Alpine Pass Trail – Week 3

Hell yeah, already three weeks on trail! This trail feels like a rollercoaster, not only because of the many up and downs also with my emotions. But more of that you will read down below!

Day 15 – Ulrichen to Ausserbinn

I had a good night and slept like a baby. Uhm no, this was of course not the case! I woke up at midnight as I noticed that my nose is bleeding. Great, nosebleeding attack in the middle of the night. So I ran to the bathroom and stayed there till it was fine again. For safety I rolled some toiletpaper and put it in the nose. In the morning I took it out and started hiking. I was looking forward to a mostly flat trail, but this also wasn’t the case. It had little ups and downs all the time and that made it exhausting. It was nice though, that the trail was mostly in the forest! Around lunchtime I was already at the end of today’s stage and so I hiked on. I had a nice lunchspot at a old barn. There I also phoned with my brother, who’s maybe joining me for some days! It got super windy and so I went on. The trail was on a road to the next village. In Ernen I got super lucky, the supermarket was open (on a Sunday!). Normally all shops are closed! I bought some grapes and Rivella (THE swiss drink) and had a break in the shade. The wind was still going and so I made my way up to Ausserbinn. There I looked out for a campspot and found one next to a dirtroad. I cooked dinner and waited till 7pm to set up my tent. This is my strategy: look for a place, wait till 7-7.30pm and then set up the tent 🙂

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Day 16 – Ausserbinn to Bortelhütte

In the woods there are always so many noises and I couldn’t sleep so well. I packed my stuff and had breakfast. When I started hiking I called my dad to say happy birthday! Soon after I walked into the twingi gorge and there was a land art exhibition – so cool! There were some cool stuff and I really enjoyed walking through the gorge. I ended up in Binn and then the big climb started. It was a hot and sunny day, so I sweated already in the morning. The trail was partly following a dirtroad in the beginning. I took a break and lots of people went by and I was really surprised. It was really warm and the trail went steep uphill. I felt pretty good and past all people again haha 😉 Short before the pass my tummy started to rumble so I had lunch and a short nap. I walked the last bit to the pass and wow, the view was just incredible <3 You could see lots of high mountains (4000meter and higher) I stood there for a bit enjoying the view and taking pictures. Then I went down to the restaurant where I had a big portion of fries 🙂 yummi!! It was only 3pm so I hiked on. I made a short stop at a stream to wash my feet and my socks. After there a really nice trail and quite exposed! I really liked it! My plan was to camp and I already saw a good place on the map. But when I got there, there were sheep and it was super windy… I wasn‘t sure what to do and hiked on a bit. Desperate sitting on a maybe campsite I called the hut which was really close. I got super lucky and got the last spot! Now in Coronatime the huts are only half of the normal amount of people. I had a beer there and I met the german hiker again! We had a nice evening together. As I was at the hut I noticed that I left my socks at the stream… Well, now I got only one pair of socks!

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Day 17 – Bortelhütte to Simplonpass

I didn‘t order dinner at the hut, so I was even more hungry at breakfast! They had a really nice breakfast 🙂 Today was a really short day. I only walked about 3.5 hours 🙂 The german guy walked in front of me and I was a bit behind him. On the way I past three german/belgian guys. I took a shortcut to get in front of Lennard (german hiker). Weirdly I didn‘t see him again after that. He must have taken a wrong turn, because he was normally as fast as I. The trail went down to the pass road. You walked above the cartunnel which was really funny. Soon after you were already at the top of the pass. I walked to the hospiz where I reserved a bed for tonight. I sat outside for more than a hour, I wasn‘t sure if I should walk further or not! And I felt somehow super lonely and just hated the trail. I cried for a bit and then decided to just stay here! And it was a good decision 🙂 the lady at the bar showed me the room. I took a shower and washed some clothes in the sink. The weather was still really sunny, so I sat on the stairs outside messaging some friends. The three guys apeared and we went over the road to have coffee. They were really nice, I sat to them and we chatted. This was what I needed the most then, company! Later in the afternoon it rained and I was happy to be inside and not somewhere camping. I had lots of time to finally write my blog! It really needs a lot of time to do it…

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Day 18 – Simplonpass to Finilu (Gspon)

So the Simplonpass hospiz is lead by monks and the building is pretty old. The breakfast was modest like monks are. In the morning there was fog on the pass. As I started hiking it was already gone and the views were nice. I hiked about 1.5 hours up to the pass. Along the way I met a couple that I actually have seen already twice or so. They are also hiking the Alpine Pass Trail! Finally I meet some other people 🙂 later in the day I got to know that they slept in our B&B at home! After the pass the trail went on the same height for most of the day. It was a big valley that you went all the way to the back and then on the other side to the front again. I met another couple along the way, we actually sat on the same table last night. I took a break at the back of the valley. The trail was so nice and flat and I had a good pace! The views to the mountains opposite the valley were absolutely gorgeous!! Lunch I had at a small lake. I walked the last bit to Gspon, where the stage ended. But there was no place to camp so I hiked on. About a hour later I found the perfect spot! It was next to a little chapel and in opposite high mountains and glacier! In the evening some local people came up to the church. I was already worried, that they might not lik that I‘m canping here. It was right the opposite! They were so friendly and nice! The old lady even invited me for coffee in the morning. I declined because I leave early in the morning. I enjoyed the sunset and went to bed early! It was a big day 🙂

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Day 19 – Finilu (Gspon) to Saas-Fee

It was a short day of hiking! I left the nice spot around 8am. The trail was going through the forest. In the beginning the were some dangerous rockfall areas to cross. I was nervous, but I made it. I walked by a house and a cute young dog was barking at me. The woman apologized for it, the dog was so cute it didn‘t bother me. After a hour walking I came by a little alphut. I was already past the hut, the owner came out and asked me if I want a coffee. I said yes and so we sat together drinking coffee. He was looking to the sheep and is up there in the hut all summer long. Not a bad place to work! I gave him my last coins for the coffe, but he just said let‘s meet in Rosswald in wintertime for snowshoeing. Haha let‘s see 🙂 I was amazing by the nice people I met today and also yesterday. The trail to Saas Grund took longer than I thought! I was around midday down there and it was really hot. To Saas-Fee there was a last climb which I had to do. I wanted to be there so I went up there in the midday heat.. The hostel I booked was just when I came up! Perfect! I checked in, took a shower and went grociery shopping. As I was shopping it happened.. I had a really bad nosebleed! Everything was covered with blood, because I didn‘t have a tissue. I ended up in the bathroom for about half a hour till it stopped and I cleaned my shirt and myself! This wasn‘t how I planned my shopping. After that I went to a coffeeshop and treated myself with a piece of cake and a caramel machiatto 🙂 Back in the hostel I went to the spa, which I booked extra and was really looking forward to it! Everything went good in the spa, but I went also to the pool. Like normally I put my head under water, but that wasn‘t good for my nosebleeding. It started all over again.. great! In the evening I wanted to go out for dinner, but ended up drinking a large beer because I didn‘t get a table. Before bed I brought my laundry to the reception, in my towel (haha). I was glad that I could finally wash everything. In my room there were two woman who were climbing a high mountain the next day. I was really impressed. That‘s my dream to climb a high mountain here in switzerland, like with glacier and everything!

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Day 20 – Saas-Fee to Grächen

First thing in the morning was to get my laundry. I packed everything and then went to the breakfast buffet. It was really nice and I was longer at breakfast than I wanted. Today was a quite exposed walk and I was nervous about it. I started hiking around 8.30am. The trail was first going uphill in the forest. It was sunny and warm already in the morning. Today I will walk the whole valley along the side till the front. Less than a hour in the day I met the couple from the day before. We chatted and I told them that I maybe stay close to them. Soon after there the first big gravelfield to cross. I took a break before and ate some snacks. The danger of rockfall is high in such areas and there were also warning signs. I tried to stay calm and made my way through. It was a big relieve that it went all good. The shock from the nearly hit is still in my bones.. I was walking by myself because the couple kinda stopped. So I went on and it was fine. There were some risky sections. I had lunch on a nice bog boulder in the shade in a side valley. It was kinda the perfect spot to do that. After it became again exposed. Shortly after lunch I saw a female ibex really close. She wans’t shy at all and ate the flowers while I was taking photos! Really cool! The trail went on and on. I was getting tired from all the constant concentration. Scary thing was also there were some memorials of people who died on that stretch. I was coming to a restaurant where I had a big coke! I was happy and also proud of myself to have faced my fear! The couple just came when I was about to leave. I walked down to Grächen, where I had a large beer. I heard from friend that on the next stage there are guardian gods. So I’m going to walk another route. Because of that I took the bus down to St. Niklaus and then the train to Kalpetran. I camped next to the river 🙂

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Day 21 – Schalb to Gruben

I packed everything and had breakfast. Then I walked to the station for the gondola. My plan was to take two gondolas up the mountain to save me some time and lots of elevation gain! Down at the station was noone, so you had to call and wait for the insturctions. It was a really small gondola. Up there I paid for both rides and went to the other station. This one was really cool, it was open! As he gave me the okay I got in. I forgot to close the little door and did that while gling up. It was really adventurous and I just loved it!! Up there were three other hiker who did the same route as I. I met them a few times along the way. The trail was going uphill through the forest. Above treeline there was the herd of sheep. I walked around them, because I didn’t want to get in touch with the guardian dogs. They are very protective and can be aggressive if you get to close to the herd. I saw them sitting just as I past all sheep. Before the last clim up to the pass I had a little break. On the pass the other group took photos and I actually got one of me! The weather forecast wasn’t as good today and it was right. The clouds were starting to cover the sky. I had after the pass another short break. Then I made my way down to Gruben. In the only Restaurant and Hotel I had coffee and icecream. I was really surprised when I checked my phone for reception, there was none! So I was using the wifi of the hotel to check the weather and so on. I wasn’t sure if I should camp or not. After sitting long time in the restaurant I choose to check in to the hotel. I had a nice shower and time to write my blog!

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That’s a wrap! Enough for this week 🙂

Happy trails, Tinkle