Backpacking in the Alps for 3 days was an amazing experience. I went to an area past Lucerne with Candy (former BFA RA), Emily (BFA teacher), and Kyle (Emily’s rock-climber friend). Though we dealt with rain, sunburn, stinging nettle, and animals dung, it was refreshing to be outside and moving all day long! I especially enjoyed the animals. Here’s a little run-down of the trip.
scouting out our route
Day 1:
Kandern to Basel (by bus)
Basel to Erstfeld (by train)
Erstfeld to Brüsti (hiking uphill)
The little path on the left was our way up the hill.
The area is known for its black salamanders. We found this cute little creature about halfway up the mountain, right on the path!
It was great to hike with such a wonderful view once we got high enough up the mountain!
Our guest house in Brüsti: Z'Graggen
Day 2:
Brüsti to Surenenpass (hiking uphill)
Our view from the guest house the next morning. The blue skies were reassuring after the previous day's rain.
Some of the paths look rather precarious. I felt like a mountain goat when I came down that little hill!
Again, the views were stunning as we climbed higher.
Candy and Emily arriving at the top of the Pass!
Can you spot the 3 Ibex on the rocky ridge up above the pass?
These small deep blue flowers decorated the rocks and tussocks scattered around the pass.
Surenenpass to Stäfeli (hiking downhill)
It was an easier walk downhill, so we took our time to stop and greet the cows.
If you’re my friend on facebook, you can watch this video of a cow trying to follow us!
We arrived in Stäfeli in the early afternoon. There were some cows and goats around to entertain us as we rested.
We had originally planned on hiking up to the Spannort Hut that night, but Emily wasn't feeling well, so we stayed in this guest house for the night.
The view from our guest house: Spannort peak at sunset
Day 3:
Stäfeli to Spanneortehütte and back (climbing uphill then down)
This day was the most adventurous. We knew we had a steep uphill climb to make when we left the guest house at 8am, but that was with the understanding that we would be on a path. Well, we couldn’t find the path, so we decided to create our own – up a large slippery hill!
Candy climbing the hill on all fours. Check out the little river way down at the bottom! And we were not even halfway up at this point!
It was encouraging to see the sheep up there because we knew they had found paths up the same hill. Unfortunately, they also left stinky evidence that they had been there. In reaching for hand-holds in the slippery grass, Candy and I both put our hands in sheep poo!
Sheep way up on the hill
Finally after making our way over loose rocks, and checking out the awesome view….
God's creation is beautiful!
…we discovered our path. Kyle decided to go up the path to the peak of the mountain,
The mighty peak
but we girls headed back down the mountain.
We stopped at the hut on the way down. The hut was invisible from below, and up here we could see why. It blended in well with those rock walls.
Some curious sheep decided to follow us partway down the mountain
When we got to the bottom, we saw where we had missed the path going up. We also met some friendly cows. One of them decided my sweaty arm was like a salt block, so she gave my arm a wet sandpaper massage. Another cow appeared shortly afterward and I offered her my other arm. She obligingly smeared some green cud-slime onto my skin. Yum.
Stäfeli to Engelberg (gentle hike downhill)
The town of Engelberg was visible from a long way off
Engelberg to Basel (by train)
7:30pm train from Luzern to Basel
Basel to Kandern (by car)
We had some well-deserved ice cream together back in Kandern. The 3rd day's sunshine took a toll on our skin!
You can find more photos from the trip here.
Jill this sounds amazing! 🙂 Praying for you today.