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My watch died overnight. Guess I can only find out what time it is by being nice to Jacky. It wasn’t raining when we got up...

Hiking tour in Switzerland [2]

Dave Hood
2004-02-22 18:16:20

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unintimidated cows stood there on the trail, and didn’t back off even as I assertively jammed past her. The upshot was that my forearm bumped past her nose, and now my shirt is covered with cow slobber. Ok, definitely time to change shirts.

All cows in mountain pastures have bells. Most are designed for low cost and ruggedness. And they clank. But a few cows have flared bells, silver or golden, usually with engraved inscriptions of some kind. They sound much better. Do you suppose they’re the prize animals of the herd?

Getting this picture turned out to be something of an adventure in itself. I wanted a side shot, but the cow turned and came toward me. I knelt down to photograph the bell, and there for a moment, I was in real danger of drowning in cow slobber. What a fate!

…Sure is easy to make friends here.

There is a lot of rail traffic through this valley, far more than the valley itself would justify. We deduced the existence of a tunnel, and the map confirms it. The Lötschbergtunnel, a really long one that goes all the way under the mountain, comes out at Steg, where it connects at Brig with rail lines that go where? Italy, France?

From above, we saw a large curve in the right of way, but didn’t appreciate its significance until we studied the map later: there’s a figure-8 in the valley, much of it in smaller tunnels – beneath our hiking trail – a way for trains to gain elevation before plunging into the long tunnel.

Kandersteg is another pretty town. Wandered down the main street – clearly another tourist town – until we came to our hotel. While Jacky showered, I went across the street to the grocery store. Two bottles of beer for less than one would have cost in the pub, and a much nicer place to enjoy them: sitting on our balcony, enjoying the view. A paraglider, mountains, glaciers.

Out for a short walk to see the town; picked up a couple ...