Summary and Videos

Quick summary.

• 33 days, Alps in 4 countries
• N'ern Italy, Austria, SW Germany, Switzerland
  


• 270+ miles (average 8 miles per day).


• Just under 600,000 steps


• 101,000 feet in ascend/descend --- without injury :)


• Pedometer worked great. GPS confirmed daily mileage.


• A thumbs up to Leki (model Makalu) hiking sticks. Awesome, durable.
  
• Favorite pics (Picasa web album)

Hover mouse over slide-show to view controls. Click on a picture to open full-size in a new window.

We took around 25 little video clips in the different areas (listed below). Our cameras did a pretty good job, but you may need to resize your viewing window or in the bottom right corner hit the down arrow key and select 'View in Original Size' in order to get maximum resolution. Let me know if it is not streaming properly, or is quirky.

• Rome Track Meet (one legged runner)


• Rome- Javelin Injury


• Rome. The Forum


• Rome. Boy playing accordian (for money)


• Rome. Ancient ruin where Caesar was killed.


• Rome. The Pantheon


• Florence- old bridge and river


• Cafe in Florence with Musicians


• Cinque Terra (Vernazza) village on ocean beneath hills at noon.


• Dolomites (Video of Val Gardena loop)


• Long horn video (I need to get the correct name of these instruments)


• Dolomites: Mother and young daughter descending over a 1000 feet from the summit.


• Dolomites: 360 degree video from summit of Gran Cir (peak in the Dolomites)


• Salzburg, Old Town panarama


• Salzburg, outdoor concert. Middle school playing Abba hit.


• Salzburg, street performer playing glasses (with water)


• Salzburg, street performer playing harp. This guy is good.


• Hallstatt, Austria: Outdoor Internet Cafe during a rainstorm on the lake


• Gliders over Ehrenburg Ruins (near Reutte, Austria)


• 360 panarama from our Pension below the Ehrenburg ruins.


• Swiss Dancers (on National Holiday)


• Swiss Holiday. Cowbell March. Amazing.


• Murren, Switz. Pension Sonnenburg panaroma of Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau.


• Shilthorn (summit). Panarama of Eiger, Monch, Jungfrau, and more.


• Cows, high alpine valley, and mountain views above Murren


• Scuol, Switz. Tiny picturesque village in the Silvretta Alps.

Aug 13, Mon: Return flight home: Zurich to Portland

4am alarm. 7am flight from Zurich to Frankfurt to PDX.

• Shuttle to Airport and a breeze checking in.
  
• Stuffed full pack into a strong net-bag and zipped it shut. This always works well.
  
• Packed critical stuff into day pack.
  
• 1 hour stop-over in Frankfurt, then back in the air.
  
• Great flight back. Good company (business man from Austria coming to the NW).
  
• Finished reading Bowerman- The Men from Oregon.
  
• One of the best books I've read in many years. Thanks to Eric Lindauer for the loan!
  

Feels good to be back home.

Aug 12, Sun: Liechtenstein, Zurich

Caught the 9am train out of Scuols back to Zurich.

• Local train from Klosters out to Landquart for the main train.
• Don't need to be in Zurich until evening.
• Decided to stop in Sargons (about 30 minutes) for an additional side trip. Caught a local bus and took a 30 minute ride into Liectenstein. Their main town is Vaduz, and I spent several hours here.



• They were having an outdoor sand-lot volleyball tournment which was fun to watch.



• Then stopped at a local outdoor cafe, had some snacks, and spent an hour reading Bowerman, The Men of Oregon. I've been working on this book the whole trip. If you have any interest in track and field, then this book is a must.
• Several little shops selling local goods (many wood and glass creations.



• Left on bus around 3pm, back to the train, and also stopped shortly in St. Gallen. Called a friend who wasn't home so hopped back on the train and arrived in Zurich by 5pm.

Decided to walk about a mile from the Hotel to a little suburb that was primarily Albanian.

• Stopped at one cafe and the owner sat down with me and we had a great visit. He told me about this community and how it formed back when the Serbs were viciously attacking and wiping out their people. Over 200,000 escaped the tragedies and ended up in this little part of Zurich.
• He proceeded to thank me over and over for Bill Clinton who is a hero in their country. He is given the credit for assembling the worldwide forces to come in and stop the Serbs and bring peace back into their region.

Yet another wonderful experience and great ending to a great trip.

Fly out at 7am tomorrow morning.

Aug 11, Sat: Special hike thru Swiss National Park

One last surprise arose last night.

• Met two men at the Hotel Alpenrose last night. They wanted to know when I needed to return to Klosters and I stated not til tomorrow night.
• Their response was 'you are in our village of Scuol and need to hike through our countries National Park' which has a trail head 30 minutes out of town by bus.
• So, my plans immediately changed.
• 7 am breakfast
• 7:45am day pack with food, water, and parka (still low clouds but expected to clear as the day progressed). Took bus to the Minger trail head to the National Park. Took about 30 minutes as it wound up, around, and through some very steep v-shaped valleys. Very special trip.
• Got dropped off (along with 4 other folks).
• Proceeded from 1500m up the Val Minger (followed the water drainage all the way to the pass). Elev. 2317m (around 7500 feet).



• Hiked solo right from the beginning as my day pack was light and my legs were on go mode. Very peaceful trek winding up through the steep valleys and across the pass.



• Descended through the Val Ploona.



• Was hoping to run in to Philippe, Lisa and Beppe who were hiking up from the other side to where I started from. Actually ran in to them around 10:30 which was kind of fun. They were quite surprised to see me walking towards them.


• I told them that when I carried my parka on the outside of my pack that it never rained, so decided to come up from the other side to assure them good weather.
• They told me of several trails to take upon descending that would be free of people and stay high on the side of the valley. They were easy to find and definitely made it more fun.
• My legs felt so strong and the gentle descent was calling for a run, so I ended up jogging about 3 miles back down into the town of Tarasp. Took time to take a 360 degree panorama. Hope to post it eventually.
• Ate lunch in Tarasp (bananna, juice, cheese, jelly sandwich, nuts).
• Walked the last 4 miles back to town passing thru the same villages as yesterday. Stopped at an Internet Cafe to update this log and get a cup of koffee. Nice break.
  
• Will take train from Tarask back to Klosters later this afternoon. It passes directly under the Vereina Pass which we trekked over several days ago. It is the longest 'local train' tunnel in the country. It looks to be many miles long and I understand it is only 12" to the walls of the tunnel.

12 miles today with 5000 feet of ascend/descend. Would be nice to spend several days in this national park. Nice way to finish up the trip.

Aug 10, Fri: Guarda to Scuol

Hard to leave our hotel in Guarda. The temperature dropped soon after we arrived yesterday afternoon and the snow level was only a thousand feet above us. The pass would have been covered had we waited to later in the day to depart.

• Great breakfast.
• Took an hour to tour the town and Lisa explained all the history and details. She lived in this area for several years and knew it well.
• Thus, many of the unique trails we ended up hiking between these little communities were based on her experience and knowledge of the area.




• Left about 11am down the valley toward several other small communities. The town of Tarasp was their destination, and my goal was about 7km farther down the valley in Scuol. They were continuing tomorrow over to the Swiss National Park area and will have a very long day.
  
  
• We stopped at Tarasp and celebrated our 3 days of great hiking and new friendships with their version of a banana split at a little cafe, looking up at all the peaks they would be moving around in the next day.




• I continued on down the valley in to Scuol. Lots of history here and you may want to Google this for more info. Cobble streets, lots of scraffito (wall art). This is a haven for outdoor sports, esp. mountain biking, running, ice skating, skiing, hiking, climbing, etc.

Stayed at Hotel Alpenrose. 61F inc breakfast.

9 miles and another 1000 feet of ascend/descend.

Will return to Klosters tomorrow by train and do a short day hike of some type before returning to Zurich and flying home.

Aug 9, Thr: Vereina Pass to Guarda

Today is the last major day of hiking over passes for me.

• Morning weather was pretty thick clouds, but initial forecast of decent weather until afternoon.
• We quickly ate breakfast, packed up and were on the trail by 8:30am
• No rain, big tail wind as we ascended from 1943m up the Susertal and over the Vereina Pass at 2585m.
  Wind chill was about freezing.


• Hole in clouds allowed view of Mt Plattenhorner (3220m), just over 10000 feet.
  
• Weather not such that one would want to stop for a break. Somewhat interesting finding the trail through the wide pass. The GPS was handy in several instances. Also a very detailed topog map confirmed our decisions.
  
  
• Descended to Lavin (1500m) through the Val Saglians valley and then tool some local trails to our destination of Guarda (1665m). Since Lisa was familiar with this valley she guided us on some unmarked wonderful upper trails that followed the hillsides above Lavin and we descended right into Guarda.
  





• Suggestion: look up Guarda, Switzerland in Google and read all about it. We stayed at Hotel PizBuin.
  

• HOT shower, great 4-course dinner and large breakfast. 100F but worth every penny. This was the last night of any major hiking so wanted to celebrate.
  
  
  
  
• This town is authentic. The artwork on the buildings was created by layering different layers of colored plaster, then scraping off layers to create magnificant designs. I believe this is called scraffito art.
• The windows are set about a foot back into the wall, and the edges of the wall are at about 60 degrees outward which lets in more light.




• Hiking with these 3 people was a wonderful experience and we had many conversations and became good friends.

12.5 miles, 6100 feet ascend/descend over 5 hours of hiking.

Aug 8, Wed: Berghaus Vereina. Pass to next valley

Cloudy, rainy in morning, so descended back to Alp Sparra (about 1/3 of the way back down the valley to Klosters.

• Then hiked up adjacent v-shaped valley to the Berghau Vereina, which sits at 1943m.
• Took about 3 hours walking time to do the 7 miles.
• Beautiful trek up winding valley with water falls coming out of both sides of the valley.
• Huge thunderstorms over the past few days so these falls and streams to cross were really full.
• Forecast still bad for tomorrow. Not good. The plan is to cross over the Vereina Pass to the next valley tomorrow (Lavin, Guarda). Will just have to wait and see.
  
• Met another group (Lisa, Philippe, and Beppe) from Zurich.
• They have the same trek planned as I do for the next few days. They have programmed their GPS with the key waypoints and stated they would like to have me join them if I wished.
  
• Ate dinner with them and had great conversations as we got to know each other. They are really outdoor people and very fitness oriented. And they have all had many interesting careers that were fun to hear about.
  
• So, the decision to join them for the next few days over the passes and in their own territory was a no brainer.
  
  
• In my room (8 beds) was a family from Germany: grandpa, mom, dad, and 2 girls about 7 and 10. Grandpa was singing good-nite songs and the girls chimed right in. So cool to observe. I asked the girls if they snored and they said no, but that their grandpa might.

7 miles and 5,100 feet descend/ascend today.

Aug 7, Tue: the Silvretta Alps (4 day trek)

I have 5 days left before returning. How to make the most of it? I read about a remote, beautiful area called the Silvretta Alps and selected a suggested 4-day trek that hit several of the main passes and Swiss huttes.

• Train from Zurich to Landquart, then a small local train to Klosters. This is located just below Lichtenstein on the Swiss border to Austria.


• Bought a local topog map of the region and had them point me in the right direction.


• On the trail by 11am.


• Klosters (1100m) to Schwendi to Alp Sparra to Alp Sardasca (1648m) and finally up to the Silvretta Hutte (2341m). This is at the foot of the Silvrettagletcher (glacier). Hiking in clouds most of the way and just beat an oncoming storm at the time I hit the hut.
• Met a family (dad, mom, 10 yr old son) coming down out of the high pastures next to the hut where they tended their cows. Fun chatting with them.

• Also met 2 ladies (pic), one who has a somewhat unique summer job. The lady on the left resides in a very small 1-person hut about 600m up the trail from the Silvretta Hutte. Her daily routine is to take her daypack and notepage and do a head-count of all 140 cows that reside in this valley. Every cow has an ear tag with a number. She often needs to whistle or chase some of them off the more dangerous higher slopes where they have drifted. The weather can be real interesting up here (like very thick clouds, storms, etc.). One tough lady.


• 47Francs, inc. breakfast.
• Forecast- possible snow on the pass the next day. Darn. Need to rethink the plan a bit.
  
  9.5 miles and 4300 feet ascend.

Aug 5 - 6, Sun, Mon.- Return to Interlachen and Zurich

Summary to date:

• 220 miles and 80,000 feet of ascend/descend. I promised Lee he would be in good shape by the time he returned. He has a 50K McKenzie run coming up soon.

Aug 5, Sun.
9am- Train from Murren to Interlachen.

• Stayed in the Happy Inn Hostel.
• Needed to store packs in locker at Baunhauf (hostel not open til 3pm.)
• Walked around town, lots of handgliders, tourists, etc.


• Uneventful day --- took a needed day of rest before Lee flies out of Zurich.


• 4 other room mates. One musican from Spain was on a 42 day hike from Spain to Italy. We had some great conversations. Reminded me of Darren --- passion for music and following his dreams.


• Other couple also from Spain (Madrid). The young lady was at the end of her chemical engineering degree, and the young man was working towards a degree to become a dentist. They both went hang gliding that evening, and he text-messaged his folks upon landing. All ok.

Aug 6, Mon.

9am train to Zurich

• Stopped at Thun and Bern before hitting Zurich.
• Free shuttle to Ibis Zurich Messe Airport (hotel where we are staying).
• Lee flies out at 7am tomorrow morning.
• Took train back into town and did some site seeing.
• Crowded, touristy, tons of stores, a few nice pics, but very anxious to get back into the hills.

After Lee takes off tomorrow I will proceed to a region called the Silvretta Alps, doing some hiking and hut hopping in the southern end. Train from Zurich to a little town called Klosters. It is snuggled just below Lichenstien on the Swiss/Austrian border. Will hit the Silvretta Hut, Berghaus Vereina, Guarda and Scuols before returing to St Gallen and Zurich the 13th.

Aug 4, Sat: Murren to Rotstock Hutte, climb Shilthorn, to Murren

8am, Grindewald to Murren.

• Nice 30 minute train ride.
  
• Murren sits on a ledge at 1638 meters, directly facing the Eiger, Monch and Jungfrau.

• Plan was to hike to the Rotstock Hutte, but it was full (we called ahead).

• Went to Information and got 2 bunks at the Pension Sonnenberg (800 meters up the hill from Murren).


• Dropped packs there and went for long day hike-climb.
  


• Sonnenberg to Shiltalp Hut to Rotstock Hut.


• Visited with several folks who were descending the Shilthorn and discussed the route.



• Made very good time ascending the Shilthorn (2970m), or around 9,500 feet.
• Took a 360 degree video from up here. One can see the entire Bernese Oberland, and there were 8 to 10 peaks around 3000 meters in view. Picture perfect day.
• By 5pm we needed to descend via a more direct route to the Sonnenberg because dinner was to be served at 7pm.
• Picked a route that descended to the Shiltalp via a small alpine lake (Grauseeli).




• Descended nearly 4000 feet in 90 minutes.

• Pic of grandsons little play yard (with toys) outside of the Shiltalp Hut. Priceless pic. He even has a little collection cup on the post that says if you like this then please leave some money.

Long, great day. We rated it a 10+. Near 9000 feet ascend/descend over 12 miles.

Hot shower and dinner (port steak, noodles, salad, desert), slept good.

Aug 3, Fri: Climbed Schwarzhorn (2926m)

11am: bus from Grindewald to Gr. Scheidegg, then climb Schwarzhorn. Return by 6pm.

• Hike from Gr. Scheidegg (1961m).
• Very cloudy, temp around 40-45 degrees, mild wind.
• Decided to summit Schwarzhorn (2928m), a little over 9,000 feet.
• Climb similar to Mt Washington or 3 fingered jack.
• Hiked 3 miles on a `high trail` across the valley towards First (end of gondola ride). Then branched off to the summit route.
  
• Ascended a little over 3000 feet in mostly clouds.
  
• Only 4 other climbers on the mountain today (who were descending). They said the weather was mild, and the forecast was possible rain but no thunderstorms.
• It was obvious only one pair summitted, as the other said it was only a short distance to the summit (5 minutes). It ended up being a false summit (gendarme) and due to the clouds couldn`t see across to the true summit.
• We descended the gendarme to the other side via a 15-20 foot chain rail and continued climbing on a narrow ridge and hit the summit in about 20 minutes.
  
• Very cloudy on top, but still a fun ascent.
• About a 7000 foot descent back into Grindewald via First and random trails leading back into the valley and eventually town.

11 mile trek, near 10,000 feet ascend/descend.

• On the descent the sun poked holes in the clouds and we got periodic views of the Schreckhorn. It is over 4000m (over 13,000 feet). It sits behind the Eiger and is actually higher. Got several great pics, including a flock of birds flying across the valley.
  

Train over to Murren tomorrow and hike to hutte (about a 4 hour trek). Weather forecast is good.

Aug 2, Thr: Grindewald (attempt Faulhorn)

Stormy, cloudy upon waking in the morning.

• By 10am weather cleared a little. Decided to attempt Faulhorn (2686m. summit between Eiger/Jungfrau and Interlachen on our side of the valley). Trail took off right out our back door as we are 800m up the hill from town. Our hostel is at 1050m.
• Route: via Aellfluh (few good pics here when clouds cleared for a minute).
  
• Very interesting local `land art` by this hutte. People take local materials (rocks, twigs, etc.) and build little structures that look like fancy trail markers.
• Ascended to Waldspitz (1918m)
• Great suppe (vegetable, bacon bits)- 20 minute break at this nice hutte. Met 2 Britains that said we had to try the suppe. Good decision.
• Still no rain, but cloudy. Met several people descending and they said it may be sunny above this cloud level so we decided to ascend another 1200 feet up to Bachalpsee at 2265m (a high lake).

• Hit an incredible storm 3/4 of the way up. Suddenly very high head winds, temperature drop, sleet, thunder, and eventually lightening. Added layers to shirt, including wind breaker and pancho, gloves. Kept body heat just fine and decided to continue to Bachalpsee shelter as it was closer than descending. Hit it within 10 minutes.
• Totally soaked head to foot.
• 8 ft x 10ft x 6 ft high. Flat roof. 15 people huddled in then until the storm blew over. They all chatted in German, so didn`t understand much. Two elderly locals (in their 70`s) kept peeking out the door to check the wind direction, and we continued to listen to the gap and location between lightening and thunder.
• Kept body heat pretty good and after 20 minutes everyone decided to move on to the next hutte.
• They all went one way, we decided to head back down the other direction.
• Descended over 4000 feet in 1 hr 20 minutes. That`s flying. Legs and body responded perfectly. Lee is a great partner and very agile in these conditions. No problems whatsoever. Didn`t take long to regain body heat.
• Thank goodness for hiking sticks. It`s like having 4 legs. We were able to literally run down slippery trails, over rocks, and crossed 4 streams that had significantly increased in size in less than an hour.
• Ears popping constantly.
• Ended up with 8 miles and 8000 feet of ascend/descend but unable to summit. Maybe tomorrow (as the weather is expected to clear).
• Another great day full of interesting experiences. Hot shower felt great.