Fw: [Idyllchat] An Excellent Hike (and more)

Sat Nov 3 13:58:18 EDT 2007

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "robert w. miller" <rwm1029 at chartertn.net>
To: "Richard Stewart" <dj.stewart at worldnet.att.net>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 1:41 PM
Subject: Re: [Idyllchat] An Excellent Hike (and more)


> First off, "Pride goeth before a fall.  Beware!!"
>
> You have a poetic touch with your pen (uh keyboard).  Dick, we have now 
> made 12 visits to Switzerland, the first three before we knew of Untours 
> and the last nine with Untours.  Have done many of the hikes you 
> mentioned.  Did Kaserstatt to Magisalp, the reverse of part of your hike. 
> Done the Creme de la Creme three times.  Engstlenalp to Trubsee.  On our 3 
> Canton hike, we went up from Sorenberg  on a gondola to Brienzrathorn and 
> then took the hike to Schonbuel in 2003 when I was only 84.  The gondola 
> down to Lungern was operating then.  Also in '03, I went to the Birdwing 
> Paragliding School in Meiringen and took a paraglide flight from 
> Planplatten down to Meiringen. It's the nearest one will ever come to 
> flying like a bird.  You should consider trying it.
>
> Unfortunately, I'm afraid we have taken our last overseas trip since I hit 
> 89 last Monday.
>
> Cheers.
>
> Bob Miller
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Richard Stewart" <dj.stewart at worldnet.att.net>
> To: "idyllchat" <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
> Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 12:16 PM
> Subject: [Idyllchat] An Excellent Hike (and more)
>
>
>> Fellow Travelers,
>>
>> In recent days emails to Idyllchat have been infrequent to say the least.
>> With the sudden finish of the Red Sox/ Indians ALCS in our favor, the 
>> speedy
>> reduction of the Rockies to minor-league status in the World Series, the 
>> NFL
>> Patriots leaving all
>> opponents churned in their wake, and Boston College ranked two in the
>> nation, I hope the paucity is in no way related to a funky mood those in
>> other parts of the country may be in as the result of recent and 
>> remarkable
>> success on the part of the Boston/New England teams.  For heaven's sake 
>> even
>> the Bruins are winning their share.  Moreover, the Celtics prospects are
>> brighter with their first Big Three since the Bird, McHale, Parish era.
>> Please forgive the smugness, but this is a marvelous time to be a sports 
>> fan
>> in Boston.
>>
>> Alas, with tropical storm Noel moving up the coast, it's a dismal 
>> Saturday
>> morning here in Boston, due to get worse as strong winds and significant
>> rain are expected to develop all day into evening.  Yet, this could be 
>> the
>> storm before the calm as the Pats play Indy tomorrow afternoon, and if 
>> this
>> Pats game is anything like their prior eight this season, it could be a 
>> real
>> snoozer for the Pats.  Of course, I'm kidding because Pats/Indy is by far
>> the most highly anticipated regular-season game this year.  We hear that
>> some Raider fans are passing on their home game so they can watch 
>> Pats/Indy
>> live.
>>
>> But I digress, and badly so.  On bleak Saturday mornings I often think 
>> about
>> hiking in Switzerland.  Better than thinking about it is writing about 
>> it,
>> and given the present dearth of cyber missives and nature's gloom outside 
>> I
>> decided to take a small step toward remediation.  Besides, it will make 
>> at
>> least one of the hours between now and kickoff at 4:15 EST tomorrow go by
>> faster.
>>
>> This past July we enjoyed another wonderful Untour in Switzerland, Reuti 
>> and
>> the Heartland to be more specific.  Many of us have enjoyed Grandmother's
>> Walk, Grandfather's Walk, and the spectacular hike from First to Grosse
>> Scheidegg.  One purpose of this note is to recommend for anyone who has 
>> not
>> done so the hike from Planplatten to Kaserstatt in the Heartland.  This 
>> hike
>> of two hours or less is called the High Trail (Hohenweg).  The hike 
>> starts
>> downhill with the Meiringen-Brienz valley as foreground.  Most of Lake
>> Brienz and the snow-capped Wetterhorn group are visible to the left and
>> several other ridges to the right.  Although we had done this hike 
>> before,
>> the view was sufficiently breathtaking for Joan to comment "it's like 
>> it's
>> not real."  Along the trail, visually, were wall-to-wall buttercups and
>> purple clover, while, aurally, cowbells and marmot whistles enhanced the
>> experience.  On this particular day, the dark blue sky overhead tapered 
>> to
>> light blue as it went over the mountains.  The midpoint is at Haaggen, 
>> which
>> consists of three or four rustic structures.  On one of the buildings,
>> Haaggenstubeli, is an impressive array of sixteen cowbells, among them, 
>> I'm
>> sure, some of the largest extant.  At Haaggen you can buy a soda or 
>> refill
>> your water bottle.  Beyond Haagen the trail rises steadily but gradually 
>> to
>> Kaserstatt where there is a fine restaurant.  Buying together the High 
>> Trail
>> tickets from Meiringen (or Reuti) to Planplatten and from Kaserstatt down 
>> to
>> Twing together saves some money.
>>
>> This second hike we had not done before this year.  It's the Three 
>> Cantons
>> Hike from Brienzer Rothorn to Schonbuel.  What an experience!  OK, we're 
>> 67
>> and 70.  Nonetheless, we're fairly fit for our age and usually do hikes
>> reasonably close to the times specified on those yellow signs.  On this 
>> hike
>> we didn't come close.  With its rugged and narrow trails and many 
>> portions
>> that seemed to go either dangerously upward or downward the Three Cantons
>> Hike turned out memorable for the wrong reasons.  Sure the scenery is
>> spectacular, but to survive while looking at it required stopping and
>> holding onto something in order to maintain balance.  But another and
>> surprising disappointment came on arriving at Schonbuel.  We had fond
>> memories of Schoenbuel from our only visit in 2003.  Then, the place was
>> alive with visitors.  There were sensational views all around plus what 
>> has
>> to be among the best mountain restaurants in all of Switzerland.  Because 
>> we
>> were having such a bad time enduring the hike, we eagerly awaited 
>> Schonbuel.
>> It was to be the saving grace.  Yikes!  Schoenbuel was deserted.  At 3 
>> p.m.
>> on a fairly nice afternoon the help inside the restaurant was seated at
>> tables normally occupied by customers.  Much worse was the fact that what 
>> in
>> 2003 was a new quad chairlift up to Schoenbuel was not operating.  We
>> worried that we might have to walk down to Lungern, something it would 
>> have
>> been impossible to achieve given our exhausted state.  Fortunately, a
>> six-passenger minivan was doing shuttle service up and down between
>> Schonbuel and the intermediate stop down to Lungern.  Later, we heard 
>> that
>> the quad lift up to Schonbuel was in financial difficulty.  Some said it
>> should have been a gondola rather than a quad.  Perhaps Vance could
>> enlighten.
>>
>> This will end upbeat.  To reach the Rothorn, we took the famous steam 
>> train
>> from Brienz.  Well, not exactly.  It was a beautiful day, and since we
>> arrived close to departure time and the steam train was full, we had to 
>> ride
>> in the diesel-powered backup train.  Our train followed at a safe 
>> distance
>> behind the steam train.  There are several tunnels on the way up to the
>> Rothorn and because we passed through the tunnels shortly after the steam
>> train, it was necessary to hold both breath and nose to avoid symptoms of
>> black lung disease.  Nonetheless, the ride up on either train, while
>> somewhat expensive, is a marvelous and truly unique experience.  The 
>> scenery
>> is amazing.  We are fortunate to have visited Switzerland many times over
>> the years.  The train ride up to the Rothorn is high on our list of
>> memorable experiences and highly recommended.  The views and restaurant 
>> at
>> the top are superb.
>>
>> The hour flew by.  Thanks for your indulgence.  At the moment it's not
>> raining but winds are building.
>>
>> Go Pats,
>>
>> Happy travels,
>>
>> Dick Stewart
>>
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