The hike, play by play

The trek started Friday the 19th.

The German group arrived at my hotel at Tschagguns (2300 feet elevation) at 11AM.  Following lunch, we bused to the Grabs Hut (4500') where the road ends and the trek begins.  From there we walked 2+ hours uphill to Tilisuna Hut (7113') for our first night´s lodging.  The weather forecast blew it again.  It was supposed to be dry and sunny.  Instead we had cloudy with light drizzle for the first hour of walking.  Fortunately, this was the last of the rain we experienced for the remainder of the trek.  But don´t count your chickens before their hatched - nothing´s been said about snow yet. (hint, hint)

By the way, travel between noted destinations are not listed by distance such as in the USSA but in average time it takes to walk between points.  Thus, the sign at Grabs for Tilisuna Hut was 2 1/2 hours (as I recall), not in a physical distance.

No complaints about this hut, a little hot water to wash hands and face would have been nice, but we´re tough trekkers, right?  As always, the cold beer went down the hatch nicely.  Food served at the hut was acceptable, nothing outstanding.  Most of the evening meals on this trek were standard fare, meaning that everyone received the same food.  For example, at one of the huts, the server brought out a huge pot from which he served cream of broccoli soup.  Yeah, I know, not one of Daddio´s favorites but when the belly´s screaming you´ll eat darn near anything!

Card playing, beer drinking with the occasional schnapps shooter continued well into the evening.  This activity would be repeated the next two evenings.

Morning dawned cold but still dry.  The standard fare for breakfast takes a little getting used to - at least for me.  It usually consisted of a couple pieces of bread, a little butter and perhaps jam, a slice of cheese, and usually a thin slice of wurst (some form of sausage).  One hut had cereal with milk.  Lodgers could choose either tea or coffee to accompany the meal.  Frankly, I would have preferred the "full Irish breakfast (you´ve never lived until you´ve had one of those!) to start the grueling walk ahead.

I keep referring to language difficulties.  This trip was no exception.  Oli told me that this would be the hardest day, but I had no idea that the plan for day two was not only to walk to the next hut, but to climb a mountain along the way.  I was just kind of sauntering along following the pack when we started the "big climb".  Many pictures were taken, but in all honesty it was a shame not to have clear weather.  We did lots of hiking through fog with frequent overhead clouds.  It was nearly the same when we reached the top of Sulzfluh (9245').  There was no fog here, but plenty of clouds on nearby mountains interfered with good picture taking.  Oli and Wolfgang made the summit on a different, a much more aggressive path.  I hiked along with the ladies and other old farts on the pansy trail to the top.

We descended the mountain, crossed over into Switzerland, then continued walking to hut #2, called Carschinahuette (http://www.carschinahuette.ch/).  If you click the link you´ll see what looks like a beautiful lodge.  However, this is the place I referred to in the "Fun things..." blog entry where the toilet was really little more than a glorified outhouse.  You´d never guess this by the look of the place from the outside.

Hut #2 is the location of another Daddio faux pau.  Late in the afternoon, one of the ladies and I were sitting in a cold great room when she commented on the cool temperature.  Well, Daddio´s a fixer, right?  This occasion was no exception.  I espied the wood stove, wandered over to it, saw that it was going but with little fuel, so I commenced to fill the orifice with wood.  Then I went out side to get more fuel.  Upon my return I was confronted by one of the workers who glared at me and asked in a brash accusatory manner, "where did you get that wood!"  Well I told him where, then he told me to take it back, that if more wood was needed he´d get it, and that the fire didn´t need to be stoked.  He was right, I had no idea that the room would later be packed wall to wall with people, and that the temperature and humidity would both climb to about 80º!  But on the other hand, I didn´t hear anyone complain as the temperature outside dropped below freezing.

Day #3 was described as the longest hike of the trip, about 7 hours; but over mostly level ground.  Once again unfortunately clouds and fog would be the weather for the day.  A few pictures were taken, but mostly the camera stayed in it´s case.  The day was a pleasure to walk.  A couple layers of clothes were needed to ward off the cold temperature.

Arrival at hut #3 (schesaplana-huette, elevation 6260') was a shear joy.  The first and only shower along the way!  If you haven´t checked the "Fun things..." blog entry, this would be a good time to do so.  There´s an explanation of the shower arrangement.

I liked hut #3 the best.  It was the smallest, most intimate, and had the fewest population of hikers.  It was also the scene of a couple stories, one of which was extremely funny.  You´d likely have to have been there to get the proper affect.  I´ll try my best to describe it:

Peter received a phone call providing news that he was the proud grandfather of nice new baby boy.  He told us Tobias is the boy´s name.  Well here´s the deal.  Germans pronunciation of letters is different from their English equivalents.  When he said "Tobias", it sounded to me exactly like "two beers".  I said, "two beers, that´s a rather strange name for a kid."  A couple of the Germans looked at me and said "two beers, what´s this two beers?"  I said why did they name him two beers?  There were a couple of bewildered looks, followed by recognition on one of their faces.  Upon explanation in German to the rest of the party, uproarious laughter resulted!  They figured out the problem with the language difficulty.  Later, Peter told me that his new grandson would be nicknamed "two beers" forevermore.

Story #2 is, well..., make up your own mind.  It´d be best if went to the kitchen and poured a glass of wine, or, perhaps a stronger libation.  I´ve had my first Swiss duschen!  Now wait a minute.  Where is your mind going?  This is serious, it´s above board.  It begins with the Swiss name for shower: douschen.  Obviously, the English connotation for the term is slightly different compared to our European counterparts.  During the absence of the two ladies, I explained to the gents what the term means in English - the irrigation usually by women of certain of their female private equipment/apparatus.  They got quite a kick out of that explanation.  Later, when everyone was present, one of the wise guys asked me to explain the term to all present.  Wow, Daddio certainly knows how to dig himself in a hole!

Day #4 dawned quite cold again.  Also, a little surprise awaited us - snow!  Not too much, not more than a couple inches; but it sure was cold!  Our group would split again this day.  Oli, Peter, Bernd, and Wolfgang would take a higher and much more difficult trail to the next hut.  The ladies and remaining old farts would return part way on the previous day´s trail then all would reunite at hut #4.

The first part of the walk was okay, but when we entered a section of descent, the trail turned to mud.  It was a huge quagmire, difficult to walk, slippery with inches of mud clinging to the bottoms of our boots.  Not much more to add.  Following the mud we made a sharp ascent to the final hut.

The last day dawned cold with fresh snow on the trail again.  We had only an hour to walk the last day, where we arrived at the top landing of a gondola.  The gondola would take us down the hill, then another walk to a town called Brand.  Here our group had a final meal together, then climbed into cars for the short drive to Drie Turme and our final separation.

The hike was a good one, but a little sunshine and warm temperature would certainly have been appreciated!