Hide and seek

The weather continues to play havoc with our plans, we now play hide and seek with the mist,  the mist hides everything and we seek all the promised views. Now and then the mist removes her veil and we get a quick glimpse of the beauty that surrounds us.
On route from Engelberg to Meiringen, the longest route on the trip,  it rained most of the way, turning to snow on the Joch pass, at first we thought it was hail but were extremely happy it turned out to be snow, even if it was wet and cold. According to the locals we are experiencing some unseasonal weather as it  should be 23º and sunny this time of the year but being strong woman, we take what comes our way and deal with it.

In Meiringen we did the touristy thing and visited the local sights. We visited the church of St. Michael, where while doing renovation work to the church in 1915, seven earlier churches were found under the present church, we were astounded once again at how accessible this place of heritage was. The church grounds were empty and we entered into the evacuation site via some stairs leading down and we saw the original Roman altars and some of the original church walls. It was fascinating walking amongst the well kept grave site, looking at the headstones, we were surprised at the ages reached by the parish  members, it must be in the water!

We visited the Sherlock Holmes museum which, unless you are a fan, is not worth the visit. We have become castle spotters and were  pleased to see the Restitum castle ruins  in Meiringen.

We took a short detour on the walk from Meiringen to Grindelwald to visit the Aareschlucht, an enormous gorge which is really worth the visit, it is a 1.4km gorge along which the emerald green water gushes. Inside the gorge the Swiss army carved out two caves during World War 2, which could house over 200 men. The caves were never used and have been sealed. We also kept our eyes open for the Tatzelwurm,  a mystical creature which may be a distant relative of the loch ness monster, but we were not lucky enough to spot it. However we were lucky enough to spot the lesser known South African tourist when we passed some ladies who spoke some Afrikaans to each other.  After spending many days trying to have a chat using gestures and very limited German, it was so nice to have a chat, they we were from Pretoria nogal.

The Reichenbach waterfall was our next scenic stop, it is here where fictitious Sherlock Holmes came to his demise, the spot where he fell was marked with a star. The falls can only be described as fabulous, the steep climb to Zwirgi was ahead of us. By midday the clouds and mist covered most of the area again, but we were able to catch glimpses of the Engelhorner. We stopped in Rosenlaui and here we were rewarded with amazing views of the mountains and the waterfalls in the area.

On the way down to Grindewald  we passed many sections which still had large patches of ice, we also saw the Obere Grindelwald glacier. Grindelwald was a very touristy area and after the solitude of the mountains, the loudness of the tourist groups was not pleasant and we rushed to find some accommodation to get away from the noise and to get warm.

Mountains every where yet none to be seen

These last few days the weather has been overcast,  rainy and misty.  On the route from Urnerboden to Altdorf while on the Klaussenpass we walked for about 3 hours only able to see 10m in front of us due to the low clouds and mist on the pass. We were unable to see any of the mountains in the area. It was eerie coming across a completely deserted hamlet.

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.

Ice, flowers and snakes

Today we were woken up by the ringing of cow bells as the farmers walked their cattle through the main street of the beautiful little town called Elm. The locals are so friendly and the scenery is definitely breathtaking. Last night we stayed in a lovely hotel called Hotel Elmer. The owner sat with us for hours giving us advice about the route to Linthal. Locals definitely know best!

We ascended to Obererbs and shortly after passing though towards Erbser Stock we were greeted by the sounds of machine gun and cannon ball fire coming from the local army training base. At first we were confused because it sounded like thunder due to the echos between all the mountains. We passed beautiful stream the had crystal clear, ice-cold water that we drank from along the way.

It was a rather chilly day and it rained for most of the way which was  quite a welcomed change considering we had been walking in blistering heat for the past 3 days. The slopes were covered with hundreds of different coloured flowers which made for a beautiful climb.

We had to cross over numerous patches of snow that covered the path way, it was quite slippery and we almost landed up sliding down numerous times. We were minutes away from summiting but weren't able to because we didn't have the right equipment to cross the ice so we landed up turning around and making our way back to Elm.

So close to the sumit but yet so far

We stoped for a short break and lay in a field covered with the flowers we had walked by all day. As we were close to Hengstboden we came across a brown snake which, according to locals, is a very rare sighting. 

The adventure begins!

Starting the Via Alpina green route

Zurich is a beautiful city and has a lovely old city feeling with its statues, old buildings  and tram lines, we arrived after 9pm and were able to get a tram straight to our accomodation. The accomodation was "fine" but somehow our bed and breakfast was bed only.  In the kitchen our hosts were enjoying a lovely beakfast spread but we were advised "tap water only" not a good start to the day, but we decided not to fight it and left asap. Just outside the acommodation there was a park which just invited us in and we were struck by the statues and peacefulness.

On the train and bus ride from Zurich to Liechenstein we were mesmerised by the absolute beauty around us of the lakes, the mountains, the churches and the wooden houses, it was just like the chocolate box pictures and we could not stop pointing out the new sights to each other. Vaduz is most likely one of the most beautiful places on earth, the Vaduz castle looks over Vaduz and it can be seen from afar from almost any point in Vaduz.

 We then journeyed to Eschen where we met the most wonderful couple Bennita and Chris who are both native Liechtensteiners and they were very hospitable and their passion and knowledge was inpiring. We spent the night in their beautifully renovated house which had the original stove, attached barn and cider room. We were offered Liechtennstein beer which was very nice considering that Beverley does not drink beer at all, but she still has not been converted. They took us to the point where the borders of Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein met when Lisa expressed interest in the location. We also dipped our toes in the beautiful man made swimming lake near Eschen and on our way back passed by a small church where witches were prosecuted. We slept on a water bed for the first time, we were so exhausted from the journey so far that we didnt hear the church bell ringing every hour.

Our hike from Vaduz to Sargans started with the crossing of the wooden bridge over the Rhine, it was a very hot day, 35º and the route was mainly in the sun with little shade covering, but the scenery was worth it  all.  Along the walk we could hear we were getting close to a farm by the cow bells ringing, long before we reached them.  We have never drank as much water as we did today but every little village we passed on the way had little fountains to fill up.

The village of Sevelen did not dissapoint us, it had beautiful wooden houses and the trail  led to Gretschins. The Wartau castle ruins are beautiful and we met up with a group of young kids on a school trip near the castle. We had a little nap on the way lying under the trees, dozing off while listening to the cow bells (on the sheep)  and rushing the river.  The castle and church in Sargans are definitely worth the walk.