Walks, Hikes and Wanders #25: The Last Swiss Hike

All good things must come to an end, so on Sunday, August 26, we set out on our last hike in Switzerland. Mr. D and I were joined by one of the sisters-in-law and the niece. We started out from Pontresina this time, heading toward Muottas da Schlarigna, a mountain high above the village. Before we even left Pontresina, we saw a typical Swiss morning scene—the airing of the featherbed.

Not long after seeing this, we left the village behind and started to climb, and climb and CLIMB. After about two hours, and right about lunchtime, we reached the highest point of our hike. The views were fantastic!

There were cairns everywhere, and you know how I love cairns. I even added my contribution to one of them.

After enjoying the beautiful views and eating our lunch, we set out again. Our original destination was a small lake that was at the end of a trail that branched off from the main trail, but the going got a lot slower from this point on. Due to the heavy rains of the last few nights, there were several little streams that suddenly weren't so little anymore, not to mention mud and many slippery spots. We did walk through a beautiful forest, and saw trees like this one, clinging to the mountainside.

When we finally reached the turnoff to the lake, Mr. D and I decided to stay on the main trail and head down to Bad St. Moritz, and from there walk on to St. Moritz to catch the bus back to Pontresina. The sister-in-law and the niece continued on to the lake, and they didn't get back to Pontresina for almost another three hours (but they said the lake was beautiful). Even with skipping the lake, we hiked for another hour, and after reaching the end of the trail, it took another half-hour to get to St. Moritz. Though I was tired by this time, there were still some beautiful views to enjoy in Bad St. Moritz, including this one:

It was the perfect end to my hiking adventures in Switzerland.

This may be the last of my hiking adventures, but I had many more adventures on the trip. I will share some of my favorites with you in the coming months.

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #24: Public Transportation and Hiking

Our next Swiss hike was one of my favorites of the whole trip. Before I share photographs from the day, I have to tell you about how we got to the start of the hike. First, we took a bus from Pontresina to Celerina, a nearby town. Then half of our group (Mr. D, the adult nephews and niece, a nephew's girlfriend and her friend, visiting for the day from Italy) started up the mountain on foot. My mother-in-law, two sisters-in-law, the seven year-old nephew and I took the cable car up to Marguns, where we started our hike. Why am I telling you about how we got to the hike? Well, thanks to a transportation pass provided by the hotel, all of the public transportation was free! In fact, every train, bus, cable car and ski lift that we took while in Pontresina was completely free. What a wonderful perk from our hotel!

Anyway, from Marguns, we planned to take a short but steep trail up to Corviglia. If all worked out as planned, both hiking groups should arrive there at about the same time. I started hiking with my mother-in-law, who, at 84, is a slow, but steady walker. My sisters-in-law and nephew paused for a few minutes at the little playground at Marguns.

The trail we took was well marked and easy to follow.

We passed by a pretty little stream running down the mountain. I've included a bit of video, so you can experience this small part of the hike with me. (That's my mother-in-law hiking above me on the trail.)

 

 

After a while, the rest of our group caught up with my mother-in-law and me. Here they all are:

The views of the mountains as well as the small details of the landscape were spectacular.

After about two hours of hiking, we reached Corviglia, and within ten minutes, the rest of our group arrived, too. From Corviglia, we took another cable car (more public transportation!) to the top of Piz Nair, where the views were, once again, spectacular. Here is my favorite scene, a life-size sculpture of a steinbock, perched at the very top of the mountain.

After we enjoyed a satisfying lunch of Bundner Gerstensuppe, a barley and bean soup, we headed back down the mountain, taking the cable car the whole way down.

A great way to end another wonderful day of hiking in the Alps!

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #22: Glacier's End

Majestic and massive; just two words that describe the end of the Morteratsch Glacier. See that little line of dark bumps on the right of the photo? Those are PEOPLE, coming down the glacier from an all-day hike. Like I said, massive.

Needless to say, I wasn't hiking down the Morteratsch Glacier from Diavolezza, like the folks in the photo. Instead, we took the train from the base of the Diavolezza cable car run, got off at the next stop, and then hiked about two miles up the valley to the end of the glacier. I walked most of the way with one of the nephews, and had a pleasant and interesting conversation with him. (Mr. D was behind us, walking with his mother.)

And then we reached the end of the glacier. I love the blue color of the ice.

I walked along the river coming out of the glacier, and spotted some cairns alongside it. Perhaps you may have noticed that I love cairns.

I also love the sound of the river, and I made a video of it so you could both see the river's power, and hear its roar.

Everywhere I looked I witnessed the power and beauty of nature. But there was one scene that reminded me of the effect that humans have on this glorious landscape:

It's something to think about...

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #21: Mountain High

Look where we went on our second day of hiking in Switzerland:

This breathtaking peak is Piz Bernina, as I saw it from Diavolezza, a mountaintop at elevation 9,770 feet (2978 meters) that we reached by cable car. I spent the first hour or so just drinking in the vistas that stretched out around me.

There were lots of cairns, both large and small. My mother-in-law and I had fun posing with the largest one.

One of the smallest cairns was perched precariously above the Morteratsch Glacier far below.

After a while, several of our group, including me, took off on a short hike of about a mile round trip, on a rocky trail above Diavolezza. At the highest point, we were at about 10,000 feet, and I was well aware of that altitude—it made me feel a little light-headed. You can see my sisters-in-law, the seven-year-old nephew, and one of the adult nephews ahead of me on the trail. You can also see just how rocky that trail was.

This was the point that I decided that it was time to turn around and go back down.

Once back at Diavolezza, I was happy to just enjoy the views (both reflected and real) and the cairns. Did I tell you that I really love cairns?

Walks, Hikes and Wanders #20: In the Alps

Yes, you read that title correctly; we were in the Alps! Every year, Mr. D's parents spend a portion of the month of August in Pontresina, Switzerland. Often, other family members will join them for several days, and this year, we were part of the group. (There were thirteen of us!)

Hiking is a big part of Mr. D's family culture, and Pontresina and the surrounding area is a perfect place to engage in this activity. Bright and early on our first full day, a group of us took a short bus ride to the terminus for this cable car:

The cable car took us to Muottas Muragl (pronounced Muottas Murawl), which, in addition to having a nice restaurant and lodging, is also the trailhead for a number of hikes. First, we took a look at the map:

Muottas Muragl is located where the orange arrow is on the left of the map. We planned to hike to Alp Languard, the blue label on the right. we chose to take the Panoramaweg, which is on fairly level ground, except for a steep downhill and uphill at the beginning of the hike. You can see the downhill portion of the trail on the right in the photo below.

Once we reached the top of this part of the trail, the views were the stars of the show. I believe that the Washington Cascades are some of the most beautiful mountains in the world, but the Alps certainly are a close second. Here are just two of some of the amazing vistas that extend in every direction:

After about two-and-a-half hours of pleasant hiking, we arrived at Alp Languard, where I sat on a bench and ate my sandwich. Isn't this just about the best lunchtime view ever?

Once all of the hikers in our group arrived at Alp Languard, we headed down the mountain on the chairlift, which delivered us to a spot just a few blocks away from our hotel in Pontresina. And once again, we had a spectacular view:

This hike was only the first of six wonderful hikes in the Alps. Stay tuned; the next hike is coming soon.