretty good. So we don't know is the answer. But we have never coughed like this before!

We packed up quickly and walked to Ors`eries train station, a short distance away. We stopped at the supermarket first to buy breakfast and lunch. We tried to buy tickets at the machine but our credit cards were declined, so we bought them online. We needed to go just one stop to Sembranche. The train station and bus depot were quite busy with many buses arriving with hikers and there were also many school kids around. One spied our box of cornflakes and grabbed it with excitement. We got to Sembranche, which is a tiny place and the medical centre was open but the receptionist seemed a bit alarmed that we had just appeared off the street, took detailed information (even about our reason for needing a doctor, which was a bit weird), and stressed that we would have to wait, sending us to the third floor. We had to wait for about three minutes, which might be the Swiss for "a wait" and were called by a lovely doctor who examined us both thoroughly and did not seem surprised by the cough. She just said that even in Switzerland after covid many people were being exposed to new and virulent viral infections and this is probably what was happening to us. She said after a virus, the cough can hang around for 6 -8 weeks. WHATTTT? She prescribed a regime of nasal aerosol and anti--allergy nasal sprays, and antibiotics for me for a sinus infection, ibuprofen for inflammation and cough syrup to take at night. Oh boy. Next stop pharmacy. If you are wondering what all this cost, let's just say that in Switzerland they don't just shrug like the Italian doctor we saw in Cuneo and say, "Welcome to Switzerland!". Then we went back to Orsi`eres and sat at the train station wondering what to do next. Initially our plan had been to take the bus up to Champex-Lac where we would start the variant which closely follows the Tour de Mont Blanc. Now I had such a headache/face ache I could not think straight. In one way I hoped that starting the medication would be a miracle cure and I would happily trip up the mountain. Realistically it was not to be. There was a hotel in town, Mike informed me, but honestly I did not need a hotel, I just needed to lie down. So we went back to our forest tent spot by the river and pitched the tent again, climbed inside and I spent the rest of the day popping pills and hoping my headache would go.

Mike spent the rest of the day trying to figure out how to resurrect this trip! We spoke about it in the late afternoon. Initially we had not planned to do this loop passed Mont Blanc and Chamonix, the Via Alpina proper goes from here to Martigny and then Vernayaz, the loop adds on about 100 km. But it is very beautiful and the Tour de Mont Blanc which is slightly different but overlapping is one of the most popular hikes in the world. People travel from all over just to do it. So then we had decided to do the loop which meant either walking or bussing up to Champex-Lac and then the major climb to Trient before you even start it. I couldn't face that. So we decided to revert to plan "A" with a difference, that we would take the train from here to Vernayaz, we would end up with too much time on our hands by the time we got to our final end point of Buchs, Switzerland, but we could then continue for longer on the route or whatever. So we bought the tickets online. Around midnight Mike asked if I was awake as now he was worried that we would regret cutting out the loop. "We've already bought the tickets," I said. Next morning we spoke about it as we walked to the train station again. I felt much better having slept most of the night without coughing. It felt like Groundhog Day as we passed a woman walking her dog like yesterday, a bloke on his way to work and even saw some of the school kids we were on the train with. We bought cornflakes and milk again and sat on a bench along the railway to have brekky and make tea. Many schoolkids passed us on the way, they are very polite and most will greet you. Then we took the train to Vernayaz. Changing at Martigny, I saw the advert for the Mont Blanc Express but did not think much about it. We walked from the station at Vernayaz to the supermarket. We needed to resupply for about 75 km. As we walked we could see the Mont Blanc Express train making it's way up a seriously crazy incline on the mountainside. We started talking about it and worked out that we could take it from Martigny to Vallorcine which would cut off maybe 30 km or even less at the start of the Mont Blanc loop and somehow make the whole thing more manageable. So we just did it! Booked the tickets online and reverted back to Plan.....whatever. This way we could compromise and get a bit of help but still do the route we really wanted to do. We were really happy! We picked up some supplies at the supermarket, went back to the train station and then got a train back to Martigny and then the Mont Blanc Express, which is the only train or bus we have heard any English spoken on at all, due to it being a tourist thing to do! We are so pleased we took this train, it took an hour and it was just an amazing experience. That train took us up 800 m and the scenery was as spectacular as the engineering! It was a trip highlight made all the sweeter for it's serendipity. We had something to eat in Vallorcine, which is a pretty village and then set off.

It was a gentle stroll until we reached the Aiguilles Rouges Nature Reserve and then we had a long haul up the mountainside. It was very beautiful though, views of the glaciers on the opposite mountains. The road disappeared quickly beneath us. I felt pretty tired and took regular breaks, but went okay. The nature reserve is beautiful, alpine vegetation. We met a girl from Rovaniemi, Finland who was also hiking! It rained a bit and and grew very misty as we walked in the clouds. We had hoped to pick up water at a lake, however, the park had closed off the access as they seem to do to reduce erosion on pathways. So we kept going to a river, getting close we heard sheep and so knew that water would be closeby. The herd of sheep was big, with many guard dogs and also some goats. Just after seeing the sheep Mike heard the river, which was great as we had not had any water on the trail yet. It was pretty misty, but right near the river was a flat expanse where we could camp. Massive waterfall forming the river. We picked out a campsite and filtered water, had a swim in the river. The sheep and goats were high on the mountainside but dropped down in the dark to below where our tent is, we can hear the sheep and their bells. We are happy with how the day went, especially being able to make the decision about the train on the spur of the moment. Everything worked our perfectly. We started the day at about 450 m at Vernayaz and ended it at 2000 m!


Those sheep had lots of guard dogs and would you believe it, they barked all night long. It was like being back in surburbia only with better pedigree. The sheep were quite close to where we were camped and at one point it sounded like one of the dogs ventured towards our tent, barking at us. The shepherd called it off. It rained overnight and was raining when we woke up. The weather forecast was for heavy rain pretty much all over Europe. For us it would mean walking in wet conditions all day. The rain was supposed to get lighter during the afternoon. We took our time getting ready and Mike cooked breakfast in the vestibule, which was perfect for doing so, given the high clearance space. We eventually got going around 08:15. There was a lot of water lying around the camping area. We hit the trail, boy was it wet! The path was a stream. We wore longs for the first time to walk in, and rain jackets and rain skirts. My hiking boots have developed a squeak when walking on bitumen and Mike had a look at them the day we went to the doctor. Both the soles are starting to detach. We knew that we would have to get them repaired or buy shoe glue to do it ourselves, but within the first hour walking in the rain my feet were wet and by the end of the day my boots were waterlogged and I could wring out my socks. The weather forecast is for fine weather tomorrow so let's hope that's the case. I will have to look at Samoens, small town in two day's time for shoe repair/new boots.

By 09:30 we were at Refuge de la Fl`egere which was a welcoming place and we had a coffee and charged our battery and phones. It was quiet when we arrived but by the time we left at 12:00, many hikers had arrived, all looking like drowned rats. It is a very popular refuge due to its proximity to the gondola to Chamonix. I met a couple from Gwelup, about 10 km from where we live! We had had zero view all morning and by 12 it was still a whiteout outside but the rain was lessening so we decided to get walking. We had a climb as usual and the trail was rocky with some technical bits. We passed both the gondola stations to Chamonix. We could see bits of the town far beneath us through the cloud. As we climbed the cloud parted to give us some views of glaciers and what looked like new snow on jagged peaks. At one point we heard a low and distant rumble which sounded like an rock avalanche. We got to the top of the climb and started to drop down through piles of rock. A note about the bivouac camping in this nature reserve. Look, firstly, we have hiked in a few French National Parks and Reserves and they are very rule oriented towards hikers which we have found pretty stifling. However, the parks themselves are clear about their role in preserving natural beauty and they do this very well, so we try to play the game. However, this reserve takes the 19-9 bivouac rule one step further, you can only bivouac in certain, quite small areas and you have to register online as they limit the tent numbers. Fair enough. So last night we were kept awake by barking dogs and tonight we hit the bivouac zone along the path and it was 90% totally uncampable due to steep terrain. We found a small campable spot on some slopey ground but the only other option was an area where there was already a tent up and we feel it's poor form to camp on top of someone else. We just think the guys who run the reserve are nuts! How can you set aside an area for bivouacing and get people to register and then there is hardly any tenting to be had? Anyway, we had our tent spot so went to get water and shower at a nearby river. It had a pounding waterfall which we thought, winner we can shower properly, and it HAMMERED us! Mike came out battered and bruised! By this time is was 19:00, so a case of dinner and bed. Luckily it was not raining, but it was so misty, just white cloud all around us. We hope for better weather tomorrow!!


As we were falling asleep we heard a strange animal grunt at us. Not sure what it was! It walked away and grunted somewhere else, possibly at the other camper! We woke to a clear morning, and lay in bed a little longer than usual as the sun is now only rising just before 07:00. We had breakfast and hit the trail, meeting many hikers this morning as we approached the next refuge which they would have been leaving from. It was still downhill for us into a canyon and then a climb out to the refuge and up the col behind it. We could not believe the change in the weather, it was a beautiful day and we could see everything! What a view! The climb to the refuge was fair and we rested there a while, enjoying a delicious omelette. The climb from there to Col d'Anterne was steep but the views of the other side were sublime. Dropping down from the Col to the lake of the same name we were struck by the beauty of the valley and the lake which lay beneath an imposing sheer rocky cliff. It all looked like the perfect campsite! We rested by one of the rivers which fed the lake and had tea to drink and a snack, getting out some of our stuff to dry. After an hour we got up, it was about 7 or 8 km to where we were planning on camping. The area around the lake was busy with hikers. As we walked the trail we read a sign which actually said that we could bivouac at the lake, avoiding the wetland areas! We couldn't believe it! Lately we have taken the view that good camping should drive the end point of the day. First rule of cycle touring: the perfect campsite always appears when you don't need it, same thing with hiking. Camping here at the lake would be perfect! So we picked a spot and relaxed there for the afternoon, drying out more stuff and enjoying our beautiful surroundings. By 19:00 there were a few tents up of people also bivouacing for the night. We have our work cut out tomorrow as we have to walk 18 km to Samoens to get me new boots! Hope mine last 18 km.


Such a great night camping by the lake. There were about 12 tents all up, but the area was huge and everyone was spread out and very quiet. We were up with our alarms at 06:15 as today was operation Get Judith New Boots and we had no time to waste. We had about 18 km to Samoens, almost all downhill, but experience has taught us that downhill does not mean easy. We hit the trail at 06:45, deciding to make breakfast along the way. It was a perfect morning. We had a small climb up and over a hill and then we could see the next refuge in the valley below us. The walking was pretty easy and we stopped at the refuge to make brekky. The refuge was busy. After this it was flat with a little climb before the path just slid downhill. After the rain a couple of days ago it was super muddy and the rocks were super slippy as our boots were wet and when making contact with the fine dust from other people's boots you just slid right off the rocks. We both had a couple of falls even though you really concentrated, it was easy to lose your footing. So the downhill was not easy and also the trail grew very busy with day hikers coming towards us up the climb. Trail etiquette on narrow trails is to step out of the way of people going uphill. So it was a bit stop-start, "bonjour" "merci" etc. As always, the French are very polite. It took two hours to get down to the carpark area where we took a rest. It was going well. After that everything became a blur. A section of trail descended vertically, criss crossed by exposed wet, slippery tree roots, it was suicide really. We managed. Then hit a section of trail along the flat which was an absolute mud bath. Eventually we got to an area of open countryside at Sixt where we took a rest in the shade. Good thing too as shortly thereafter we had a massively steep climb up followed by a drop down so steep it required ladders and hand rails to navigate. It dropped through an area of leafy green trees, thick moss and huge boulders, called the Ancient Gorge of Tignes. We could have done without it. Then it was pretty much along the flat, following a beautiful, gushing, glacial river all the way to Samoens. We had dropped 1 687 m vertically by the time we got there. Our knees are unhappy!

Samoens is a very pretty village and being so close to the Swiss border, it looks Swiss with all the red geranium flower baskets and carved woodwork decorating the homes. We went to the Sherpa Supermarket to buy milk to finish off the cornflakes Mike had been carrying for a while. Delicious! Then on to Pellissier Sports where we hoped I could get new hiking boots. It was a great store, the first proper hiking store we had seen on the trip. They had a really good selection of boots and I bought a pair of Lowa boots. When I tried them on they fitted like a glove. The assistant who helped us was really good and we are so happy that I could get a good pair of boots. After that we went back to Sherpa to resupply for 3 days. The assistant at Sherpa was also really helpful and even gave us a free baguette, quite a fancy "sporting" kind with nuts and fruit in it. As he said, "No one is going to buy this now!" It was nearly 17:00. Don't worry, the hikers will! We drank our way through a 1.75 l bottle of coke, packed all our food into our bags and kept going. We were aiming for a forest area with a river running through it a few km's away, along our route. Such a pretty town to walk through and the forest was lovely. We found a superb area to camp right on the river and had a cold wash in the pool that it formed. Some people walked by and crossed the river and as we walked back to our tent, two people walking a horse and pack donkey crossed the river too. We did a 12 hour day today and are amazed at the distance we covered and grateful for my new boots!


We woke to our pretty forest, had breakfast and hit the trail. Our alarms are going off at 06:30 now. Rain was forecast today and it drizzled a little as we ate. We had a 1 000 m (just over) climb up to Col de Golese. We enjoyed the climb which was mainly through bright green lacey forest (it looked more like spring than autumn) and mostly on road, first sealed then stone. It made a huge difference to do the climb on a graded surface. We popped out into the open, above the treeline and that was good too. There were a couple of hunters up there with their beagle dogs. One was roaming around with his nose to the ground sniffing around Mike, the dog that is not the hunter. Mike spoke to one of the hunters who said that he was hunting Chamois. Later as the path wound towards the Refuge de Golese, it became a proper hiking path, pretty rocky and muddy. The refuge was a non-starter. We had put on rain gear by then and it was raining pretty heavily. We went to stand on the porch of the refuge to decide what to do next, a coffee inside would have been nice. Through the windows we could see some fogies having glasses of beer and wine at tables covered with tablecloths. The menu was available on the outside wall and did not offer coffee, but many meals and quite pricey. The sign read: "The terrace and toilets are solely for the use of patrons" or it's French equivalent. So we got off the terrace and went to sit in a little shed/three-walled shelter where we had our lunch, consisting mainly of the delicious sports bread we got for free from the Sherpa, with cheese and jam. Yum! A group of trail runners arrived while we were there and went into the restaurant.

After lunch we were downhill for the river where we thought we might camp. Other option was the Col de Coux where there may have been water but we were not 100% sure on that. The trail was super muddy. My new boots are really good, they are actually a dream. I am so happy as my feet were dry all day, as they should be. But the path was so muddy that the right boot could not grip at all! Slow going. Mike spotted some nice campspots under fir trees before the river so we went on and filtered water and then came back to camp. I washed the gunk off my boots at the river. It was nice to have a 14:00 finish today after the long day yesterday. As we went back to set up camp the trail runners passed us again. It stopped raining long enough for us to shower and then we spent the afternoon being warm in the tent.

Healthwise things are pretty good. I am now pretty much recovered. Mike still coughs a lot at night. It is interesting as the Swiss doctor commented on the impact of regular changes in altitude on the sinuses and we are now actively trying to equalise our ears as we ascend, as she suggested. We cannot explain why this did not impact us at all in North America. Maybe we were more at high altitude for longer stretches instead of up and down? My elbow joints are quite inflamed probably from all the downhill pole work and Mike hurt his shoulder/neck when he fell yesterday. But I have to say overall we are pretty satisfied with how our bodies are coping with our expectations! We are also learning that we do not want to hike from dawn til dusk. We are happy to carry extra weight in food and take longer. The ultra-light guys and girls can have it, 25 km days mean that you don't have to carry much between resupply but you also cannot have afternoons off relaxing in your tent! Everyone is different, I guess. If we could, we would hike til 13:00 or 14:00 everyday and camp in a beautiful spot every night. But otherwise we like to mix up long and short days. Tomorrow back to Switzerland!


Wet, wet, wet today! We had a break in the rain to get up and have brekky and set off in rain gear. We had a 400 m climb up the Col de Coux and then we were in Switzerland. The trail followed a stoney track all the way up and we could see how a 4-wheel drive vehicle had pulled off and chained up to get through the churned up mud. After the Col we had a pretty downhill stretch through some nature reserve. We came across a farmhouse and the goats were being let out from the barn on the lower floor. One and then two ventured out into the rain, but the rest of the herd just stood in the doorway and stared out at the rain, not game. We knew how they felt, unfortunately views of the valley were limited by the cloud for all of us. We were halfway through the next climb and stopped for lunch at 11:45. This would be our only break in the day, for about 35 min. We sat underneath some fir trees on dry, slopey ground to eat. Mike was pouring water in the pot from our water bottles to make tea, when DISASTER...his Nalgene bottle rolled away straight down the steep hill! He jumped up and I yelled, " Don't go disappearing over the edge too, leave it if it's too steep!". He yelled back, " No, I can see it!" and climbed down the slope a few metres to where his bottle had miraculously come to rest against a small clump of grass! I could not believe that it was not lost for good! Happy days! We set off with a spring in our step.

Sometimes the rain would stop for a few minutes, but it always started up again. The path was mainly good, even in the wet, not too much mud and the rocks were not slippery. After the climb we descended to the refuge and then followed our last climb up to a hydro-electric dam where we had hoped to camp. I say climb up, but what followed was a series of chains bolted to the rock and an almost veritical rock wall to navigate with their help. It was wet and raining and we arrived at the start of the climb at 13:30, thinking it would take an hour, but it ended up taking over 90 minutes. We were pretty exhausted by the end, it takes a lot of concentration to figure out where to step and where to put your next foot up etc. It was the most technical ascent we have ever hiked. There was a huge amount of water spilling over the dam wall, as the dam was full to overflowing. We continued to climb up the path passed the dam, but this was just normal hiking, no chains required (mostly). When we got to the top, just beneath a glacier we still had not found a camp spot, but a little while later we could see the grass flattened out and we found a great place on flat grass to camp. Mike put the tent up and we got in, unpeeled our wet clothing and got straight into our sleepy clothing, no shower tonight! It has not stopped raining at all all afternoon! We hope it is dry tomorrow, the rain is supposed to ease. The forecast is for snow Thursday. It's Tuesday tomorrow. We saw only one other hiker today, he came towards us over the Col this morning. On Wednesday we plan to catch the Mont Blanc Express back from Salvan to Vernayaz and then set off east through Switzerland. Long day today, over 8 hours with only a 30 min break, 1300 m elevation gain and 900 m elevation loss.


It stopped raining by the time we got up at 06:30, but we wore rain gear anyway as it was overcast or we were in the clouds. We had a 500 m ascent still and as we climbed towards the col it grew ever more barren, first the grass stopped and there were just thistles and then the thistles stopped and it was just black shale and rock and the misty cloud. We were accompanied by a herd of sheep, chattering away to one another as we climbed. We stopped halfway to make some couscous to eat as we were hungry. Every now and then as we sat and ate a wooly head would pop out from behind a rock to check us out. We were being watched! On top of the col was a group of sheep seemingly eating the stones. We started the descent which was quite technical with the chain ropes again and some tricky footwork. The weather down in the valley beneath us was miles better. The land dropped away across a stoney valley into a beautiful lake. There were now many cows grazing which is always good to see as they cannot manage as steep terrain as sheep do!

We had changed into shorts to dry them out and sat in the sun for a hour drying out lots of other stuff. We then completed the descent to Salanfe, the path eventually turning to a track along the flat next to the lake.

We walked beneath the dam wall and started descending into the valley towards Salvan. It was a very pretty and very steep descent made manageable by some steel ladders and wooden steps. It was pretty spruce forest. We have been seeing many mushrooms now that it is autumn. The path curled down in switchbacks and it was a pretty walk beneath sheer rock walls in the clear and sunny afternoon.

Nearing Van d'en Haut there was a picnic area with 4 new picnic tables and benches overlooking the valley. We had planned to get in 4 km more today but following our new policy of letting the camping take priority, we decided to stop there. It was so nice having a table to sit at to cook, eat and plan. We piched the tent around 19:00.


We heard a number of rock falls during the night, far away. Today it was so good to have the table and benches to sit at for breakfast, oats were a little low but we would soon be at a shop! It was an overcast day, but no rain. We set off down the valley passed Van d'en Haut with its little campsite and pretty traditionally Swiss chalet houses, all with different coloured shutters. Beautiful. The path down was very pretty and reasonably graded. The highlight was the walk through Gorges du Dailley, where a team of volunteers have built amazing staircases down the little gorge so that walkers can climb up through the area. Sometimes the space to walk through was so narrow we had to take our water bottles out our side pockets to fit through! The tiny paths are neatly laid with woodchip. At the bottom of the gorge area is a lovely shelter with indoor fireplace used by the volunteers. After all this steep downhill, we hit a flat path which followed the contour. It was a lovely walk. Les Granges is the village before Salvan. Beautiful place. We followed the steep village roads down to Salvan. We went to the bakery as we were both starving and hoped for something to eat. It was already 10:00 and they only had bread available, which is fine but we had nothing to put on it. We went on to the station and bought tickets to Martigny online. We had a half-an-hour wait for the Mont Blanc Express. It was a short trip to Martigny. We had decided to book into a hotel for two nights. We had not had a day off since last Tuesday and funnily enough we arrived in Martigny last Wednesday so it was a full circle, also the weather was going to be wet and windy. Martigny is a lovely town and the Hotel De La Poste is centrally situated. We went to the hotel to find out the rate but ended up booking online with booking.com. Next stop was the Coop where we bought lunch and went to eat at a nearby bench, then the local laundry to wash our clothes. Last time we had down the washing was in Mondane, about 3 weeks ago! We were able to check in around 13:30.

There was a big storm overnight, high winds and things being blown around in the streets of Martigny. Afterwards it was very quiet. Rain was forecast for the next day, but did not materialise. Big white clouds in the sky and some snow was visible on the high mountains overlooking the town. It was cold though, 4 degrees this morning. It's amazing how quickly the weather has changed here! We are looking forward to the next stage, back into the high mountains and colder weather, snow is forecast for Friday. We took a walk to a large sporting/outdoor store and each bought a new merino wool top for an extra layer of warmth when hiking. We also did a resupply at Aldi. We bought lots of high calorie stuff due to the cold and intense climbing to come.


We got the 10:09 train from Martigny to Vernayaz and took the short walk over the Rhone River to Dore'naz. Here we took the 11:00 cable car to Champex. It was so cute and very tiny. It also took 3 km and 600 m of climbing out of the equation! There did not seem to be anyone around to buy a ticket from, although we had a look at the office. There was a little waiting room at the cable car and we sat in there. About 5 min before the cable car was due to leave, a bloke in overalls came out of the office and called us over. We had discount passports from the hotel at Martigny. These are issued by the town and have all kinds of discounts off activities and restaurants etc. There was a 30% discount off the cable car. I showed the bloke our books; "Non!" he said. Then Mike tried to pay with his card; "Non!" the bloke replied again. So we paid with cash. Then he gestured we could wait at the cable car entrance. The gate unlocks automatically and then you pull the door shut to lock it again behind you. There was just enough space for the two of us to sit down on the little bench, then it set off. Quite a fun experience! Wow! It gained some height pretty quickly and we left the Rhone Valley behind us. About halfway up it stopped and just hung there for a couple of minutes. Maybe so we could take photos, Mike mused. At Champex we got out, into another tiny waiting room. We sat down to have something to eat and could see dark clouds billowing in across the valley. It started to rain a bit and then to snow. This had been forecast so we were expecting it. In fact, it was due to snow until this evening. Mainly it was raining, so we decided to stay in the little room to try to wait out the worst. After about an hour it seemed lighter, so we put on our wet weather gear and set off.

Wow! Is all we could say. A 1 000 m elevation gain in 3.5 km does not come easy! It was super-steep, 29 %. It took ages, well about 3 and a half hours. I don't think my calf muscles will ever be the same! Mike suprised 2 chamois lurking in a dimly lit forest as he came around the corner. The track wound through beautiful forest and the snow got heavier the higher we climbed. It was such a novel experience for us, we loved it! The whiteness collected on everything and grew deeper underfoot. The best part about it is it does not make you wet! We only took one short break and got to a flat spot to camp after 3.5 km of climbing. There had been some other options but we wanted to make it to this point. We got the tent up and got into it as quickly as possible. As we had stopped walking we had cooled down. We had great dinner! First day out of a town the food is aways great! We have 60 km to go to our next resupply and our packs were heavy with food on the climb! I carried over 1 kg of chocolate! It will be so worth it. The snow has continued since we got into the tent. Every now and then a breeze comes up and blows off clumps of it that slide down onto the ground. It's weird sleeping on snow. Everything is dry but very cold. We know that after today the weather improves again and even becomes sunny and warm.


It snowed all night. A couple of times during the night, Mike smacked and shook the tent to dislodge snow that had accumulated on the roof and at our feet end. The tent did really well and we were comfortable. I should mention that we purchased Cumulus sleeping bags for this trip. This is a Polish brand and the quality of fabric and down is topnotch. The bags are really light, around 400 g and for their weight, exceptionally warm. You never overheat in them as the down and fabric are so light and seem to allow airflow, but they keep you warm. However, the ones we have are probably only rated to around zero or -1 comfort and it was colder than that last night. We were happy. The bags are supplemented by our Thermarest NeoAir XTherm mattresses which retain our bodies warmth well. The combination is working well, particularly on nights like last night when we camped on the snow.

The morning dawned clear. We were happy, even some blue sky. We got going around 08:30 after cooking in the vestibule, there being nowhere to sit in the snowy outdoors. We were often cold during the day but never wet. Our boots spent most of their time covered in snow so our feet were pretty chilly. We had a climb first thing to the col, the views were beautiful. It's the dream, isn't it? Hiking in the snowy Swiss Alps on a clear day? The reality was to give us a good kick shortly. From the get go it was difficult to find and stay on the path as the whole place was just blanketted in pure white snow. Even getting out of the tent was tricky due to the mound of snow at the door. Mike is a brilliant navigator and our mapping program is excellent, so kudos to him for keeping us on an invisible track. Easier for me as I only had to follow his footprints in the snow! As we came over the high point we gazed on a steep slope descending before us, no path visible, no markings even. From the map there were tight switchbacks, but they were invisible. Off we went. Mike blazed the trail through mostly knee deep and often thigh deep snow. It was very hard going. We both fell over a number of times. It is a crazy feeling when you put your foot down and your entire leg just disappears through the snow. You kind of hope it will come to a stop! We saw an ibex on the hill and Mike saw a wolf skulking from rock to rock. After we finally got through the steep descent the path was made a bit more obvious by the other hikers on it coming towards us. They all looked pretty surprised by the snow! They also all turned up a path earlier than our descent to the refuge Du Demecre. At the bottom of the climb we stopped for our first rest. It was just before 13:00 and we couldn't believe how long it had taken to walk 5.5 km. We sat at a water fountain and had lunch and made tea. We were unsure what to do, our path went right and climbed further, although not as high as we had been. Otherwise we could drop down this valley and camp somewhere, walking a lower elvation. We could see Lausanne from up high this morning, on the lake. We decided to continue on our route and see if we could get to a point another 4.5 km away. Crazy, isn't it? Walking 10 km in a day, yet it felt like a challenge! We got going and had another invisible path scenario, then crossed what would have been a gully or maybe small stream and found ourselves thigh deep again in snow. We were pretty much at our limit when we rounded a bend and saw what lay ahead. We just felt it was unrealistic to safely manage the climb, we could see there were chains to use but they lay just above the snow with no idea what lay beneath. The chamois grazed up high on the hillside. We turned our back on our route and turned around, back passed the water fountain which had now stopped running, which meant that we would be melting snow for water. This is one great advantage of the snow, there is always water, you just have to work a little to get it! We followed the valley downhill and found a flat spot under some now dripping fir trees to camp. After melting snow and having some tea we got into bed. What a day, it was already after 17:00.

We have decided to take a lower route to try to get further along our direction. Although there is no more snow forecast, it looks like the snow that is here will stick around for a while. Around 18:00 we heard the roar of an avalanche from the direction in which we would have been hiking had we not turned back. Phew, correct decision! That sound makes us nervous!


I woke up around midnight, call of nature. The trees had stopped dripping so we knew it was freeziing point or below. Difficult to open the zip at the outer tent door as it was frozen. Cold morning waking up, the tent was iced, the pole segments frozen. We got up at 07:00, probably should be getting up later but there is a lot to do in a day! We got onto the trail at about 08:45 and headed off on the lower elevation path as we decided. This took us passed Chalet Neuf and we were looking at the map on the sign pole when a Frenchman came along and we got chatting. We told him that we had turned back and he confirmed that this was the correct decision. He had sought advice on the route at the Cabane Du Demecre and they had told him not to think of attempting that section without crampons as it was too dangerous, so we were vindicated in that. He was on his way to Cabane de la Tourche. He said that this much snow in September is very unusual. We stopped at the next refuge along to have a snack and change into shorts, such was the improvement in the weather! The sun was out and views of the Rhone Valley were beautiful. The mountains were very crisp and clear. The snow was much less down here, mainly slushy on the path. We chatted to another group of girls at the refuge who were quite surprised that we were camping. It doesn't seem like anyone else is. We had a climb through a herd of sheep and at the top their guard dog came to say hello to us (very friendly) and we also said "hi" to the shepherd. A nice walk along the contour brought us to a lovely picnic area with stone tables and benches and a water fountain. It was fenced so the sheep stayed out. We could see two blokes making their way down from the high route which we had abandoned while three made their way up. The two came to the picnic area also and we had a chat to them. They were young and from Lausanne (just down the valley), they were well-equipped with climbing ropes, ice axes and other hardwear. They had gone up in the night as the snow is harder then and had not needed crampons. They had overnighted there in an old military barracks which is still set up for hikers/climbers to use free of charge, you only have to pay 2 CHF if you want firewood. Apparently there are four such accommodations in mountains in the area. We also met a Brazilian man who lives in Switzerland and came to do some climbing but as he was on his own and the snow was deep he had decided it was too much risk. We had our lunch at this lovely spot and then headed off to where we woud rejoin the high route at Cabane de la Tourche.

When we got to the turn off we could see the path following switchbacks, although it was under snow. We saw switchbacks again higher up, but in between and over some craggy mountainside must have been a path we couldn't see. Also there were no footprints in the snow indicating that anyone had come over that route today or yesterday. This was the clincher. The high path and the low path both went to Pont-De-Nant, in apparently the same amount of time (just over 4 hours), but the high path first went to 2 600 m and so it seemed the high path involved too much risk again. As well as it would have been much colder up there in the snow and wind.

The low path was pretty uneventful. It descended steeply down to a river where we had a break and then climbed up through some forest. It was all so completely diifferent to yesterday with the thigh deep snow! We stopped to filter water at the next river as we hoped to camp soon, however the path was very narrow from here and the forest around dropped away steeply. After 2 km we came to a shelter which was very nice but no camping was allowed so we kept going downhill, steeply again until we found some flat forest in a great spot to camp. It was a pretty eventful day, ending up in a completely different sort of place to where we started!


We packed and set off, stopping at some benches a k' or two on to make brekky. New invention...the oats we bought this time would be called "steel cut" at home. They were rough, so do not absorb the water like our beloved French variety. Mike was carrying a quarter bag of cornflakes from our hotel stay. Today we chucked in cornflakes with the oats and what a great combo that was! We enjoyed our breakfast. It was steep downhill through forest to Pont-De-Nant where there was a bin at the car park! Happy days. Glass jam jar thrown away plus small bag of garbage. Pack felt a kilo lighter! The hike from Pont-De-Nant to the end of our day was really good. Three climbs, all reasonable and two descents, one pretty steep. The landscape was glacial valley. Very beautiful, flat lightly grassed ground kept nice and short by sheep and goats grazing. We stopped off at a goat fromagery where the young woman who made the cheese was so friendly and we bought a little cheese. She took me into the fromagery to choose one and there were many cheeses, such variety of sizes. She lived there with her goats, who were also very friendly. When the heavy snow falls she moves down to Pont-De-Nant. We passed a refuge and then stopped for lunch. It was just a perfect day, a little overcast, some remaining snow from the other day, we really enjoyed the walking. After passing the second refuge we were keen to camp up the climb or at the Col, however camping was not allowed as it was some sort of reserve. They can be hard to pick with cows grazing. We descended the col, steep downhill, looking for camping as this was no longer a reserve. There were very pretty cows, pale milky brown with very hairy ears. Nearby Mike spied good camping on the river, we went down the hill and crossed the river and the campspot was very good. We had a river swim! Our first since Samoens. It was very cold after but we are very clean. We enjoyed the goat's milk cheese.


We had the warmest night in ages last night. We have grown used to everything being quite damp inside the tent by morning, eg. bottoms of sleeping bags and the underneath of whatever is placed on the floor of the tent. But this morning the tent was dry and we had both warmed up really well during the night. We set off without brekky, crossed the stream again and continued downhill to Lac de Derborence and the refuge which overlooked it. The refuge had a charging station for electric bikes which was a bonus and we charged our battery. It was pretty quiet. We sat on a wooden log and made breakfast. The lake is beautiful, deep emerald green and surrounded by mountains. We though maybe the refuge was empty, but from about 08:30 a few people wandered out to go get breakfast in another building. Without exception they were miserable. They could not even respond to our cheery "bonjour!" well, a few were German so that could not be helped but a couple of Brits we saw yesterday just looked right through me. Weird! After breakfast we set off, going slightly uphill on a lovely path. It crossed through a couple of small settlements, dairy farms and over some small streams.

The climb up to Col du Sanetsch is massive and it took it's toll on us. The first part gets steeper and steeper until just when your feet start to ache with the effort of forward propulsion, the path enters a canyon with huge vertical sides. There are metal handles to assist you move up through the space and then later chains and even later still, ladders. The thing is, I often think in these sorts of climbs, "I am so grateful that my legs are not 10 cm shorter". Honestly, if they were, there would be step-ups I could not reach. You also need to leave room between you and the person in front (Mike) as naturally they will dislodge rocks as they go which you want to avoid. When Mike got to the top I heard him chatting and could see another couple. The were Canadians from Quebec and very friendly. They were a little worried about the descent. Let's just say that we could not imagine the down, apart from the chains the rest was so steep going down would have been terrible.

We took a rest on top and had lunch and took almost an hour off. We still had two hours and 450 m to climb to the top of the Col. We set off but our hearts and our feet weren't in it! We were too tired after the morning's effort! It was already 14:00 and we would probably have three more hours of walking, including rests. We don't mind walking to 17:00 but we do mind having to hunt around for a campsite once we reach our end point. We crossed a stream and entered a lovely meadow with ample camping and decided to stop there for the day. It was so sunny and lovely to relax in the sunshine for the afternoon.


Frosty morning! Clear skies. As we climbed up the valley we saw a herd of very big ibex up on the hillside. It was a quiet morning, three hours had passed before anyone came towards us, a group of four hikers. The climbing was reasonable but there was some rock hopping and a very steep section to navigate on our bums. We dropped down to the lake and got the cable car down to Gsteig, a picture perfect Swiss village. We were 20 min early for the little grocery store which opened after lunch at 13:30. Except apparently on Wednesdays when it did not open in the afternoons. We use google maps to make note of shop opening and closing times, if closed on Sundays, how long closed for lunch etc. It's our only option. We look at our route map and the villages or towns we will pass through and then find the supermarket or store in that place. The tiny places do not have websites, you pretty muuch have to trust google. Mostly it works. So today google had the store opening after lunch at 13:30. The sign on the door disagreed. Pity on us! We had a few k's to walk uphill from the village. We planned to camp at the top of the climb. We had not much food now having last resupplied 6 days ago; three small sides of couscous, mayonnaise in a tube, curry mango sauce, a tube of honey, coffee and tea and a roll of mentos sweets. We felt "tres dissolate" as we left Gsteig.

Our path ran prettily up the hill alongside ridiculously green grass pastures and cows. We stopped to make tea and gain some perspective. We would eat all three sachets of couscous tonight with mayo and curry mango sauce for extra flavour. This works out to about 350 ml of cooked food each so not much. Then Lauenen also has a small store where we can get food tomorrow, if we can trust google of course. It will be about an hour's walk from where we were going to camp. So no breakfast until we got there but that was alright. It was only a tiny store but we have our first in a long series of Coops from Lenk onwards and Lenk is only the following day. We got to where we planned to camp and found a reasonably flat area, had a shower using water we had picked up from a trough fountain earlier and had our dinner. Now need to relax and get to bed before we feel hungry!


Such a weird animal noise last night. At first we thought it was a cow or a bull but it started after dark and went on all night. It must have been a boar. There were two, one seemed to answer the other. We were up as soon as the alarms went off. Got to get down the hill to Lauenen and brekky! It had been a pretty cold night. It took an hour to get to the village and it was very pretty. Walking down the hill passed a construction site I said "bonjour" to a bloke working there and he replied "bonjour" however the next bloke said "gote morgen" and from now on this is the standard greeting, or just "morge". It seems we have left the Swiss-French sector and entered the Swiss-German sector. All the place names and street names are now German. We like it! We made a beeline for the grocery store. Happy days! A box of Frosty Flakes and milk for brekky and a local chocolate yoghurt for dessert. We also got a local bread (still warm) which weighed a kilogram, 6 eggs, chocolate and Oreo biscuits. Even in a teeny store like this the chocolate selection was pretty highbrow. We sat on a bench nearby to eat and let Solly do some charging. After this refueling break it was UP the hill to Trutlisbergpass. The climb was mostly through pastures like yesterday and the weather was beautiful, the sun was out and we had changed into our shorts again. We stopped at a handy bench to make some tea. Switzerland is full of benches. They are everywhere you would need one!

There were many water fountains to use and we did not have to carry much. Very near the top there was another one and we hard boiled our eggs there so as not to have to carry extra water up the hill. It grew very steep towards the top of the pass and we are camping at over 2 000 m again. We have a lovely campspot here above the farmland, we are eye-to-eye with the high mountains again. We set up camp at 14:00 and at 15:00, just as predicted it started to rain. We have had a lovely relaxing afternoon in our tent.


The track down to Lenk was muddy in places so not as quick as we thought it would be. We came across two blokes repairing the trail which was pretty cool to see. They had replaced some wooden footbridges over swampy places and also they dug up rocks to stabilise the path. We met a Swiss hiker coming towards us who lived in Lausanne. He said that he was unable to walk from Griesalp to Kandersteg due to snow. They had closed the route. Maybe it would be different when we got there in a few days time? We are really keen to walk this section as it has the highest point on the whole Via Alpina - Hohturlipass, 2 767 m. The highlight was when the track followed a river canyon full of potholes formed by the pounding water. There were bridges, staircases and handrails put in to aid walkers. It was pretty amazing. We dropped into pretty Lenk and headed for the Coop Supermarket. We can't quite express the joy of going into a supermarket two days in a row! The town of Lenk is typically Swiss. Everything is built in the carved wooden style that you will know from any Swiss village or town you have been to or seen pictures of. Everything is immaculate, the hanging floral baskets and gardens with variety of flowers are beautiful. We arrived just before 12:00. Mike needed to get some more fuel for the stove. It is called Essence C in France where we have bought it twice. The stove has actually been going really well, it's very fuel efficient. He popped into the outdoor store to ask, the assistant seemed unsure what he was asking for but suggested the pharmacy was the place to look. We were going to the pharmacy anyway for antihistamine. Our coughs have completely gone now, well Mike's nighttime cough has not returned for two nights in a row, which is great. We take antihistamine every night which seems to work. However in Switzerland, and actually it was the same in Italy, they only sell 10 in a box. I ask you! These people have obviously never been to Australia where people live on antihistamine all year round. We buy Clarityne at home in boxes of 96 for like $40.00. We bought two boxes of 10 today for the equivalent Australian dollars. They do work though which is good. The pharmacy assistant could sell us about 200 ml of "white gas" fuel for 4 CHF. Seemed steep. So we went to Coop to buy lunch and dinner. Delicious. 1KG of ruchebrot (really good bread, we had it yesterday), cheese, tomato, chicken, chocolate pudding, cold espressos times 4, chocolate. By the time we had sat down in the sun in the square is was after 12 and all the shops (except Coop) were closed for lunch. It was really quiet. Solly charged stuff and we ate stuff. By 13:00 we could barely move but we set off. First stop was fuel. We had decided to get petrol for the stove and filled up the fuel bottle for less than 1 CHF. Winner.

It was an 800 m climb to Hahnenmoospass, but we would climb about 700 m to just passed Buhlberg. We are getting used to these climbs out of Swiss towns. They even have a warm place in our hearts. You just go BAM uphill, crazy steep, through pastures, passed friendly cows (one young bull slobbered all over me and wanted to nibble my walking pole yesterday), passed surprised cows, passed homes and chalets, up and up. There was a gondola to Buhlberg but it was not running. There was also a bus, but it was okay to do the climb. It was pretty muddy in places. A few people passed us coming down. We reached Buhlberg, which has a busstop and restaurant, after about 2 hours. Jeez, our lunch did a number on us! Too much food, so our tummies couldn't choose between digestion or momentum. We rested at Buhlberg, convenient E-Bike charging station meant we could charge our phones quickly. We set off to climb towards the pass. Not far up we passed through some fir trees, followed a track to our left and found a flat space beneath them to camp. There is a water trough just nearby so it was easy to get shower water.


As we turned back onto the main route this morning, we saw a little old lady washing her hands in the stream. We said "morgen" and she responded. Going up the rest of the climb to Hahnenmoospass, I turned to see her quite close behind me so waited and then we walked together, chatting. Mike was a little ahead. Her name was Rene' and she lived in Lenk. She was originally from Thun, village of many churchbells which Mike and I had cycled through on our way to Interlaken in 2013. A keen birder, she walks up here from Lenk everyday in summer and even takes a dip in the lake which is used for the snow machines in winter. The snow machines were dotted all over the landscape, pretty impressive infrastructure for leisure. She said in the last 10 years the amount of snow had decreased so much that if it wasn't for the snow machines, there would be no skiing. She also said that a week ago, day of the thigh-deep snow for us at Col du Demecre, the snow up here was halfway up her calves. It has disappeared entirely from the paths and lower reaches. I had to ask her her age as she had no trouble matching my pace. "70" she replied. I was impressed, she said that she was lucky. She turned further uphill while we went downhill towards Adelboden.

There are many skilifts in this area and we could've taken a lift down to Adelboden, but the wallking was very easy along really good paths. It was a beautiful day. Our first in ages which we had put shorts on from the start. It stayed sunny all day. The trail was pretty busy, good weather and a Saturday. It was strange as we actually went uphill to Adelboden. It was very touristy, we didn't like it. The people cramming the streets from one gift store to another were pretty miserable. We went to Coop supermarket to shop for today and also tomorrow. We would arrive in Kandersteg tomorrow, but will not go into the town proper as it will be Sunday and many shops will be closed. After shopping we went to the recreation area to relax and eat (more espresso and chocolate pudding but we saved the rest for later!). We left the town at 12:30, first going downhill to the river, before starting our climb to Bunderchrinde which sits over 2 400 m . We would not reach it today, instead camping about 300 m below it, still over 2 000 m.

The climb was first on a sealed road, for nearly 2 km, then on paths. Very steep but the views were outstanding. Perfect weather, emerald green vertical pastures, rugged mountains and blue sky. The odd cow. In two hours we had climbed nearly 600 m and took a long break. In another hour we were at our planned end point, we could see the rest of our climb over the top and we could sit in the sun, admiring the view, watching Adelboden drift into shadows below. Our campspot is very near an cow shelter and there is a waterpipe we could use to fill our showerbag and drink from. It is a perfect campsite! We also heard back from our accomodation in Kandersteg for Sunday and Monday. Kandersteg is home to the International Scout Centre. It's a pretty big deal and very important to the scouting movement. You can stay there as a non-scout in proper indoor accommodation with shared bathroom. They host all sorts of jamborees and events through the year. We are looking forward to our stay. Mike is brushing up on his knots and other scouting skills.


It was a slightly overcast morning and as we still had just less than 300 m to climb, we wore longs. The climb was pretty slow and pretty tough. It grew very steep towards the top, cutting through scree slope. There were switchbacks in the steepest section and also some snow still lay in the path which became iced and very slippery so I detoured off trail a bit after Mike struggled on the snow. From the top the views were remarkable. Going down was all kinds of steep and we met Julian soon after starting our descent. He was a really nice bloke, Swiss-French from Montreux, on the same lake as Lausanne. He started walking in Buchs (where we plan to end) however when that snow fell on us after Martigny it fell here too and he had to abandon the trail and return home for three days until conditions improved. He said that one of the big climbs after Kandersteg had been very difficult for him as the switchbacks were still under snow. He thought it would be better going in our direction. So that is something! He was hoping to get to Lenk today. That is pretty far! But the path from Adelboden to Lenk was very good. We remarked on the change in Switzerland going from the French region to the German region and he said that Swiss people identify that too. We told him how we loved the bread, so much so that we can't believe the bread that we buy at home! It must seem so strange to European tourists. He said that he had travelled to Australia and understood what we meant.

We had lots and lots of descending to do to Kandersteg, 1 200 m. Some of it was on a path that felt like a spiral staircase in the end, it just kept curling down. Quite a few people were coming up for the day. We could see the valley floor all the time below us with it's river and green pastures. Eventually we reached it, only to drop further through some woodland until we finally came to Kandersteg and the International Scout Centre. It is a very beautiful area though, sheer rock walls and the Kander River rushing through it all. In all, the 8 km descent took around 5 hours! It was very scenic though. Mike even gave himself a headshave about halfway through. Pretty picturesque spot for it!

It was fantastic staying at the International Scout Centre. It is run by young volunteers and they are very helpful. We sat at benches outside until we could check in from 14:00 and had our lunch. Our room was on the first floor and there was a shared bathroom. However all the rooms were empty except for the one next door to ours and so I had the bathroom to myself and as we barely saw the other guy, so did Mike. Our room was a good size, with three single beds. They supply bedding. We had a view of the river. You can have all your meals here if you want to and book ahead, you can even order all sorts of food in bulk like cornflakes, milk, black beans, all sorts. There is a row of little kitchens and you can hire one. It is a really novel accommodation style. You can imagine it is super popular in summer. It was far cheaper than any hotel in the town and extremely comfortable accommodation.

We were absolutely exhausted after 10 days of hiking. Body sore. The hot hot showers helped a lot! As did the early night. We took the bus into town on our rest day to buy brekky and food for the day. It was a bad weather day, rain was forecast all day so it was really convenient to have the day off. As we were staying in the town we had free bus trips so that was great. The public transport in Switzerland is fabulous. You can get a train or bus, cable car or gondola almost anywhere. We could be doing this hike by walking a little each day and then catching some mode of transport. However it is very expensive. You can get a half-price fare card but it is a big capital expense (USD 160) so you need to be sure that you will use it a lot. As an example, the bus fare today for less than 2 km trip from here to the supermarket would have been 3.80 CHF each one way. We had a great day resting.


The morning looked promising, the view of the surrounding mountains was clear and there were patches of blue sky. We felt pretty excited for the day ahead, climbing up to the highest point on the Via Alpina, Hohtürli at 2778 m. We cooked brekky outside at the undercover tables and then packed up and cleaned our room. There is a cleaning cupboard with disinfectant to wipe down the surfaces and a vacuum cleaner. You have to strip the beds and drop the linen in a laundry basket downstairs. There are detailed instructions for all this. Good scouting discipline! We didn't mind, the cost to stay here is half the price of a hotel. We went to wait for the bus to town and about 30 scouts descended on the busstop, going on an outing. Even though we were the first people at the busstop we ended up without seats as these kids just piled onto the bus. As Mike said, "They failed their Good Manners Badge". We got off the bus at the train station as the Coop is nearby. We had about 30 min to wait till the bus to the Oeschinensee Gondola station. I went to the Coop to pick up some things for the next three days to Murren (most important was chocolate, 700 g) and as I was walking back Mike signalled to me to hurry. There was an earlier bus leaving in 2 minutes so that was good. Initially we had planned to walk from Kandersteg, however now we have a weather problem in that Thursday might see as much as 30 mm of rain, and it's Tuesday today. So we need to hotfoot it to Murren. We have two high passes left on the trail, Hohtürli and Sefinenfurgge (2 600 m) and we know from other walkers that the higher reaches are under some snow. Sefinenfurgge, although lower is more difficult to walk due to the snow, for those hikers going in the opposite direction anyway. We could not run the risk of more snow. So we decided to take the gondola, which cuts down the climb from 1 700 m to 1 300 m. We got a discount with the card we got from the Scout Centre. It was a very quick and very fun ride up. Oeschinensee is very popular with tourists due to the amazing blue colour of the lake. We left the lake area quite quickly and were onto the climb immediately.

There were a few day walkers on the climb and some multi-day hikers. One couple were Californians and they were terrific, as all Californians are in our experience. The climb was intimidating to look at. Very rocky, with small glaciers up high that crumbled from time to time, shedding blocks of pale blue ice crashing loudly into the valley below. It was all dark grey shale and white snow. The snow was sometimes on the path but not deep. I took a slide off the path on my front when my foot slid away. Got a bit grubby on my entire front! When we got to the top, we met two trail runners, Mischa and friend, from Interlaken who had run here from Lauterbrunen and would continue on to Kandersteg. This seemed amazing to us, the distance! All in one day! Mischa has invited us to stay with him in Interlaken, which was really kind and unexpected! He did make a pointed glance at my muddy front and suggested we could do laundry. We are not planning on going to Interlaken, but you never know.

Over the top it was STEEP down, for a long while on wooden ladders with rope handrails which we had to take backwards. After the ladders came a bit of snow and we each slipped and fell down. Walking in footprinted snow is not enjoyable at all. The bottom of the footprint ices and is very slippery and so you have no faith that your next footstep is going to grip. As we walked down we could firstly see the green valley and then the cloud came in and everything was misty. We turned off right towards Sefinenfurgge instead of taking the roue via Griesalp as we would save a km doing this. We crossed a river and filtered water into our water bag. We were observed from up high by a herd of deer. We walked a bit further to a small depression where we could camp out of sight. We managed a cold shower and then a mug of tea to warm up. By the time we had dinner inn the tent at 18:00 it was raining. It rained lightly for about an hour. We are worried about the snow increasing on the next climb. Anyway, it's only 7 km away and we can always walk back here if it is unsafe and then take a bus from Griesalp. The Californians we met did say the snow made that climb harder than Hohtürli. The trail runners warned against it if there was more snow. We hope it is okay!


Everything was covered in a thin layer of ice this morning, the tent outer, the grass, our walking poles and even Mike's pack which was in an airy section of the vestibule. It must have been very cold over night. The skies were clear and poking our heads out the tent we got our first glimpse of the mountains surrounding our tent as last night we were in the cloud. Wow - it was a beautiful spot! We were happy with the clear weather but woke a little apprehensive for the day ahead. Yesterday's climb and descent were difficult and today's might be harder, who knows? Other people's perspective is not always applicable to your situation, particularly if you are travelling the opposite way. We were a bit worried that the rain that had fallen last night might have produced more snow higher up. We set off soaking in the views and soon forgot to be apprehensive in the face of such spectacular mountain scenery. It felt a bit momentous, our last day in the high mountains. We would still have mountain passes to climb but not the heights of these, yesterday 2 778 m, today 2 598 m. The path we had chosen was perfect, this is the thing with paths here, they are all good! Two young blokes passed us, ice axes in their backpacks, heading off on an alpine route. There are many glaciers up here. We descended into a river valley and saw some of the herd of deer from last night. We crossed the river via a footbridge and headed along the track. The first part of our climb would be on a rough track and that helps. We passed a small farm where the cows were being given a shower using a high pressure hose. They didn't like it. The 1 000 m climb up Sefinenfurgge was actually enjoyable. The views and scenery were stunning and we were treated to a fly over by two military fighter planes. They zoomed through the valley and overhead. We saw them again later. We saw 4 other hikers today, coming down the hill. Quite a change from the busy trails we have had lately!

The top part of the climb was under snow, but you could mostly walk on the exposed part of the path where the snow had melted or follow in other's footsteps in the snow. The snow was quite hard and not often icy. The very top of the climb is via a series of wooden ladders with a rope handrail. This was fine. From the top we had views both sides and were blown away to see the Schilthorn just nearby. When we cycled through Switzerland in 2013 we camped below here somewhere (Camping Rütti, Stechelberg) and took the gondola up to the Schilthorn. We remember it so clearly, stepping out into deep snow on the viewing platform and marvelling at how high we were in the mountains! Now we have walked here! As Mike said, it would not have surprised him if he had had to walk there too as part of the Via Alpina. We did pass a sign for the walking route to the Schilthorn earlier today, but it was BLUE signalling an alpine route which we are not equipped for!

We descended the mountain for a couple of kilometres before finding a really good campsite tucked away behind a small ridge. The descent was also much better than yesterday's, although a bit of snow (mostly avoidable) and some quite slidey shale which was a bit tricky. We walked back down to the river to filter water. We still had our evening shower (freezing but worth it) and had hot tea and jam sandwiches sitting outside, until the cloud rolled over the pass towards us. Tomorrow is the big rain day. We are about 9 km from Mürren. Depending on when the heavy rain comes through we might stay here a bit, or a lot, or leave in the morning. There are hunters about today, we watched a pair walk into the hills. We saw two ibex walk across the snow high up later on. Just after getting into the tent the rain started.


Very heavy rain last night, along with pretty strong wind gusts. Mike got up to put extra pegs in. Suddenly it dawned on us that we were still over 2 300 m so snow was not out of the question. I was pretty happy poking my head out of the tent this morning to see only the grass around us, no white coating! It was still raining when our alarms went off and we had decided last night that we would have a late start. Weather forecast predicted heavy rain until midday and then things would ease off until about 18:00 when the rain would start again. We relaxed for a few hours and then noticed that it seemed a bit brighter outside. We decided to get organised slowly, Mike cooked brekky just outside the open tent and we got ready for the day. We got going around 10:00. We did not even need all our wet weather gear. Making our way back to the path over some marshy ground, I stepped over a tiny stream and put my foot down on what looked like gravel, "phumph" went my foot right through the surface into grey gravelly mush up to my knee. I yelled out in surprise. Luckily I could pull my leg out, the mud seemed to suck on to it. Of course my leg and boot were totally coated in thick grey mud. We got to the nearest river and I got the boot off for Mike to wash off and I washed the one trouser leg. Then we got going again!

We had seen a tent on higher land near ours and there were two people outside it. As we walked along we saw that two blokes were coming up behind us. We got chatting and these were the two who had been at the tent. They were young Germans and were actually due to try to get over Sefinenfurgge today, but had got too wet overnight in their tent with the rain and being unsure with the heavy rain today, were turning back to stay at the nearest hiking hut, Rotstockhütte. They were good to chat to. Coming towards us were a couple of British blokes who were going over Sefinenfurgge today and had questions about conditions. It was a relief to be the people who had the information instead of the people asking the questions. We feel we should say whenever we see hikers wearing trail shoes at these altitudes it makes us wonder what it would feel like plunging your foot and leg into those icy footsteps! Brrrr.

We were descending all day today, first to Mürren and then to Lauterbrunen. The route here is well-used being very popular and we still had pretty good views, albeit through the misty clouds. Massive waterfalls everywhere! Mürren is only reachable by train from Lauterbrunen or gondola from Stechelberg or the Schilthorn or by foot or bicycle. It is car free and popular with tourists who were milling around looking in shops as tourists do. We bought some stuff for lunch and ate undercover near a lookout site. The walk continued towards Lauterbrunen, first along the rail line and then steep downhill but on a good path. At first we thought we might make it passed Wengen today, but the drizzle started up again around 16:00 and we were keen to stay dry. There are three shelters along the route between Mürren and Lauterbrunen and by the third one we decided to overnight there. It was perfect as there was a bench to sit on outside undercover and then a basic wooden hut to sleep in. Perfect for us! We had tea, eggs, popcorn and chocolate for supper and were in bed by 20:00. Still raining. Only 1 km to Lauterbrunen.


It was pretty snug in the little wooden hut. We slept with the door open and hung our packs from two very sturdy nails which had been knocked into the central roof beam. We were a little nervous of them falling down in the night so we slept one on either side of floor space beneath them. We hung the packs as little snug wooden huts often attract rodents which come out at night and chew holes through your pack looking for anything from food to lipbalm. But we needn't have worried, there were no scurries of footsteps during the night. As we bedded down for the night we nearly jumped out of our skins as there was a sort of load groaning collapse nearby and the ground shook. Not good! We both shrieked, "What was that?". We never found out. Mike got up in the early hours of the morning to find his mattress had lost a lot of air overnight. His mattress has been strange all trip. Mine has been perfect. We both have Thermarest NeoAir mattresses, as I have mentioned. Mine is as inflated by morning as it was when I went to bed. His always gets a little soft. We aren't sure if this would be a valve leak or what. Can't be a slow puncture as it has been happening all the time on the hike and until now has not been getting worse. Anyhow, he ended up putting air in it twice last night and by morning he was nearly on the ground. So, must be a puncture. We know from experience that these can be really hard to find. He inflated the matt hard and took it outside to the bench, then dribbled some water over it, wiping the water into the folds. Nothing on the bottom, which is where you would expect a puncture to be. Flipped the matt over to check the top and sure enough, right there around his chest position on the mattress, a puncture! We carry Gear Aid glue and repair tape so over breakfast in Lauterbrunen he fixed it. Luckily the weather was okay as you have to let to repair dry out, we do this by rolling the flat mattress up in such a way that you can pack it in your pack rear pocket with the repaired spot sticking out to dry.

it was only about 1 km to Lauterbrunen from the hut, all downhill, and we arrived at the Coop before the 08:00 opening time. We hung around the town a bit and went to the train station to use the bathroom. The train station was already busy with tourists. Actually, Lauterbrunen was busy with tourists. Since Mürren it seems as if everyone is American. We picked up some Frosty Flakes and milk for brekky at Coop and as we came out we saw the two German blokes we met yesterday on the trail! They had slept on the train station in Lauterbrunen last night after coming in from the trail. They were heading home today. We sat in the church grounds and had breakfast, Mike repaired his mattress and we headed off to Wengen. It was a 500 m climb to Wengen, steep but on a brilliant proper gravel track. Actually, we were on this type of road all day today. Hope it lasts! We know that this part of the trail sees high foot traffic so maybe the trails are going to be like this! It wound up to Wengen along a series of switchbacks through pretty forest. We saw a few trains heading to Kleine Scheidegg or beyond or back. The angle that the trains pull up the hill is amazing. The train tracks actually have a gearing system in the middle.

We arrived in Wengen at 10:00 and it was beautiful in the sunshine. We sat at a bench in the park for a couple of hours and had lunch and Solly charged things in the sunshine. Some people from Vancouver came to chat to us. We set off again at 12 to climb another 800 m along the perfect track to Kleine Scheidegg. Many people take the train up and then walk back down the hill, so we had lots of people walking towards us down the hill saying hello. The day ended up pretty overcast and it rained a bit but we sometimes caught glimpses of the high mountains. At around 14:30 we were at Kleine Scheidegg which is really just a train station, coffee shop/restaurant and souvenir store. It was pretty misty up there. We used the bathrooms and then picked up our trail over the train line, down the hill. The landscape up here is beautiful with all the berry bushes turning autumn red and orange. We found a place to camp off the trail and pitched the tent quickly as rain was starting. We had a quick wash in the nearby stream before getting into the tent. Mike's puncture repair to his mattress was good, however the mattress is still going flat so there must be another puncture, which is impossible to find inside a tent when it is raining outside.


Mike had a rough night what with his mattress going flat all the time and having to pump it up. We were warm in the tent but each of us got up seperately (call of nature) to see the Eiger completely clear behind us and the sky full of stars. A small animal of some sort (field mouse?) scurried around the vestibule, crinkling through our tiny garbage bag and some other small food bags. Maybe it was just looking for a winter home as morning came and with it snow. We heard the soft flutter of it as it hit the tent. We decided to make breakfast in the tent as it continued snowing. When we ventured out all the autumn reds and oranges we had seen yesterday were hidden under a white blanket. We were back onto the stoney gravel track for our walk into Grindelwald. Beautiful morning as the snow stopped and the gondolas whizzed overhead to the Eiger. The views of the valley right down into Grindelwald were stunning as the white frosted mountains encircled it. When we passed our second water trough we decided to get into the puncture hunt with Mike's mattress and Mike submerged it section by section until we either saw bubbles (the first one) or heard the high pitch sound of air escaping (the second one). So all up he had three punctures! We assume the teeny one had probably been there all trip, accounting for the slightly soft mattress each night, but the other two must have been picked up in the last two nights. Anyhow, the trough was right near a small shelter and Mike repaired the punctures there. We set off again, so happy that the puncture situation was behind us!

As we walked, the train ferrying excited tourists from Grindelwald onwards passed us a number of times. The trail was great, the last two days along these nice wide trails have been such a change! We were only dropping downhill to Grindelwald, passed a few cow pastures and a couple of railway stations. As we neared the town we could hear sounds of a festival, many cow bells and general festivities. The path also became quite strewn with cow turd, so we guessed that the cows were part of whatever was going on. We stopped at a general store just before the town for Mike to buy a bigger pair of waterproof gloves, he got a bright blue pair just like his other ones! Safe in the event of a chemical spill. The gloves he brought with him were a good size but when worn over woollen gloves they become a bit restrictive, leading to cold hands. Those who follow our travels will be familiar with our various glove dilemmas and purchases! At least this is not quite the same as September in Alaska! Then we passed by the field where the cow pageant was being held! There were many cows, all with fabulous bells and beautiful floral headware. This is apparently what happens at the end of summer when the cows are brought down from their summer pastures. The cows were unsure whether to feel proud or a little silly.

It was a climb up to the town where the next train had just spat out it's tourist load and they streamed out like ants all over the place. I went to the bathroom at the train station and it was crazy! We looked at a few outdoor stores in town and I got a belt for my walking trousers. We then went to Coop to buy a lot of food as we do not have a shop tomorrow. My - how quickly we have got used to this convenience! The tourism office is inside the sports centre and we went in there where it was warm (midday temp was 2 Deg C) found a bench to sit on and a plug to charge our phones and battery. We need to do this where we can as the sun is not as available for Solly all the time! We spent a pleasant two hours there, eating, charging and then went outside to the picnic tables to hard boil our eggs to take with us. All in all we left the town at about 14:30. It was raining, we had about 500 m to climb and it took us about 2.5 hours to do it. It was all on sealed farm roads or neat gravel track. There was actually a bus you could take all the way and when it nears a stop it's hooter plays a little tune. It was a lovely walk, winding up into the mountains above the town through the trees with their autumn leaves, just wet. We turned off the hiking track onto a path to a SAC hut and not far along it was a flat grassy spot to pitch the tent. No shower tonight, too wet anyway!

News just in re: the strange groan we heard when sleeping in the little hut near Lauterbrunen which seemed to shake the hut, there was actually an earthquake registering 3.5 in magnitude in the Schilthorn area, so there you go! An earthquake!


There was some sleet last night but mainly rain until midnight. It wouldn't be anyone's choice to get to a campsite wet and pitch a tent and get into bed without washing, but you can tolerate it especially if you know it's only for one night, the weather forecast for today being sunny. We woke to quite a bit of ice on one side of the tent, the guy ropes were even solid with ice. We were in shade and the skies were clear which explains it after all the rain! Even as we got ready, ice was developing over anything wet lying around. As we were about to head off a group of four hikers came along heading along the path. We were so amazed at the day! It was competely clear and so we had our first view of the Eiger above us. It is such a dramatic mountain peak, you can't believe people can climb it. Snow covered against the blue sky, the ridge looked like a knife edge. The walk up to Grosse Scheidegg was amazing. There is a bitumen road to the top and beyond used by the bus and cyclists, but the trail used paths which cut the corners of the road. As we climbed it got more and more snowy. The snow was fresh and not deep and often the path was clear. The landscape being snow covered was just magical. As we walked we came across a few groups of cows. Not sure how this works as at Lauterbrunen for example the cows were walked down from the alpine meadows for the winter, but here there were many cows which looked as if they were making their own decisions. They were obviously driven by their food source being covered by snow and ice and we came across a group of 5 or 6 eating moss growing on rocks. By the time we got to the top of the climb there was a group of cows up there just hanging around. Everytime we came across cows on the trail they sort of looked at us expectantly, "Ahh, humans to tell us where to go and what to do!". Unfortunately we were no help at all. Gross Scheidegg lies at 1 960 m and by the time we got up there we were almost in the sun, there were patches of ice which you had to watch for as they are very slippery, especially when crossing the sealed road.

Going down the otherside into the valley was so beautiful and we reached the green grass before long. We found a snow covered bench which we scraped clear and the made tea and set out stuff to dry. We started thinking that this was a pretty good area to camp, although we had planned to go further today. There were quite a few people walking the trail, being a Sunday and a sunny day. The bus from Grindelwald passed us a few times and was aways pretty full with people taking advantage of the good weather to get into the mountains. We walked on a bit into a wide river course, beneath the mountains. There were glaciers up there and even a cave of ice. The riverbed obviously fills in spring with snow melt but now was almost dry. There was a large grassy meadow alongside and we walked to the end of it where there was an area to camp shielded from view. We spent a lovely afternoon sleeping in the sun, drying our things out (most especially the soaking wet tent) and admiring the view. We sort of contemplated moving on in the late afternoon but the spot was too good and so we stayed the night.


As darkness fell in the little valley, the boars woke up and spent the entire night foraging and grunting and growling amongst themselves. Sometimes one seemed to come very close to the tent and Mike growled back which seemed to put it off. They were very, very noisy as they communicated. They sound very aggressive but maybe it's just the noises they make. It didn't help that the sheer rock cliffs created huge echoes. As we had had such a restful time the day before and the boars made deep sleep difficult, we were up very early and on the trail before 07:30. The walk down to Meiringen was fabulous, downhill all the way but gently. We really enjoyed it. It was a clear day and turned out sunny most of the time. We even put shorts on before getting to the town. We couldn't believe we were back in shorts! The scenery was amazing, the Eiger clear again today. We had a snack at a small shelter on the river. Meiringen lies in a wide green valley and there is a military landing strip nearby so we were entertained by fighter planes again. Meiringen is famous as the birthplace of the meringue and also the place Sherlock Holmes died. We went along to Coop to resupply, we have a climb coming up and over the Hasliberg to Engelberg. We will take two and a half days to reach Engelberg. Wow, we bought a lot of food and then ate a lot of it sitting in a playground at the train station. Meiringen is a great town, quite big and not the tourist trap that we have experienced lately. As always though, it has excellent public transport connections.

We sat in the sun in the park for a while, Solly was happy to do his charging. Then we set off for a big climb up towards our next high point. It was a 1 600 m climb to Planplatten at 2 245 m and we would not do that all today. In the end we climbed 884 m. Of course you can catch a series of 4 gondolas and cable cars to just short of it. The trail wound up prettily through forest along a series of switchbacks. It was a wide trail the same as the walk from Lauterbrunen to Wengen. We climbed up and up until the second gondola station where it grew much steeper for a couple of km's and then slightly less steep until we turned off to a good campspot. Fabulous views! We had picked up water at a trough earlier but there was a very slow running water fountain near where we camped. As we found the campspot all the cows in the upper pastures started being walked down to the valley to winter pastures. After 3 hours the constant stream still has not come to an end! Cow bells ring constanty! Must be many cows! We had a rewarding day.

Here is strange coincidence, when Mike saw the airstrip from up high, he was adamant that we had cycled along it on our previous cycle tour in Switzerland. I could remember cycling along a landing strip but not the town. He has just checked our website and he was right! In fact today we walked past the park we had sat in all those years ago. We didn't recognise it at all, we wish we had!


Our campspot last night was just off a Gnome Trail. There were 20 stations, stretched over a large area until the next gondola station. So much work has gone into this, all handmade. Each station had a board under a little roof which told part of the adventure of these gnomes. The last station had been just where we turned off the road below our campspot, it was a tiny house with tiny table and chairs inside. They were big enough for small children to use. This trail had been around for 20 years and it seems to have been the work of local farmers. Children can join in with the adventures, for example there was wooden maze and later on a whole picnic area with a small house completely kitted out with furniture and crockery etc. We were entranced as grown ups so can only imagine how exciting children would find it.

We were climbing up towards Planplatten all this time, through forest on a lovely trail.The last farms we came across were getting the cows ready to walk down to the valley for the winter. All the cows were having a good breakfast in their stalls in the barn and the farmers had he MASSIVE cow bells ready to hang around their necks as well as the large floral displays as headgear. We walked further up the road and saw the cows being led out of the barn in an orderly fashion by about 4 people then all of a sudden one cow just took off and the rest followed, running like crazy through the pastures and trees, massive bells glinting in the sun. The farmers got them under control. The bells are so big that they make a noise almost like drumbeats. We continued climbing, it began to rain and we took shelter under the eaves of a barn. The views of the surrounding mountains were great, but there was some cloud about. We finished the climb and warmed up a little in the gondola station.

We had a lot of ridge walking, just slightly up and down for the rest of the day. This was a nice change as we have had hardly any ridge walking on the entire hike. It was beautiful. We met one other hiker coming towards us. Otherwise it was really quiet and we had the trail to ourselves. When we reached the point where three lakes lie close to one another we wondered about camping. It was still raining, pretty lightly, but we knew heavy rain was to hit around 15:00. The camping was pretty good where we were, looking down on the lakes. We decided to do it and walked off the trail a bit into grasslands. We found what seemed a good spot and pitched the tent. It was around 14:00 but the heavy rain came and it rained constantly from then on. We ate some bread and cheese and left the rest of the loaf in the vestibule. Much later, around 18:30, I opened the inner door to get something from outside and saw that a river was running through the vestibule! Pressing my hand down on the tent floor it sunk into the stream. Oh crap! Nothing for it, we would have to move. But where? We were so snug. We dressed only in rain gear and boots and went to have a look. We had decided to move up to the path but coming back to the tent we saw that just behind us was a higher lying area and it was dry. So we just moved the tent a few metres away and sorted ourselves out again. The bread is a sponge.


We had a pretty decent night's sleep in the end, considering we only got organised in our new campspot and into bed again aound 20:00. It rained and blew very hard during the night. We were a bit exposed in our spot, but Mike had put all the guy ropes up and the tent remained sturdy all night. It stopped raining in the early hours sometime and we got up at 07:00 as usual as there was no rain. We had 1.7 km to walk down to the lake, Tannensee, where there was a shelter. We made breakfast there. It was great to have undercover picnic tables even though it wasn't raining. It was pretty cold! One always feel better when one gets up and keeps moving! There were even rubbish bins at the shelter and a toilet across the way. It was so good! The weather improved as we got going after breakfast, first through the tiny settlement of Tannalp, then Engstelnalp and then up Joch Pass which was only a 400 m climb for us. It was a beautiful area. We had a rest at the top of the pass and then commenced the long drop down to Engelberg. It was very misty as we walked in the cloud for ages, passed the children's activity area around Trüebsee, a large lake. We descended further and further. There was a gondola from Trüebsee, but you may have had to sell a small child to pay for it. It is amazing how the costs for these rides varies. Anyway, we were happy to walk down. The descent was not steep, many switchbacks, but it was over 1 600 m so took a while. Suddenly we were through the clouds and it was so good to have a view! We arrived at the Coop in Engelberg, did some shopping and found a plug to charge our battery just outside at a bench, which was convenient. Engelberg seemed a very nice town.

We left at 17:00 to walk about 4 km along our route which followed the river. It was possible to go along a forest track to pitch our tent. Then we had our first river wash in ages! It was lovely. Tomorrow we head towards another climb up to Surenenpass. There is snow forecast, but the pass is at 2 284 m so hopefully shoul not be too snowy.


It seemed to be drizzling this morning when we woke up, but maybe it was just thick cloud. We were in the cloud all day, as we climbed 1 300 m along the Engelberger River up to Surenenpass. This climb was a good one as it took 12 km, so overall it was not steep, however it did get steep at the end. There was not much to say about the day as we had almost zero view the whole time. Now and then we caught a glimpse of a mountain or hill, but that was it. Now that the cows have gone down to the valley, we have noticed that the farmers take down all the fence stakes and wire or tape, which means there are no more gates or string enclosures to open or close. A lot of the walking was on stone track which was easy and here was no snow about. We met a Swiss girl who was hiking the Via Alpina section through Switzerland (Sargans to Montreux) and she said there was a bit of snow on the other side but not much. She identified that we were all walking late, but she also asked about conditions at Hohturli, which was a while ago for us, over a week. She seemed pretty happy to tackle those passes in her trail shoes. She was lovely to chat to and we wished her all the best!

There was a little hut just below the top of the climb, Schutzhütte Surenen Eggen, and we went in to have some lunch as we had run out of energy! It was a lovely thing, that hut. Just then it started to snow. By the time we had finished lunch and headed off, it was snowing quite a bit and there were also sections of deepish snow to navigate. We dropped about 300 m from the top (2 291 m at the top) to a flat area where we pitched the tent. It was snowing harder then and it was cold. We got into the tent and into our dry clothes, sleeping bags and had some hot tea. Gosh, it took ages to warm up but somehow it always happens! Tomorrow is a bad weather day so we plan to stay tent bound and then head off to Altdorf on Saturday. We will take the gondola down to Altdorf, to avoid a steep descent. The station is 4 km from here.

We have only about 125 km left to walk to Buchs, or rather Sargans, now and we have worked out our days, 10 walking days left. We had already purchased train tickets from Zurich to Milan where we have three hotel nights before flying home. As we now have some extra days available we have booked a hotel stay for three nights in Zurich also which we look forward to.


It snowed and snowed and snowed on our rest day in our tent just over Surenenpass. We liked it and we worried about it! Whenever we popped our heads out of the tent or went to make wee wee, it was just a total whiteout. The sky and air and everything was as white as the snow on the ground. Zero depth perception! It stopped snowing sometime during the second night and we woke to a day which was the stuff of dreams! All around us were snow covered peaks, right behind us were high rocky cliff faces which had been invisible until now. Below us was cloud! Top of the world! An amazing experience, camping up here. The tent was pretty frozen but Mike managed to get must of the ice off. Walking down the snow was thick but good for walking and not too deep. Yesterday we had heard voices and two people came up towards the pass from Altdorf (the gondola station we presumed), today we realised looking at their foot prints that they had at least one bicycle! They did well to drag it up here! They would no doubt have ridden down into Engelberg.

It did not take long to drop below the snow line and we met a few people coming towards us, all asking about how much snow there was on top. One couple from Canmore, Canada had a chat to us. The woman was Swiss born. Out of the blue the bloke suggested we take the boat from Altdorf across Lake Lucerne to Lucerne as it was a lovely boat trip and a great city to visit. We had cycled along the lake and through the city in 2013 and thought Lucerne was great, but had thought it was quite far away. Now that we looked at it again we could see Altdorf was the perfect place to be to get to Lucerne and then Zurich was in close proximity to Lucerne also. We have benefitted from these unexpected tips from other travellers before so we mulled it over. People tend to cross your path for a reason, no matter how brief the interaction.

We both felt that what remained of the Via Alpina for us to Buchs or Sargans (better placed for Zurich by train) was not drawing us so much anymore. With the change in weather we often did not have views and that is of course why we are doing it. The immediate next section to Linthals followed the main roads closely and then the part after Linthals presented problems with camping due to camping being prohibited for part of the way. In fact, wild camping presented problems for the rest of the way. We love wild camping, but when areas become more built up it becomes hard to do it. It was interesting that there were almost no official campsites available also, so it seems as usual the hikers that walk this trail would be resorting to inns and hotels etc for accommodation. We had a lot of time to mull things over as we had 1 708 m to descend into Altdorf, which might be the biggest descent we have had on the hike. We did not take the gondola in the end and instead did battle with this descent, at the start at least as the cows have been taken down this way for winter and left the path in a right state. Eventually we decided to book into a hotel in Lucerne for two nights, Monday and Tuesday and follow a beautiful walking route from Flüelen (just next to Altdorf on Lake Lucerne) north on Sunday and then take a train into Lucerne Monday morning. After two nights in Lucerne we would then walk to Zurich following other trails. This is one great thing about Switzerland, there are many walking routes! This would deliver a different experience and we were ready for it.

We walked along a beautiful river passed Altdorf to Flüelen and shopped at Lidl. We sat in a park and ate and then continued. Lake Lucerne is beautiful and we had a swim in it. The trail we are on wraps around the whole eastern end of the lake, called Weg der Schweiz and it was created to commemorate 700 years of the formation of Switzerland in 1991. We were pretty excited by our new trail, however after our lake swim we reached a point on the trail were it uses an old tunnel and this section was closed due to blasting. There were concerns about possible rock collapses, hence the blasting. Damn! We turned back and sat at a bench we had passed earlier. We had a look at some options, aided by a passerby whose assistance we sought. In the end we camped at that spot and tomorrow we will go back to Flüelen and take the train to the next station to bypass this section.


We woke to blue skies! Didn't last though, but Lake Lucerne looked absolutely stunning while they did! The day was quite cold and cloudy, but dry. We had breakfast and backtracked passed our swimming beach from last night. We used the toilet and filled up with water. The toilet was pretty impressive, typically over-engineered like all things Swiss! We loved it! The toilet bowl was the main feature, the seat tilted up. You have to lower the seat manually and then when you unlock and open the door at the end, the toilet flushes and the seat goes up! There are other press buttons for washing hands, soap and hot air for drying hands. There was a bloke in a very warm looking wetsuit snorkelling in the Lake. He was bringing all the pieces of wood (some large tree trunks and branches) which float into the lake and then submerge, and adding them to a very large pile on the beach. Not sure if this was his job or just an interest. We walked back to Flüelen, paid for train tickets to Sisikon and waited 40 minutes for the train. The train line is busy with many passenger trains going all over and also cargo trains. Sisikon was only one station along. In the end it would have been quicker to walk there but with the route officially closed, there was nothing we could do.

Walking along the Weg Der Schweiz, following the shore of Lake Lucerne was a very different experience and one we liked. It was a very beautiful day, the lake was calm and there were great views across it to the mountains. The path itself was very well made and even though we had a 400 m climb it was pretty cruisy. We wore shorts and it was probably the last time we would, pretty cold. We stopped at a lovely shelter for lunch and then it was downhill to Morschach. We sat a while at the tourist information booth as we could charge our battery. Then we continued on through the forest towards Brunnen to camp. Tomorrow we catch the 10:00 train from Brunnen to Lucerne, a hotel stay and a LAUNDRY.


We had a short walk into Brunnen and picked up some Frosty Flakes and milk for brekky, which we ate at a nearby bench. We caught our train to Lucerne and it was another short walk to our hotel, which is apparently the oldest hotel in Lucerne. There is a church and area with benches for sitting opposite the hotel and we sat there for a bit, then went to use the laundry which was on the next street. Brilliant laundry! The machines were a dream and as always on this trip we did not need detergent. Took a couple of hours but it was a lovely place to sit and you could use their wifi. We were able to check in to our hotel at 13:00. It is a contactless hotel and our first like this, but we really liked it. You get issued access codes digitally and it worked flawlessly after checking in online. Our room was prefect, with a view of the same park, it looked recently refurbished. We SHOWERED :) and went out to get something to eat. Next morning, which was rainy, we caught the train to an outdoor store south of the city, Bachli Bergsport. It was a brilliant store, really big, amazing stock. I got some undies, we got some more Lecki tips for our poles, a maintenance kit for our water filter and a waterproof Exped wallet. Mike found a new pack. Mike's pack has been tearing slowly along the waist belt attachment. There are also other issues with the pack which make it incovnvenient, like getting his water bottle out of his outer pocket. We had found a Lundhags pack online, the Padje, lightweight with a rolltop closure. He tried it on at Bachli and loved it, but was not ready to make the decision.

Back at our hotel we decided to spend another nght in Lucerne, however there were no rooms available at our hotel, so we booked into a hotel on the other side of the river. Later that afternoon we went to another outdoor store, Transa just near our hotel. Also a good store and we got a maintenance kit for our stove and Mike got some shorter bootlaces. Next day we slept in and checked out 10:30 and walked through the old town and along the old fortifications to our hotel. We spent quite some time on the lake shore, which was beautiful and then got some lunch to eat in the park right opposite our hotel. It was a beautiful weather day today, we were in shorts and t--shirt! We will hit the trail again tomorrow, heading for Zug and then Zurich. It will only take three and a bit days, so we have booked another night in our hotel in Zurich. We are enjoying the total change in pace in our trip! Mike has put the pack purchase decision on hold til Zurich. He can get the pack there too. His current Osprey pack would be replaced or repaired if he took it back to Paddy Pallin, where he bought it. They provide excellent customer service, as does Osprey we assume. However, the side pocket situation is still frustrating. My pack, a Gregory Jade 53 I bought at REI in LA last November, also has two seam wear points/ failures, on either arm strap which is not good. Also the main compartment fabric is delaminating on the inside. We are surprised at our pack failings and wonder if people who do lots of long term trekking have to replace their packs often? Certainly our Ortlieb panniers we use for bike tours last much longer than 3 months. Maybe the Alps is tough on things.


We had such a cruisy day today! This little route is really cute! We were on it in less than 2 km from our hotel and walked through dreamy rural scenery all day. Really easy walking on farm paths. We saw many cows, sheep and goats. The weather was okay, only one shower of rain in the afternoon and we even had a nap in the sunshine at the church in Meierskappel. This was a different Switzerland from the one we were used to. It was still beautiful but not dramatic. Looking towards where the high mountains were we could see that we would still have been stuck in the clouds without a view. We had great views of the lowlands all day.


The mornings are pretty dark now, with the sun only rising after 07:30 these days. We packed up our tent and left the forest for the nearest bench to have some brekky. We are trying to finish up everything now, with only two nights to go to Zurich. We have a little petrol left in our fuel bottle so are giving our usual oats and tea/coffee a skip and eating what is to hand. Mike has been carrying a packet of wholewheat biscuits since Meiringen, which was about 115 km ago, so we thought it was time to eat them, with jam. We stopped to buy milk at a Spar a few km's later to have cornflakes. We had a nice walk today, mostly from town to town, the ever present yellow signs directing us. It's amazing that the same signs that send you over passes on the Alps also take you along lakeshores to the next town! It is very consistent. Today we followed route 3 at the start and at the end were on number 47 which will take us to Zurich via some forest areas.

We stopped a couple of times along the lakeshore, once to make tea, the second time in the sun, however a big rain shower hit and we took shelter in a train underpass until it passed. In Baar we stopped at Lidl to do our last resupply, as we won't pass any shops from now (Friday) until Sunday when we arrive in Zurich, and even then nothing is open on a Sunday, except the supermarkets at the main train station, where we will go before our hotel. We enjoyed the suburban atmosphere today.

We left the built up areas to head into the forest where we found a lovely camping spot in the trees. The forest is very pretty and the mushrooms are popping up everywhere. There is an old tree stump near our tent completely swamped by a colony of mushrooms. We feel lucky with the weather today. We were even able to eat outside the tent before climbing in!


The day was misty until 13:00. The mist blanketed everything from farm roads and pastures to the Sihlwald, so zero views and mostly just gloom. This did actually add value to the forest at least, the murky mist seemed to increase the mystery of the forest. It was a very pretty place and a very small nature reserve, but we enjoyed walking along it's boundary. It was a Saturday so there were a few people out and about. We came across a very muddy section of trail with a massive step up which was a little too high for me to just step up. Usually in these situations I will grab hold of any anchor along the path; like a rockwall or a tree root or trunk, I was busy doing this when a man coming towards us with his wife grabbed my arm to help pull me up. Very chivalrous! Due to the mist the day grew quite cold but we are still hiking in shorts. It was a cruisy day again, great path, easy walking and pretty trees and to top it all off we wandered along a trail looking for a campsite and found the perfect one in a clearing with a bench. The mist eventually cleared and we were able to sit in the sunshine now and then when the sun poked out. Tomorrow we will walk 12 km to the outskirts of Zurich from where we will take the tram into the city. We have four nights at the Radisson and scored a free upgrade to a suite with kitchenette with such conveniences as a toaster, stove and dishwasher so we look forward to that!


We were so grateful for our great campspot last night, especially as it rained heavily from 18:00 all night. A massive downpour. It stopped in the early hours and then the trees just dripped on us. So we had a soaking wet tent, but fortunately we only fly home in just over a week so should be able to sort it by then. We were up and at it early and packed and on the trail by 07:20. Very easy walking today to Triemli, outskirts of Zurich along the trail. Another misty day, so barely any views. The path grew busy with Sunday morning walkers, runners and cyclists as we drew near to the end. At Triemli station we bought a 24 hour ticket. It was 11:00. We got off at Zurich Hauptbahnhof as this had the only supermarket open in the city on a Sunday. Yes, you read that right. ONE SUPERMARKET open on a Sunday in Zurich, which you would think is a first class city. Well, two if you count the teeny Coop. We picked up something for lunch and headed to the Platzspitz which is a park where the two rivers meet. It was quite busy in the park and the city. We couldn't work out why as there is nothing to do there on a Sunday. The weather was good and we were encouraged by the sun which came out a bit, so we walked across towards the Landesmuseum and got the tent out to dry in the sun. Then we started on the rest of our stuff, unpacking our backpacks completely and letting everything dry out or air. Not that stuff was wet, but things take on that musty backpack odour, would be the nice way of putting it. There is also stuff to throw out, like plastic storage bags, our Tyvek ground sheet (first time we have used Tyvek and it is hardy but MAN does it pick up EVERYTHING that it touches...many slug corpses), black garbage bags which are useful and so we bring a couple. So we spent our time productively until it was 14:00 and we packed up and headed to the hauptbahnhof to shop and then take the tram to our hotel. As we arrived at the supermarket in the train station it was like a million other people had the same idea and they were just streaming into the place. It was mayhem! We managed to pick up some food to tide us over til tomorrow and then took the tram. Our hotel is north of the city towards the airport. It's a 30 minute tram ride.

We checked in just before three. It is a great suite, looks brand new, lovely courtyard garden to overlook and very useful kitchenette. The bed is pretty small and so funny as the doona is really small too so we literally could not both lie under it. Looking at the hotel reviews many other couples had had the same experience. We just laughed about it as we could not sleep anyway, not sure if too excited about being in the big smoke or what. Anyway, doesn't matter, we had nothing to do tomorrow but shop!

We were at the Aldi store a couple of blocks away at 07:30 when they opened to buy breakfast, then back to the hotel to eat and on the tram to Bachli Bergsport a few stops away where Mike bought a Lundhags backpack. It was a larger size than the one he tried on in Lucerne. It is a beautiful backpack, a Lundhags Padje. Swedish outdoor products are such great quality and he is really happy with his backpack. It was very disappointing that his Osprey pack had failed as it had. He will still seek a warranty claim at home. We looked around a bit and then went back to the hotel to have a coffee, drop off the backpack and went into the city. In the city we went to Transa, another amazing outdoor store with a seperate outlet store. We picked up a few bargains on high quality brands. It is so good to be able to see alll these things in the flesh. We order these brands online but they are not stocked in store in Australia. So much better when they are! Of course we also went to Fjallraven (turning 50 this year like all the best people), and we rested in the Platzspitz in the sun again. We headed home after 15:00, buying another 24 hour ticket. One thing about Swiss public transport, you buy all tickets on an app (SBB or in Zurich ZVV), but they are never checked. You don't scan or tag on anywhere or show anyone. There are no personel on trains or trams to check if you have paid or not. Swiss people must just be a very honest bunch.

We relaxed at the hotel for the evening. We requested a second doona from reception who organised housekeeping to drop it off. Tomorrow we will head back into the city for the morning.


We took the tram into the city both days. Weather was pretty gloomy, but no rain. It is always the way that when required you can hike endlessly, day after day, dealing with whatever comes up and then when you stop doing that it takes a couple of days to unwind. Then you develop the capacity to have afternoon naps and sleep in in the mornings! I decided to replace my pack with the same pack Mike got. My pack won't make it through another trip. May as well try something new! We both like the Lundhags Padje for it's no fuss set up. There are no straps, zips, buckles or clips that don't have to be there! I got the 60L small, Mike the large. They are different colours!

We went to the Zurich Kunsthaus which was a visual feast. Many works by the usual suspects; Monet, Manet, Cezanne, Degas, Kandinsky, Calder, Van Gogh and so on. A major slice of the art pie was donated by a famous Swiss in the 1990's whose family business was armament manufacturing. Much was made about the dissonance in Zurich having all these amazing pictures to enjoy thanks to his wealth and generosity and that same wealth being earned by selling armaments predominantly to Germany and the Axis powers during WW2, even though Switzerland's neutral status dictated otherwise. There is also the more serious issue of whether his collection included any Nazi-looted artworks. The gallery is heavily involved in active provenance research and claims.

There was also an interpretation of the works donated by another wealthy Swiss, including a strange story about one of the most famous and beautiful Persian carpets ever woven which is held in the gallery's collection. It is large and heavy but it's perceived weight is massively larger than it's actual weight so it cannot be displayed, instead a photograph replica is on the wall. Make of that what you will. Also a group of seven paintings by Old Masters which once donated were discovered to have suspiciously Constablesque cloud paintings hidden behind their wooden backboards. They were discovered after x-raying the paintings. Apon informing the donor, who claimed to have no knowledge of this, the gallery was prohibited from exhibiting either the Old Master paintings, or the hidden cloud pictures. All they are allowed to display are photographs of the cloud paintings. It has not been proven that they are by Constable. There was an amazing light installation by Pipilotti Rist.

One more night in Zurich, tomorrow (Thursday, 17 October) we take the train to Milan at 13.30.

Our train was due to depart Zurich at 13:30 and we relaxed a bit in the park again. We have realised by now that these poor people probably will not see the sun until next spring, so although a gloomy day it was dry. We cleaned up our hiking boots with water and a cloth due to our strict quarantine requirements in Australia. The train trip to Milan is via Laguna and Como. It runs along the walking route we followed at Lake Lucerne to Altdorf, it was great to see it all again from the train. We arrived in Milan before 17:00. Back to where it all began! What an adventure has taken place since we were last here! Getting off the train at Milan Central station, it was clear that we were not in Switzerland anymore! Gone were the orderly Swiss, flowing on and off trains and trams, tickets discreetly purchased on an app. Italy is people and crowds, queues at ticket machines, confusion at the entrance to the platforms where scanning of tickets to gain access to the platforms was only introduced in July. Switzerland is above all that. In Milan there are large metal ashtrays on posts on the platforms and many people smoking, ON THE TRAIN PLATFORM. Not just cigarettes either. We were staying about 20km out of Milan, in a small town called Saronno. It is on the airport line, so we went off to get the Malpensa Express. We only had to go three stops, as the name suggests it doesn't stop at most places. Of course, being the airport line, it's busy and we were lucky to get seats. People piled on with their luggage. When compared with Switzerland though, public transport is very cheap! EU 3.10 for a ticket from Central to Saronno. l

Saronno itself is quaint, a little down-at-heel, but quite charming. A short walk from the train station to our hotel, which was lovely. The next day was Friday, pouring with rain and a public transport strike in Milan, which suited us as we couldn't go anywhere! We lazed around our hotel room and went out for pizza for lunch and dinner at the closest pizzeria to our hotel. Great value, delicious fresh, wood-fired pizzas! All shops and restaurants close from 14.00 or 14.30 to 17.00 everyday in Saronno.

We have breakfast included in this hotel stay and it is good! Especially the barista-made coffees on request, any type you fancy! On Saturday we took the train back to Milan for some sightseeing. We checked out some local flagship stores, like Bialetti and Alessi. The Duomo (cathedral) was very beautiful. The colours of the stone were unexpectedly vibrant. The building must have been cleaned in the last 20 years. Restoration and protective works continue constantly and scaffolding is always in place.

It did rain lightly whilst we were in the city. We had a late lunch at our pizzeria. Saronno put up it's Christmas lights today. Tomorrow we begin our journey home, our flight leaves Milan at 13.00. We both feel satisfied with our trip, pleased to be going home for a bit, but we also feel we could continue our hike in a different environment. If we had planned to go on to a different hike we would be looking forward to it, which is a happy thought as it shows we can hike for longer than three months. We weren't sure how our bodies were going to go with hiking in the Alps, we can now say luckily enough, " Yip, pretty well!".