Annette's adventure in Switzerland

My mom went on a 5 day hike in Switzerland. As usual she had many adventure, that really would only happen to her. After listening to all her stories and laughing so hard I almost peed I begged her to write in my blog. It seems she was a little over enthusiastic, but if you have some time and want a good laugh, read on.

It all began about 40 years ago when I saw the Sound of Music. Although I don't look or sound like Julie Andrews, I always wanted to follow in her footsteps. So one day, when I sensed that Kelly was lonely (the umbilical cord still tugs quite hard), I decided to visit her in Germany and planned some time on my own, when Kelly would be at work. My search for activities led me to the Wanderweg system, which is a mapped and signposted hiking system that crisscrosses Switzerland and a tour company to set me up with maps, a guidebook, luggage transfers and hotels along a route. I was assured it was safe, well marked, that there would be other hikers and in response to my specific question, there are no bears, poisonous snakes or other similar dangers and minimal biting insects. I decided to disregard the fact that I am fundamentally afraid of heights and have an uncanny ability to get lost even when I have a map, compass and GPS on canoe routes that I have travelled before. I also disregarded Kelly's suggestion that perhaps the Alps were a bit too much for me to bite off, especially alone.
I left for Switzerland on my birthday - what a glorious way to spend my birthday! Sunny, hot at 30+ with promise of a wonderful 5 days on a solo trek through the spectacular mountains of Switzerland!

Day 1, Rorschach to Trogen, time: expected 4 h50m, actual 8h30m; distance: expected km 17, actual probably about 25-30; elevation: from 300 to 1,121m (this actually represents many, many, many, many ascents and descents between these elevations, hill after hill after glorious hill!!!

Typical Wanderweg signpost.

A 2 hour train ride brought me to Rorschach (300 m), a north central city south of lake Constance, where I dropped off my extra bag. I was pointed in the right direction (sort of) by a very nice gentleman (who spoke no English). First oops, the map/guidebook is only in German, so I decided to follow the abridged English insert only. After 30 minutes through the city, I found a woman going into a school who spoke English and she checked with other teachers and they assured me that I was going in the right direction. The top of the hill (617 m) on the outskirts of the city gave a spectacular view of Lake Constance and the surrounding area. Wow!

Top of the hill on the outskirts of Rorschach.

Once on track, with the city behind me and cows everywhere, I felt great, however the continuing steep incline was quite difficult. Further into the hike, I was a bit dismayed by the 20 minute walk along the railroad track. It's hard to plan an escape route when there is very little space between the embarkment on one side and the drop off on the other!
Within 3.5 hours, I met a group of people playing TamTam drums beside a farm house. The sound of the drums echoed throughout the hills accompanied by the constant ringing of the cow bells ... much better than Julie Andrews. One woman who spoke English assured me that although I couldn't see the yellow Wanderweg signs anymore, I was still on track, I just needed to continue up the hill through the field and I would find the way again. So up the hill I continued, through the field, waved on by another farmer, then, finally, I sat at Kaienspitz 1,121 meters. What a view, and the TamTam drums and the everpresent cow bells were echoing through the hills!

View at at Kaienspitz 1,121m.
Tamtam group behind the closest tree, to the left of the houses.

One thing about these paths is that they use the ancient mountain tradition of right of way for hikers. All the paths go right through farmers fields, along houses, so although you might think, "The path could not possibly go there, I'd be walking right through the patio", you find that indeed it does. Also, the fences have strategic and ingenious breaks to let hikers through. Another thing I learned, is that although the fields look soft and easy to walk through, unless you are on a well worn path, they are very difficult to get through because full of holes created by the feet of the grazing cows and you have to be careful of the electric fences.

Can you see the gate? The trail? The yelloow sign?
And, over the top, at the end of the field, I soon found myself lost in the trees
and ended up at a farmhouse off the Wanderweg path.

Unfortunately, I found my way for only a short time, then another field, with no yellow signs to be seen at the end. So, I headed in what I thought was the right direction and went down a steep hill through the trees.
I didn't find the right path through the trees and ended up at a farmer's house, between the garden and the pig stye. Luckily the woman spoke French. She had no idea where the Wanderweg path was but suggested I just walk 6 km up the highway to Trogen. I thought that would be suicide, since not only are there no shoulders on most of these roads but there is barely room for 2 cars ... so add a pedestrian and you have a sure recipe for roadkill.
I decided to try finding the way to Rehetobel which was on the Wanderweg way. Unfortunately, it meant a 20 minute walk on the same type of pedestrian suicide road. I was too anxious to take a picture - roadkill with a camera would have been too funny.
Just on the outskirts of Rehetobel (960m), I wasn't sure how much longer I would have to walk the road and could find no one outside, so in desperation, I knocked on a door. Well, I think the young lady who answered was shaving or something, (I could see her through the window) and the whole time she spoke to me (in German only) she hid behind the door, evidently stark naked (again, sorry, no picture). Her young boy, the whole time was trying to escape outside ... he finally succeeded, so I had to wrestle him back into the house, and thanked the woman kindly for her attempt to help although I couldn't understand anything she was trying to tell me other than Rehetobel was just around the corner and I could just whip around her house and follow the shortcut. Since I had no confidence in signless shortcuts I decided to trek on.
When I got to Rehetobel, I met a very kind older man who spoke Italian and German and a fair bit of French and English. So we managed very well and he headed me towards Chastenloch. A few more directions from local villagers and I was back on the Wanderweg way. I was told, only 1.5 hours from my destination of Trogen. Not so! The Wanderweg path brought me to the bottom of the Chastenloch gorge, probably at elevation 0 or minus! Going down was so steep that it was as hard going down as it was going up. There was only an old farm woman in the Gorge, quite a distance away, then, further down, just me and the trees! On the way back up, out of the gorge towards my destination, the path disappeared and I had to back track. The thought of going all the way back up to Rehetobel again was very discouraging then the thought of twisting or breaking an ankle even more so. I thought, what a way to spend my 52nd birthday ... I felt quite alone and getting quite concerned. At the bottom of the gorge, there was an alternate Wanderweg path that also led to Trogen according to the signs, so willing to try anything to avoid backtracking, I followed it ... and happily emerged from the Gorge unscathed but thoroughly exhausted.

The Gorge.

Foot bridge at the bottom of the Gorge.

Up and down more hills and a final trek up over 100++ steps beside some mountain goats brought me to Trogen (903m). Now I had to find my hotel, and accepted a ride from a stranger, the risk seemed small compared to what I had just gone through. I checked in at 7:30 pm, only 3.5 hours behind "schedule".

Day 2 Trogen to Appenzell, time: expected, 3h50m, actual, 5-6 hours; distance: expected, 14km but probably about 18km; elevation from 900 to 1,130 but again, with many, many ups and downs.
Today was much better since I primarily used the German guide even though I wasn't always sure about what I was reading. The first part brought me to Hohe Buche (1,130m) after asking directions only a few times when I couldn't find the next sign. As usual, I often ended up right in a farmers yard, beside a house or barn. When I reahced Hohe Buche, I met a very friendly local woman who spoke English. She took my picture, what a beautiful view. She said she would have liked to walk with me for a bit but could not. I felt like begging but carried on on my own.

The fearless adventurer.

I did have problems again with a field - couldn't find the sign at the end. The cows got quite curious as I was wandering back and forth trying to figure things out and they started to come over to check me out. Then, the farmer came down with a big stick and started pushing the cows away. He only spoke German and started to get frustrated by my hesitation to venture into the forest just anywhere, so following his general waves, I continued and then managed to find the trail.

The cows before they started comming towards me.
I was struggling to walk on this very rough field because of the big potholes made by the grazing cows .

Then I ended up at a small country house and said hello to 2 ladies having lunch - I stayed for tea and chatted (English and French) - it was a nice break. I also met 2 hikers and we walked together for about 10 minutes then parted at Buhler (826m). In Buhler, I had a few options for trails, it was not clear which was the best route so, I went with a young woman's recommendation and headed up a long steep road. After a while another decision at an unmarked fork, and luckily I chose correctly. When I choose incorrectly, it means backtracking and that means another wasted up and down trek, so experience has taught me to agonize when I reached unmarked forks.
When I reached the next farm and steep uphill field I was able to get directions from a farmer who only spoke German, but first he finished milking some cows, so I had another nice rest. He signed some rough directions, then I was off again through another potholed field.
After a while, I encountered a bunch of cows sprawled over the trail on the side of a hill. Tired and hot, I didn't want to walk around them, so I tried to pick a path through the bunch, until one of them decided to get up just as I was about to pass her. I was concerned that she might topple over me on the slope, so I backtracked and climbed the hill to circumvent. They turned and watched me leave as they stood their ground, having not moved an inch.

The stubborn cows that wouldn't let me pass saying goodbye.

Then, mostly a descent into Appenzell (780m). The hotel was in the centre of a very busy tourist place, so I checked out a few shops and bought some fruit. Too tired to eat in a restaurant, I ate fruit and peanut butter on bread, had a shower and spent a few hours on the bed with my feet propped up on the wall - my body aching from head to toe.
One thing I didn't mention in the previous blog: church bells. All my hotels were beside bell ringing churches. The bells ring every 15 minutes all day and night: usually 4 rings at the 15 minutes mark, 6 rings at 30 min and 4 rings followed by the hour, hourly (ie,4 + 11 if it's 11 pm). Also, in one village there is an alleluia 5 minute concert at 6 am! So I was lucky to get about 4 hours sleep a night.

Day 3, Appenzell to Urnasch: time: expected, 4h30m, actual 5 hours (but I cheated and took the train for the last 5 km); distance: 11km by foot and about 5 by train; elevation: 780 to 1,000m, again, with lots of ups and downs.
Much easier day, but quite worn out by now. Still very hot. The majority of the trail is on the Barefoot trail. People are encouraged to take their shoes off to walk on the soft meadow trails. I didn't, because I didn't want to risk a bee sting on my foot. I met a class of school children on a hike heading in the opposite direction and felt pretty good about being able to give the teacher some directions. Of course, still lots of cows and fields and farms but I didn't get lost.

Part of the barefoot path skirting a golf course.

The highlight was in Gonten. I had already decided to take the train for the last third of the hike, so, either in Gonten or Jacobsbad. In Gonten, I decided to go to Jacobsbad for a cable car ride to the top of Kronberg and then the train. On the outskirts of Gonten, I paused beside a village house to apply some extra sunscreen. Got the job done, bending forward to pick up my pack when I felt something hit me quite hard on my behind and heard some fierce growling and barking - a dog had nipped at my bottom and was quite cross about me being in his yard. I yelled back with equal ferocity and carefully backed up as we continued to warn each other. So I headed to Jacobsbad, only to find that the signs were not clear. The locals wanted to send me to an unmarked trail and I thought the marked trail (if I ever found it) would entail another ascent, so I decided to call it a day, forget the cable car and head back to Gonten. That meant crossing the dog again but I just coudn't face getting lost again - so I chose the lesser of 2 evils. I crawled under an electric fence to keep a safe distance from the dog who was eyeing me the whole time and headed for the train in Gonten.
When I got to Urnasch, I decided to cancel the next day and 1/2 of hiking and head back to Germany on day 4 rather than day 5. I didn't think that my tired aching body could take me any further.

Day 4 - train - ferry - train back to Germany. That was uneventful. I was happy with my decision - there was a distinct change in weather during the night of day 3 with severe lightning and thunderstorm. Had I stayed, I would have been hiking in cold, rainy and stormy weather. On the ferry crossing you could see a weather line, dark clouds and rain in Switzerland and a sunny sky in Germany.

The weather front, Switzerland on the right, Germany on the left.

One last anecdote, since there are few biting insects in Germany and Switzerland, most places don't have screened windows. The windows are just left wide open. While waiting at a train station in Germany, I watched a pigeon fly onto a window sill, then, fly right into the apartment. Then, a second one did the same thing. Maybe there was a whole flock in the apartment - it was a funny distraction as I waited for my train.

Day 5 - in Kelly's apartment, resting, still taking the painkillers that I started on day 1 and writing this blog. It's a rainy day. I'm glad to write this blog because some details are already foggy. Would I do it again? Maybe, but not alone and for shorter distances. Also, I spoke to some local bicyclers who told me that the area that I hiked happens to be the hilliest, so, next time I would choose more gently rolling hills with less altitude!!! I would find a cable car for the altitude.
The people were great, the cows always interesting and occasionally interested in me, the dog definitely less interesting, and the view always fantastic. The sounds of cow bells were constant company and the TamTam drums an unexpected surprise. Bell-ringing churches were scattered throughout the countryside and so every 15 minutes the churchbells could be heard echoing joyfully through the valleys and hills - they were just a bit hard to take in the wee-hours of the night when they were just a few feet away.

"The hills are alive with the sound of music, bells, cows, TamTams!!!!!!"

Thanks for reading my blog. Hope your travels and encounters near or far will be equally rewarding.

Annette.