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Journal: |
I left the hotel just before 8:30am on a beautiful and cool sunny
morning. I crossed through Linthal and began the long 1600m
ascent to Richetlipass (2251m). After a short distance on a
back road, the path entered the forest and steadily climbed in cool
conditions. The grade wasn't too steep and I enjoyed the
hiking. I noticed that the undergrowth along the path had been
recently cut and hoped this was a good omen for the path at higher
altitudes where I was very concerned about the snow. It would
be comforting if hikers had already been through the pass.
As
is often the way with the Swiss hiking trails, the climb through the
forest ended on a high mountain road that serviced the farms in the
high valleys. I followed the road and emerged into the high
pastures surrounded by snowy mountain peaks. Shortly after, I
encountered a couple mountain-biking and had a brief chat. The
woman, who spoke good English, had a sister living in Canberra.
They were apparently just out for a morning ride from Linthal (800m
ascent and 800m descent!).
My route took me past a couple of
farms and then began to climb the side of the valley towards the
pass. I stopped for a morning break by a stream next to a
parked trailbike and while I was resting the farmer returned down
the track and we had a chat. His English was quite good though
he said he hadn't used it for a long time. Apparently he had
only just come up to the high valley (1400m) for the summer with his
herd of cattle two days ago, and was now distributing them around
the valley. The downside of that was the trail was again
churned up with a mixture of mud and manure as I climbed higher and
higher. Eventually, I left the cows behind and noticed a few
mountain goats on the scree slopes above and some marmots crossing
snow patches. The trail was now quite technical and steep,
switch-backing up some steep cliffs and following some very narrow
ridges. There were patches of snow around and in a couple of
places the path lay under steeply sloping and icy snow which
required great care to cross and was very slow. The care and
slowness were directly proportional to the perceived risk if I
slipped. After the second of these crossings, with more
visible ahead, I decided to just climb cross-country directly to the
pass above which would avoid the snow but take me across some steep
scree and grass slopes. In retrospect, I'm not sure this was
wise because it was very hard on my feet on the very steep slopes
and it was very slow (more than an hour for one kilometre). I
was often using hands as well as feet to climb and higher up had to
cross some softer snow patches.
I finally reached the pass at
about 1pm. There was a sign warning people coming from the
other direction about the dangers of the slope and trail I had just
climbed. On the other side of the pass I was confronted with a
huge snow bank and spent some time reconnoitring the best way to get
across it. Eventually I chose what looked like the safest
route and ploughed through the thigh-deep bank and then lumbered
down the steeper slope through the snow. Once through that
bit, the slope became less steep and the consequences of slipping
seemed minimal and I made better speed trudging across the snowfield
using my GPS for direction. Now the pressure was off, I was
quite enjoying myself and wended my way across the snow, some rocky
outcrops and across a few snow-covered streams to an unoccupied
mountain hut where I stopped for a late lunch of muesli bars.
While crossing the snow field I had heard a lot of loud crashes like
thunder or explosions, but there didn't seem to be enough clouds on
the high peaks to be generating thunder. I later discovered
there was a military firing range in the valley ahead where
apparently tanks were conducting a firing exercise.
After
lunch I had to climb through another, lower, pass that involved
crossing more snowfields. For the first time, I could discern
a few footsteps in the snow and guessed someone had been up to the
hut in the last week or so. After the second pass I
encountered some more difficult snow banks to cross and then had to
traverse a fairly steep and icy snowfield. I was quite scared
at this point and took it very slowly, kicking myself footholds with
each step and jamming my trekking poles as deep as I could for extra
support with each step. I was just about across when I slipped
and began sliding quickly down the slope. After a moment's
panic when a trekking pole, strapped to my wrist got twisted under
my body, I managed to swing my legs downhill and jam the heels of my
boots into the snow. After about 20 metres I got control of
the slide and then travelled another 50-70 metres down the slope
somewhat under control. I could then stand and make my way
across the less steep snow at the bottom and the remains of a fresh
small avalanche to an exposed section where I could see the trail.
From there, I had a lot more snow to cross, but it was relatively
safe and fast travelling and I eventually descended to a pasture
where there was a gasthaus. Relaxing on the sundeck were about
a dozen soldiers, obviously taking a break from their firing
exercise. Later, when a jeep passed me on the road down, some
of them offered me a lift (which I declined).
From the
gasthaus, my route followed footpaths and farm roads high along the
side of the valley in which Elm was visible below. I had
survived the challenges of the path and now the sun was warm on my
back as I followed the easy trail down towards Elm with sensational
views across the valley to the towering snow-covered peaks on the
other side. All was right with the world. As I got
lower, the pastures were just a carpet of wildflowers, as a
beautiful foreground to the greens, greys and whites of the mountain
background.
By now it was getting late and my feet did not
enjoy the last steep descent to Elm where I found a hotel just after
6pm. Elm seems to be a resort town with skiing in winter and
various sports in summer, but quiet right now. When I went
down to eat dinner in the restaurant after 7pm, a young American
came and introduced himself and asked me about the hiking today.
Apparently, he tried to do the same section as me, but in the
opposite direction, and had turned back because of the snow.
However, yesterday he did manage to get through the pass I cross
tomorrow, so that's good news. There were some army officers
dining in the restaurant as well and some soldiers having a beer in
the sun outside. As I recall, military service is compulsory
for all Swiss and they have refresher courses every couple of years
and keep their weapons at home. Short hair is obviously not
compulsory.
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