I had the good fortune of spending four summers (1947-1949, 1951) in Switzerland as a schoolboy, and on each of these trips I spent about a month with a Swiss family. We often went for hikes, and I enjoyed both the hiking and the views immensely.

Events in my country prevented me from returning to Switzerland for more than two decades. In 1974 I emigrated to the United States, and soon thereafter started spending a couple of weeks with my mother in Geneva every summer until her death in 1996.

Then, in 1987, I had my first hike as an adult in Switzerland, followed by a bit (later a lot more!) of hiking in New Hampshire.

This blog will focus almost exclusively on my Swiss hiking, though I spend eleven months of the year hiking in New Hampshire!

Zermatt Posted 14.08.2008 at 09:19 by RetiredInNH Updated 02.09.2008 at 08:30 by RetiredInNH I have avoided Zermatt because of its crowds and mechanical devices, but decided to visit this year because of its mountains. The town (it certainly is NOT a village!) is as crowded, and has as many fake folklore events, as I feared. But the mountains! From the south porch of our apartment we can see most of the cone of the Matterhorn, while from the north bedroom we can see the Dom and the Taschorn. Nice, but nothing special. But once you get over 2,200 meters or so (we went... Continue reading... RetiredInNH Forum Veteran

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Gemmi Pass and other things Posted 06.08.2008 at 16:25 by RetiredInNH Yesterday (Tuesday 5/8) I did a hike I had been thinking about for a long time: Gemmi Pass. Since EF was down this morning I have posted it on our New England board, prefer to link than to copy and paste On Sunday I hiked one of the bisses near Sion, they are irigation channels, often centuries old, that bring water to the vineyards. This is the first bisse hike I did, so I hate to generalize, but this hike had an nice approach through the woods to the point where water is drawn... Continue reading... RetiredInNH Forum Veteran

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My first Swiss 3,000 meter peak Posted 01.08.2008 at 14:37 by RetiredInNH In the States (mainly in Colorado) there are a large number of 4,000 meter peaks that are quite easy to hike. Far different in Switzerland, where all 4,000 meter peaks require mountaineering skills, and few 3,000 meter peaks have well defined hikeable trails. One of those easy peaks is the Pointe du Tsaté, reached from La Forclaz, a tiny hamlet above Evolene. Yesterday (31st of July) I took the early bus (7:30) to La Forclaz and started the trek. It involves about 1,300 meters... Continue reading... RetiredInNH Forum Veteran

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A real combat de reines at Lac Bleu Posted 30.07.2008 at 09:53 by RetiredInNH Yesterday morning I was hiking to a well known small lake, Lac Bleu, above La Gouille just before Arolla. Cows are always found there, so I paid no attention to them. Then suddenly, while I was studying my map, I heard a loud clanging of bells. Clearly one cow had challenged the one above her in the hierarchy, and they were having a great fight. The loser was finally pushed down the slope to the side of the lake, where she stood looking very forelorn RetiredInNH Forum Veteran

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Musings on the trail ... Posted 30.07.2008 at 09:48 by RetiredInNH Last Sunday I did a hike that, while enjoyable, does not seem worth writing about. But I made a couple of observations that may, perhaps, belong in an idle blog ... While walking along I saw two women stop and clearly pick some kind of edibles ahead of me. As I approached I saw that they had come to a field (almost) of fraises des bois. They obviously knew what they were doing, as both had containers! I ate a few barely red ones, and wondered where their taste was. Then I saw... Continue reading... RetiredInNH Forum Veteran

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