Fun things happening along the way

Here´s a few of the fun things that happened along the way.

The following is what I packed for snacks along the way of this 5 day trek.  Two 1 lb. packages of swiss cheese, a pound of summer sausage, and a package of dinner rolls.  Several of the group laughed at the small size of my backpack.  They all had larger packs.  But, they really laughed upon observing how much food I´d packed.

The huts we stayed at were mostly unheated except for the central dinning area.  The bunk and wash rooms were unheated.  However, with anywhere between 9 and 15 people sleeping in one room, body head did raise the temperature a bit in the dorm rooms.  The dorms are co-ed, guys and gals sleeping and snoring face to face, farting & belching, changing in the same room, etc.  Europeans aren´t nearly as modest as Americans.  Lodgers come prepared with their own sleeping sheet (sheet like material sewn into a bag) with pillows and blankets provided by the lodge.  Obviously, not coming prepared with earplugs is a BIG mistake.

The only water available was unheated.  Considering the temperature dipped below freezing every night, the cold drenching of the face in the morning was certainly an eye opener!  All washrooms were communal, one each for guys and gals.  They were designed with a long metal trough to drain water provided by several cold water spigots.

Most of the huts were satisfactory.  One was less so.  There were 80 people staying in one, comprised mostly of men.  The men´s toilet was a two holer, but would you believe it was a pit toilet, not flush!  Believe me it provided a new definition for "it takes your breath away!"

Only one of the huts provided a shower this trip - the third night out.  The shower had a 3 (€5) minute timer - get ér done fast babes!  At least the time stopped when the nozzle was shut off, providing time to rinse down, shut off, soap down, then rinse off.  But that hot water felt WONDERFUL!  Oh yes, the shower was not open air per se, being located inside a building, the shower was open to the outside temperature - rather cool, literally speaking, given that snow was on the ground just outside the door.  You´d be surprised how quickly one can dry off and dress!

Hiking boots are verboten other than just inside the entrance.  Boots are exchanged for flipflops, or the like; most huts provide loaner slippers if occupants have none.