Although it was slightly spooky in some parts, the mist created a beautiful backdrop with droplets of water settling on the flowers and grass. The route was very muddy in some parts due to the ice melting and crossing the paths but this also caused stunning waterfalls.
Due to the mist we somehow missed one of the turnoff points and got completely lost. While walking through some farmland we came across three cows sheltering on a farmhouse porch, it was very funny to see.
As we do, we had a midday nap on the side of the road and were rudely woken up by a car passing by. The naps are probably due to the fact that the sun only sets at 9:30pm and rises at 5:30am, and have still not been able to adjust to these times, often going to bed after 11pm with it feeling like it should only be 7pm. We landed up adding 3 hours to our journey and we came upon a "berggaushuis" in Ratzi where we spent the night in a dormitory. We then took a cable car down the valley and continued to make our way to Altdorf.
Altdorf is beautiful town which is old and modern at the same time. The town square has a statue of Wilhelm Tell, a national hero in Switzerland. According to history, a tyrant by the name Gessler made everyone bow to his hat and when Wilhelm refused to bow Gessler arrested him and ordered him to shoot an apple off his son's head which he did. Beverley is too afraid to even mention that her maiden name is Gessler in Switzerland, could you just imagine the response!!
We took to the road again from Altdorf to Engelberg going through Attinghausen and on the way to Brusti visited castle ruins dating back to 1360. Standing in the ruins was incredible, realising that more than 600 years ago the castle was lived in. A remarkable thing about this heritage site was that it was totally accessable for us to walk through and like every thing else in this country, well kept and litter free.
We reached Brusti and again the route was covered in mist. The Surenen pass which is partially a ridge walk had poor visibility and we were not able to see any of the promised views in this area, hopefully the weather will improve as we walk further. We have been on the trail for 7 days and are getting stronger and taking the challenges the weather throws our way in our stride, pun intended.
