In which after a moderate breakfast we do a steep climb up to and down from a pass with power and grace, and then after an immoderate lunch we struggle up an easy path to the Simplon Pass.
Zwischbergen felt a little like the end of the world... as Thomas put it, a place so minor it never got a real name (just "between the mountains", which is what Zwischbergen means), whereas the Simplon Pass is a popular driving route between Switzerland and Italy, with lots of traffic. So today was a bit of a study in contrasts.
Accommodation, for example: in Zwischbergen a wooden chalet, at Simplon Pass a pink monstrosity with a round tower in which we have our rooms. Number of hikers on the trail: in Zwischbergen hardly any (we saw two other hikers after the pass yesterday), on the way up to the Simplon Pass maybe 40 or 50. And then there was our own hiking performance: strong in the morning, feeble in the afternoon, for which immense Rösti (in my case with cheese, eggs, and a bratwurst) were to blame. Memo to self: do NOT have more than a soup for lunch in a restaurant while on a hike!
Otherwise the day was fairly uneventful: sun and clouds, a fair bit of wind, cool, and a hike that took just a little longer than six hours.
No WiFi here in the pink monstrosity, so that makes three days in a row without the possibility of posting these blogs. Sorry!
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
