[Idyllchat] An Excellent Hike (and more)

[Lee]

Richard,

I'm from Minnesota, so I'll pass on the NFL, MLB, NBA commentary.  Perhaps 
it's the "funky mood" that I'm in.

However, the colorful descriptions of your hikes improved my disposition. 
On a foggy Saturday morning in August, we shared portions of the High Trail 
with a host of competitors in a two-day orienteering competition.  The Three 
Cantons Hike was the only one on our to-do list that we didn't do.  We just 
ran out of time.  Given your experience, maybe it was just as well.

thanks,

Lee


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Stewart" <dj.stewart at worldnet.att.net>
To: "idyllchat" <idyllchat at lists.untours.com>
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2007 11:16 AM
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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