Kandersteg, Bern, Switzerland Sunday, August 26, 2012

Starting Out

Oh my God, what an amazing day!!! That is the only way to describe it. Now the details.
It rained most of last night and we wake up to intermittent rain, fog, and patches of sunshine. Breakfast is not much, coffee, bread, and cheese but we fuel up as best we can. Today we will attempt Hohturli Pass, the highest pass on the Via Alpina trail we are hiking. We have decided that we will try this today as the last weather report we had, said that the chance of rain decreases during the day and it should clear up around noon.

Somewhere Up There

We get started at 0915 and it is partly sunny with intermittent views of the surrounding high peaks and passes. We have well over 3000 feet of climbing in what the guide says is 1.7 miles and the Swiss time says 2 hours and 50 minutes to do it. The pass is over 9000 feet. All these numbers may seem hard to some and not so bad to others. If you factor in the following Swiss anomalies, it is just plain harder than it looks on paper. Anomaly 1 is we did not think 9000 feet is that high, after all we have hiked plenty over 12,000 feet and on up to 14,000 feet. Breathing should not be a factor. Wrong! The trails are so steep that if you are not breathing hard, than you must be one of the Swiss grannies on steroids( see previous logs). Number two is their mileage seems to be measured point to point without the curves and windings of the trail. My gps says 1.68 miles as the crow flies and without sprouting wings, I am sure it will be more. Number 3 is that 3000 feet is daunting enough in the short distance but the trails seem to go fairly gradual in spots and then find your way straight up the hill so I am expecting a 1000 feet over a mile and 2000 feet over the last two thirds. I could go on, but until you have hiked these trails, you cannot appreciate how hard they really are. Added to this is the fact that the warranty on our parts are running out, so we make due with what we have.

Is That the Trail

Back to the journey, after about a half hour the weather starts to change and we can no longer see any mountains or our lodging below. The trail steepens as we pass some grazing cows. We can hear more bells in the mist but cannot see the bell ringers. Cows in the Mist, maybe they will make a movie! I know I am sweating and with the temperature dropping, I actually start feeling chilled. My hat is dripping moisture off the bill and I do not know if it is all sweat, all foggy mist, or the combination of both. The trail is intersected by cow paths and it is work just trying to find a way up that goes a little sideways and not straight up.

Starting the Ledge

We are constantly looking in the fog for the next trail marker made up of red and white stripes. It would not be good to get misplaced right now. For a brief moment, it lightens up and I can see where the trail turns left and then above goes to the right up a ridge. The lord provided this small break at just the right time. Upward we go as the fog gets worse and visibility at times is down to less than ten feet. We leave the grassy slopes and enter a rocky zone which reminds me of Colorado. As we climb ever skyward, I hit a turn in the trail and peek around it. All I can see is a ledge with a foggy drop off of who knows how many feet. There is a little flat spot with a rock to sit on so we decide now is a good time to take a short break, have an energy bar for our bodies, and drink some water. The weather is definitely worsening and I am a little concerned about what lies ahead. We have been hiking about two hours and still have a thousand feet or so of elevation to go in a much shorter distance than what we have done.

Climb Carol Climb

We get up and start moving along the ledge which is not as precarious as it looked but still tricky in spots. There are chains anchored into the rock for you to hold onto in the narrower spots. Not seeming possible, the steepness also increases, which makes the traction less than before. The wet ground adds to this issue. We now reach a spot that is so steep that they have built steps into the mountain and chains for you to hold on to on top of that. I am glad to reach this point as the getting off the trail concern lessens with the follow the Swiss stair master, so easy an 80 year old could do it!

 

Note the Rope We Came Up

                                At the top of a 90 degree right turn on the steps, there is a bench under a overhang, which I am sure has great views of something. A quick picture and we move on and as the stairs narrow in width and steepen in angle, another bench calls for a short break. As we sit, we hear some rocks falling down the mountain. It is kind of eerie and really concerns Carol. Getting hit by a rock of any size in itself would not be good, but while walking on the edge of cliffs, could easily make you loose your footing, which would be even worse. There really is no option now but to keep going, so go we do.

CNC Shot

I finally am near the top as I see the outline of a hut just above the pass. I wait for Carol as I want to top this together, it has been an adventurous climb and makes me want to share the summit experience with my wife.
As we crest, it is amazing. Moments like this makes all the sweat, hard work, and challenge, worthwhile. In front of us, are blues skies with some clouds. Two glaciers, glistening white, and mountain peaks above them, are in our view. We can see up to the hill where the hut is and all the way down into the Kandersteg valley below where our lodging for the night awaits. Looking down the other side where we just came from is totally socked in by fog.

Fog One Side, Clear Other

The pass is a dividing line between the fog bank and better skies. It is still quite cool so after some pictures, we decide to hike down to hopefully warmer climates before eating. As we leave the summit, it starts to snow lightly on us. We can now say we have experienced Swiss snow!!!

 

 

I Like This Shot

               The descent starts off fairly gradual but we know that won’t last. The views are amazing and the glaciers a little closer. We can see waterfalls at the bottom of them and the blueness of the ice where years of pressure has compacted it. The trail eventually did the best imitation of flat that we have seen so far, with a gradual descent. I keep expecting to see Lake Oeschinensee around these cliffs we are heading for, but that is just a dream. So is the faux flatness, as the trail steepens once again. It is beautiful country, but the downhill on the legs can take away from it in a hurry.

Oeschinensee Lake

Finally we reach a point where we are looking down on the lake. Down is the key word because once again, steepness is king. More chains as we descend a trail etched out of the cliff. Maybe it was good we could not see what we were climbing up on the other side. Reaching the trail which travels above the lake but is again fairly level is not very encouraging. The lake is itself is beautiful with waterfalls feeding into it off the cliffs. However, we can’t see the other side so we know we still have a ways to go.

Waterfall Into Lake

The trail does level out as it stays above the lake. Level doesn’t last long here and it starts a wide but grueling descent down to lake level. Places like this on the trail really don’t make sense to me. Why go straight down, when there is plenty of room to meander and descend at a more human gradient? Straight down it goes and then around the lake we go until we reach the end. There is a cable car 25 minutes away or a 1 hour and 15 minute Swiss descent to Kandersteg. We opt for the cable car as our knees already hurt. The 25 minute walk is uphill and although we are tired, it is much much better than down. The gondola takes us to the edge of Kandersteg where we follow a path into town and our hotel. The owner is very nice and shows us our room which has a balcony and views up to the mountains by the lake we had just come from.
Good news, our own bathroom tonight, with a shower unlike our barn bathroom the night before. Freshened up we have a nice dinner at the hotel. Fondue and grilled pork, salad, vegetables, and dessert for Carol. Two cold beers of course, to wash away the days aches. After dinner we just stay in for the night. I forgot to mention that when we did stop for lunch, Carol noticed that my pack had ripped at the stitches where my belt connects to the pack and above that.

Maybe Tomorrow

So while I ponder tomorrows plan and journey, Carol sews and repairs my pack. We had been leaning toward calling the Swiss hike experience good as we are beat after today, but the owners brother showed us a slightly different route to Adelboden that he says is easy and we must do. So we will sleep on it and decide tomorrow. Good night.
CNC
“Genius is 1 % inspiration and 99% perspiration”- Thomas Edison. Based on how much I have sweated, I am a mega genius!!!

Expenses
17SF- gondola to Kandersteg
60.30SF two dinners and two beers
130SF- Hotel Zur Post

Miles Walked-11 Miles