Switzerland: Alpenzell to Wildhaus
10/22/07 08:48 PM *Adventure
Our first hike was an overnighter from Wasserauen
(near Alpenzell) to Wildhaus via Megaslip &
Falensee. After days of rain and iffy forecasts we
were happy to see the hike begin under partly cloudy
skies and warm temps. Little did we know. This was
our break-in/ shake-down hike but it turned out to be
pretty challenging. Mrs R complained, "you didn't
break us in, you broke us!" but I ignored her.
The first section took us uphill to Sealspee where we got some fresh milk at a little dairy; then a challenging and gnarly, but beautiful climb up to Megaslip where the weather got a little more ominous. For some strange reason, the girls wanted to stop here, but we pushed on, er, up, to Wilderalp Pass 3000+ feet altitude above our starting point. Then a muddy downhill through a ranch and down to Fallensee. We stayed in a barn loft above dairy cows. Bad news: It stunk of dairy cows. Good news: There were 60 mats in the loft, but we were the only ones there. We had homemade macs and cheese for dinner and bread, cheese, milk and chocolate for breakfast. I slept well until they started bringing the cows in for milking at 5.
The next day started out on the up-and-up, in the fog and through some snow in poor visibility. Miraculously, when we reached the top (Zwingli Pass; another 2000' climb); the sky cleared and the sun came out and we enjoyed beautiful weather and views on the way down, and down, and down.
The first section took us uphill to Sealspee where we got some fresh milk at a little dairy; then a challenging and gnarly, but beautiful climb up to Megaslip where the weather got a little more ominous. For some strange reason, the girls wanted to stop here, but we pushed on, er, up, to Wilderalp Pass 3000+ feet altitude above our starting point. Then a muddy downhill through a ranch and down to Fallensee. We stayed in a barn loft above dairy cows. Bad news: It stunk of dairy cows. Good news: There were 60 mats in the loft, but we were the only ones there. We had homemade macs and cheese for dinner and bread, cheese, milk and chocolate for breakfast. I slept well until they started bringing the cows in for milking at 5.
The next day started out on the up-and-up, in the fog and through some snow in poor visibility. Miraculously, when we reached the top (Zwingli Pass; another 2000' climb); the sky cleared and the sun came out and we enjoyed beautiful weather and views on the way down, and down, and down.
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