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Saturday, August 4th, 2007
For those who like to read the background material on each stage at the website, I'll note that today's hike should have been to the Oeschinensee, but we went instead on to Kandersteg in order to make it possible for my father to join us (he flew into Bern and took a train to Kandersteg arriving early evening, but would have had difficulty at that time getting up to the Oeschinensee).
Man, the Hohtuerli is a tough hike! It is not only the highest pass (and probably the highest point) on the H2H, but it also has the most unrelentingly steep approach of any pass we have gone over so far. Lidia and Ioana in particular found the climb quite exhausting, and towards the end were advancing some dozen steps at a time before needing to stop and rest.
Needless to say, the climb took a long time :-).
Referring back to the previous post about me choosing to stay with guest-hikers rather than go on ahead with Russell and Sally, I find I must add the following notes:
o A few years ago I would not have had the patience to hike as I did today. And I know this because on the first Swissike I left slower hikers to fend for themselves on more than one occasion! Perhaps one does grow up (albeit slowly :-).
o And even now, for all my good intentions, my patience was not quite sufficient. About 80m below the pass, after we had been advancing at the 12 steps, rest, 20 steps, rest, pace for a while, we came upon a bench and Lidia and Ioana promptly (and understandably!) sat down. I could say that I left them there because there wasn't room for me to sit on the bench as well... but that wouldn't be the whole truth: I just couldn't take the slow pace any longer -- I wanted to be done with the climb and eating lunch as soon as possible! So I walked on and reached the Bluemlisalphuette (some 60m above the pass) about 20 minutes before they eventually arrived.
o And then, in perhaps an appropriate twist of fate, I spent that extra 20 minutes, and 10 more, in a queue in the hut waiting to order lunch, both for myself and for Ioana and Lidia who arrived in time for me to place their orders with mine :-).
The views from the hut, at 2840m, are extraordinary and more than rewarded us for the tough climb. Eventually, however, we allowed ourselves to be persuaded by Bea and Arnulf to begin the descent (they had been there for 45 minutes before I arrived, and Russ and Sally, who had been there for an hour before Bea and Arnulf arrived, had already left!).
Some five hours later, around 7PM, after a wonderful hike past the Bluemlisalp Glacier and the sublime Oeschinensee, we finally arrived in Kandersteg, there to be met by Michele, Ioana's (and our) friend from Lausanne. She offered us a lift in her car to the hotel, but all four of us (Bea having taken a chairlift down from the Oeschinensee to spare her knees) proudly declined.
Since we had left Griesalp at 7:45AM, it had been a very long day, but it was not over yet. My father arrived around 7:30PM and then we had a long and lusty dinner finished off with a cake and candles to celebrate Lidia's birthday. Lidia received many congratulations, but thankfully no presents to carry along the next stage of the H2H :-).
We all agreed that this had been one of the most difficult days on the H2H, and that it was remarkable that our newest guest hikers, Ioana and Lidia, had completed it. Even more impressive: the following morning neither of the two had any particular muscle soreness!
