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Sunday July 22nd, 2007
The weather was supposed to improve from rain to sun during the day, so we were in no particular hurry to leave and our 9:15 start reflected this. Low clouds hid the sides of the inner valley and a light drizzle fell as we left the unlamented Hotel Adler and zig-zagged across Linthal. I mentioned the poor town planning in the last post; well this extends to hiking paths as well.
Eventually we reached the far side and started to climb: a steep 600m through a dank and dripping forest. Russ and Sally said that it felt neverending, but I was in a Zen-like frame of mind and didn't notice the time or the effort. After a short stop for drinks in a charming mountain restaurant at Nussbuell, we went through clouds into and up the Urnerboden (the largest hanging valley in Switzerland) to the 1948m Klausenpass.
It was a long hike, with a lot of altitude to gain, and the low clouds robbed us of the spectacular views of the 2500m - 3250m ridges on either side. Perhaps this left us with a bleaker impression of the valley than we would have otherwise had, but there was something odd about it: a feeling of poverty that I haven't experienced anywhere else in Switzerland. Urnerboden is still Switzerland, so the signs of poverty were somewhat subtle, but they were there nevertheless. I had read that the valley is slowly becoming depopulated, because the high altitude gives it severe weather for much of the year, and that was the impression it left: a sad sort of emptiness.
We crossed the Klausenpass with little fanfare -- coming as it did at the end of the day when our feet hurt and also because we were still unable to see much because of the low clouds -- and arrived at the Klausenpass Hotel 25 minutes later at 6PM, more than ready for a shower, meal, and bed. There is something psychologically fatiguing about starting a hike late: one is much more tired after a 7 hour hike when one arrives at 6PM than when one arrives at 4PM.
Fortunately the Klausenpass Hotel is a very nice place. Odd, but very nice. For one thing, the whole house is very noticeably tilted: over the years the winters' snows have shifted the foundations so that it is now at least 10 degrees out of true. For another, the rooms have been minimally renovated, and one feels like one is stepping back into the 19th Century (the hall showers, however, are modern!).
However, the food was excellent, and there were numerous small touches unexpected in a hotel of this class, such as fine white terrycloth bathrobes in the room, that left me with a feeling of warmth and comfort. We went to bed early, and I for one was asleep by 9:30PM.
