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!
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!
Musings on the trail ...
Posted 30.07.2008 at 10:48 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 a big, fat one. Full of juice and full of flavor! As long as we pick them before they are fully ripe there will be far too few ripe ones to really enjoy.
Later in that hike I came across a small lake that barely showed on the map (it is mentioned in the tourist office brochure). There were many picnic tables aroud it, and many people enjoying it. As I went down (after a brief stop to enjoy it) I saw a constant stream of hikers, many with children who were barely five, climbing up. The climb is a bit less than 500 vertical meters, over 1,500 feet for the metrically challenged!
A double barrelled comment: In the Evolène area there are few walks that do not involve multiple hundreds of meters of ascent, and here little children seem to take such climbs in their stride.
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 a big, fat one. Full of juice and full of flavor! As long as we pick them before they are fully ripe there will be far too few ripe ones to really enjoy.
Later in that hike I came across a small lake that barely showed on the map (it is mentioned in the tourist office brochure). There were many picnic tables aroud it, and many people enjoying it. As I went down (after a brief stop to enjoy it) I saw a constant stream of hikers, many with children who were barely five, climbing up. The climb is a bit less than 500 vertical meters, over 1,500 feet for the metrically challenged!
A double barrelled comment: In the Evolène area there are few walks that do not involve multiple hundreds of meters of ascent, and here little children seem to take such climbs in their stride.
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Recent Blog Entries by RetiredInNH
- Zermatt (14.08.2008)
- Gemmi Pass and other things (06.08.2008)
- My first Swiss 3,000 meter peak (01.08.2008)
- A real combat de reines at Lac Bleu (30.07.2008)
- Musings on the trail ... (30.07.2008)
