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Journal: |
After another big healthy breakfast, Jamie and Vivian dropped me
at Zug station for my 9:05am train back to Brunnen. It was all
a bit surreal going from hiking everyday for nearly four weeks, with
very few real conversations, to a day off taking it easy, chatting
with friends and eating very well. I thoroughly enjoyed my day
off but wasn't at all hesitant about returning to the trail.
The weather didn't look promising, with low cloud and occasional
drizzle, but there was some blue sky around and the sun came out as
I walked along the beautiful Brunnen lakefront where there were fine
views across and along the milky green lake bordered by plunging
cliffs with green shoulders dotted with Swiss farms. Above it
all towered rocky crags with patches of old snow.
My route
was to take me along the eastern shore of Urnersee, an arm of Lake
Lucerne. I wasn't sure of the distance, but had promised
myself a "no pressure" day with the idea of at least getting to
Altdorf and maybe going further. As it turned out, although
the distance on the map didn't look too far, the trail was quite
hard work, though this was more than offset by spectacular
countryside and views all day.
Being in a glacial valley, the
walls surrounding the lake were very steep and the trail shared the
cliff-face on the eastern side with a railway line and a busy road.
Occasionally the trail ran alongside either of these but, mostly, it
was either above or below and this required a lot of ascending and
descending, often on steps. However, I felt fresh, was
enjoying the scenery, and the rain showers never got too heavy.
Because I could see so far, several different squalls could often be
visible at a time while, in between, there could be blue sky and
sunshine.
I found a picnic shelter for lunch around noon
which offered a beaut view and I sat there eating the nice lunch
Vivian had kindly packed for me before leaving this morning.
As I was packing up to leave, a German woman hiking alone arrived at
the shelter to have her lunch and we had a good chat because of her
excellent English. She seemed very fit and was apparently
using her annual vacations over several years to hike the length of
the E1 European Long Distance Trail, part of which we were on.
Apparently, she is a linguist, working for a religious foundation
and translating the bible into some of the world's more obscure
languages. Recently, she has been working in Papua. She
was hiking similar daily distances to me and was quite envious of me
having three months available to hike. We parted wishing each
other well and happy to have met a kindred spirit.
The
afternoon passed easily, with more showers and sunshine and I
reached the end of Urnersee and the small town of Fluelen around 4pm
and followed an old cobbled and narrow street through town before
pushing on to Altdorf, which I suspect has an association with
William Tell, judging by signs around town, and finding a
reasonably-priced hotel (by Swiss standards) on the edge of the old
town at 5pm. After a shower I walked to the nearby supermarket
to get a few things and found a Thai take-away restaurant on the way
and took Pad Thai back to my room in time to see most of the England
vs France European Champs game while I ate and updated my diary.
I have reached the Via Alpina and will be walking along it tomorrow.
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