Wednesday, 13 June 2012

Urnerboden

Linthal

17.2

765.4

Partly cloudy in the morning with occasional showers in the afternoon

Hotel Bahnhof, Linthal

Rolls and jam for breakfast; chips and yoghurt for lunch; pork chop covered in bacon and Emmental cheese, with vegetables and fries.

None

I started hiking around 8:30am in sunshine, a good omen I hoped.  It had clearly been raining a lot during the night, but there was now plenty of blue sky and the summits of some of the surrounding high snow-covered peaks were visible.  There were some breathtaking views down the valley from Urnerboden and I enjoyed initially following the rushing Fotschbach River downstream on a bordering gravel path.

After a few kilometres, I reached a track junction where I could choose to follow the Via Alpina route to Linthal (5 hours) or use a more direct trail (2 hours).  My dilemma was that there was no accommodation for at least 6 hours and one high mountain pass after Linthal so if I took the less direct Via Alpina route I would not have time to safely continue past Linthal today.  I decided that the Via Alpina route had probably been chosen for a reason so followed that sign.  The trail became a little indistinct as it climbed through alpine pastures up to a farm road that contoured along the side of a valley providing excellent views.  Mostly I was passing through high alpine farms and said hello to a few farmers going about their chores on a beautiful morning.  Sadly, the downside of this rural travel was using the same path as a lot of cattle and, post yesterday's rain, I was often sloshing through a pungent mixture of mud and manure.

The farm roads eventually ran out and the trail became single track through forest across the face of a mountain.  In places it was quite technical and slippery and there were a few tricky thundering stream crossings where wire ropes had been installed to hang on to.  Some of these narrow paths were used by cattle too, and I encountered one small herd.  Getting around them without spooking them (or me) was challenging.  I was glad of my trekking poles which came in handy for some taps on the butts of hesitant cows.

Despite the challenges of the path, the cool forest trails dappled with sunshine under the green foliage was very pleasant.  The trail eventually emerged onto a forest road which turned into a rural road and took me into the village of Braunwald which seemed to be both a summer and winter resort, connected to the valley far below by a cable railway.  There were quite a few people out for short walks on the country lanes in the pleasant weather.

I hadn't brought any drink with me and was pleased to arrive just in time to buy a drink and a packet of chips from a very small supermarket that was due to close for its three-hour midday break five minutes later. I then found a picnic table near the cable railway terminus and had a break during which one of the cable cars arrived, complete with a couple of large buckets of gravel on a rear platform angled to keep it level.

As I began the descent to Linthal from Braunwald it clouded over and began to rain.  The trail followed an old pathway which zig-zagged steeply down the forested face of the mountain generally between the mountain face and an old stone wall.  About half-way down I could hear yelling and bells getting nearer and nearer, but couldn't quite work out what was going on until I met a procession of cattle being herded up the mountain along the narrow path by about eight women and girls spaced evenly through the procession keeping the cattle moving with yells and taps from sticks.  They were taking the cattle up to the high alpine pastures for the summer, probably something which has been happening here for many hundreds of years.

I arrived on the valley floor shortly before 2pm.  It was occupied by several non-descript villages, including Linthal, and some industrial plants.  Quite a contrast from the up-market resort at the other end of the cable railway.  I found my way to the Hotel Bahnhof, which has seen better days, but offered all I need at a good price (for Switzerland).  After a shower, I walked a couple of kilometres around the villages, mostly in light rain, and found a very small supermarket where I replenished some supplies before returning to the hotel.  After dinner, I watched some more of the European Football Champs games on TV while catching up on correspondence and journal. Tomorrow I have quite a lot of high altitude travel and am hoping the snow is not too bad and that the weather continues to gradually improve as forecast.