Switzerland July 2019 - Our first two hikes

Who wouldn't want to hike through fog in the Alps at 4°C during their summer vacation? It's truly an experience, even though it wasn't exactly what we had in mind. But the weather here is just not reliably warm, like let's say in Greece. Interestingly, the forecasts are also surprisingly different and don't really reflect the true weather. Instead, each of our weather apps predicted something different. For example, mine predicted a lot of rain and no sun for Sunday and Monday. Annett's app was a bit more optimistic when it came to sunshine, but it also predicted rain for her. And guess what? No rain! Hallelujah!

Our hike on Sunday was accompanied by a lot of sunshine and it was a great start to our hiking week. However, at the beginning, I was skeptical and of course, I wore my thick hiking jacket. We met at 9:45 am in front of the hotel and our hiking guide Ursina was there wearing shorts and a top. Respect! During our tour, she put on something longer from time to time, but compared to me, she was toughened up.

Together, we took a post bus to one of the side valleys until Dürrboden and hiked more or less downhill to Teufi. This wonderful route passes by many blooming meadows and Ursina had a lot of information about all the little plants. Many cows and horses also lined our way. I couldn't even keep up with taking photos, which is a bit difficult during a group hike. After all, you mustn't lose touch. Nevertheless, we were really happy about these beautiful and sunny impressions. And I had this earworm 'In Switzerland, in Switzerland, in Switzerland' in my head all the time, which made me really happy.

Since the weather on Sunday surprised us in such a positive way, we were naturally optimistic for the next day. But just a look out of the hotel window made it clear that the fog would probably stay. The early start at 8:45 am on Monday didn't leave us any time to think. This time my weather app must have been right. According to it, we would expect 3 degrees at Gotschnagrat, our starting point for the hike. My weather app even stated 'feels like 0 degrees'. Zero degrees?! That meant it was time for my winter equipment: undershirt, long sweater, thick jacket, and long underwear under my hiking pants. I swear, I didn't regret any of it.

When we reached the top, it was one degree warmer, but 4°C still isn't something to get excited about. And on top of that, the fog just wouldn't go away. Our hiking guides Mario and Barbara even included an alternative program in the valley because they were waiting for the sky to clear up. So instead of going directly to the mountain as planned, we took a bus ride and then went for a short walk to a suspension bridge.

But as I said, it didn't help. So we walked the Panoramaweg to Parsenhütte and Parsenn Middle Station, but there was little panorama to see. Only during our picnic at Parsenhütte, the sun showed itself.

However, we did see some remnants of snow and even crossed them in some places. The winter feeling was perfect.

But we also saw blue gentian. And from that point on, I had a new earworm in my head: 'Blue, blue blooms the gentian'.