Walking on the old Susten Pass Rd
Well, Jochen and I have been making the Countryside of Wassen unsafe (as we say in German) despite the rain. Two days in a row we have come back wet because there is a cold front blowing in from the Atlantic. However, we are both intrepid walkers and anyway, what is a little rain between friends?
Seriously though, it has rained and rained and rained, most of the night and almost all day. Autumn has certainly arrived and the glorious autumn colours are starting to lighten up the dark green of the fir tree forests.
I have said in the previous blog that the mountains in this area are wild and awesome, and so they are. Unfortunately the photos don't show this so well.
Seriously though, it has rained and rained and rained, most of the night and almost all day. Autumn has certainly arrived and the glorious autumn colours are starting to lighten up the dark green of the fir tree forests.
I have said in the previous blog that the mountains in this area are wild and awesome, and so they are. Unfortunately the photos don't show this so well.
Jochen on the old Susten Pass Rd
Yesterday I forgot to take my camera and so could not photograph the wild country we walked through. This was a real mountain track going up and up and up. I had the idea to go all the way to one of the SAC huts but was stopped by a small water fall. I say small because it was not all that wide but crossed the track at great speed. I had visions of Jochen slipping and crashing down several hundred meters. As if he would! But this is his doting 'ma' having hysterics up in the mountains on a rainy day faced with a narrow but very fast waterfall.
TODAY
Today I grabbed the opportunity whilst there was a patch of blue sky and went looking for the start of the walk to the Susten Pass. I had no hope of reaching it as it is a 5 1/2 hour walk but am glad that we did a two-hour walk along it at least. Most of the walk was this beautiful, grassy, 'road' that Jochen is on in this photo. (By the way, doesn't he look slim and fit? He has lost a couple of kg). Not bad for a dog who will be 8 years old on 19/10/12.
TODAY
Today I grabbed the opportunity whilst there was a patch of blue sky and went looking for the start of the walk to the Susten Pass. I had no hope of reaching it as it is a 5 1/2 hour walk but am glad that we did a two-hour walk along it at least. Most of the walk was this beautiful, grassy, 'road' that Jochen is on in this photo. (By the way, doesn't he look slim and fit? He has lost a couple of kg). Not bad for a dog who will be 8 years old on 19/10/12.
The hamlet of Hassen on the old Susten Pass Rd
By contrast to the other walks we have done since arriving here, this walk was benign and pleasant, only gently rising up. But the scenery is just sublime and breathtaking. It is hard to explain why these mountains are so different and raw and imposing compared to those near Chur, but so it is.
I kept an eye on the weather and the blue patches shrank alarmingly and the clouds lowered. However I pressed on until we reached the hamlet of Meien when it started to seriously rain again. We waited under the roof of the chapel but I had to accept that it was not going to get any better.
I kept an eye on the weather and the blue patches shrank alarmingly and the clouds lowered. However I pressed on until we reached the hamlet of Meien when it started to seriously rain again. We waited under the roof of the chapel but I had to accept that it was not going to get any better.
On the old Susten Pass Rd
All around the water cascaded down the steep mountain sides feeding into the fast moving Reuss River which was our constant companion today. In the distance I could see a glacier but it has not come out on the photo.
So you guys can see that Jochen and I are not deterred by inclement weather. We have a fitness program to keep up! Nonetheless, it is a pity about the rain because there is so much walking to do in this wild country but I also have a very healthy respect for these mountains and some of those walks would be dangerous in this weather even though I did push it a bit yesterday. As it was, we walked about 3 hours both days.
I have ear-marked a shortish walk for tomorrow morning before we have to pack and move on again.
By the way, the Susten has been a strategic pass for centuries and Wassen has been a staging post for centuries as well. I can just imagine the Hotel Alte Post all those years ago when people came rumbling by with horse and buggy (or whatever) and stopped for the night to rest their horses. It must have been unbelievably hard during the winter months.
So you guys can see that Jochen and I are not deterred by inclement weather. We have a fitness program to keep up! Nonetheless, it is a pity about the rain because there is so much walking to do in this wild country but I also have a very healthy respect for these mountains and some of those walks would be dangerous in this weather even though I did push it a bit yesterday. As it was, we walked about 3 hours both days.
I have ear-marked a shortish walk for tomorrow morning before we have to pack and move on again.
By the way, the Susten has been a strategic pass for centuries and Wassen has been a staging post for centuries as well. I can just imagine the Hotel Alte Post all those years ago when people came rumbling by with horse and buggy (or whatever) and stopped for the night to rest their horses. It must have been unbelievably hard during the winter months.