Summary: Unstable weather and hiker health concerns lead to a shortened day... and perhaps a prettier hike.
Showers and thunderstorms being in the forecast again for the early afternoon, we set off even earlier than the day before: hiking by 7:15AM. However, a non-executive decision, taken by the other three while I was temporarily absent the previous afternoon, meant that we were taking a different path than the one I had planned. Instead of a long 8 hour day to Andeer, with an exceptional amount of descent (around 1700m), they opted for a 6 hour hike to Sufers with about 1200m of descent followed by a bus ride to Andeer. First Brexit and now this -- direct democracy just doesn't work, does it?
The first part of the hike remained unchanged -- Turrahus being at the end of a large north-south valley with only one hiking trail out of it to the east. And it was surprisingly difficult -- a Ticino trail in Graubünden. Not because it was particularly dangerous, but because it was unrelentingly steep, directly up grassy meadows for about 900 vertical meters, on a narrow trail through long, and very wet, grass. I was up front and despite all my efforts to brush the water droplets off the plants on either sides of the trail, my socks and boots were soon soaked (I poured / squeezed about a half a cup of water out of each when we got to the top).
I felt fine, having mostly recovered my hiking shape, but Walter said that it was a good thing that this hike happened on day 7 instead of day 1... because otherwise there wouldn't have been a day 2. Russ said it was the most unrelentingly steep climb he had ever done. And Franz said he felt great :-).
A couple of words about Franz: he has been jogging every morning before we hike, because of a New Year's Resolution to run every day of the year... which has been a little challenging when we have stayed in mountain huts (at Capanna Scaradra he ran around the hut 80 times because the terrain was too steep and rocky to do anything else!). So he is in great shape... and the new boots he had picked up in Vals had eliminated the foot pain under which he had been suffering.
Yesterday's pass at 2450m had been grassy, today's at 2614m was inmidst a desolation of old snowdrifts and broken stone. In addition, we were all soaked through with sweat from the hard climb, it was cool and cloudy, and a breeze was blowing... so we didn't tarry at the pass. Fortunately, however, the descent was beautiful. The sun came out, the lower we went the warmer it got, the trail was much less steep than on the ascent, and the landscape went from stone and gravel to flower-strewn meadows with marmots, to glade-filled woods, before ending in a lovely village on a lake. Just delightful.
And 10 minutes after we arrived at the bus stop, after 6.5 hours on the trail, it started to rain. So it was probably just as well that we didn't go the longer route to Andeer.
Got to do something about direct democracy though. :-)
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