Summary: a little light rain, but otherwise an easy and pleasant walk down a glacial valley to the Engadin.
Rain in the morning stopped before we left (around 8AM), but soon returned to dampen us for the first hour or so of our walk. However, it was not particularly hard, nor especially cold or windy, and in fact I hiked in shorts and felt fine. After a while it trailed off and the rest of the walk was under intermittently cloudy skies. Lots of waterfalls, and cows, just a couple of other hikers, and all downhill until a short ascent around the shoulder of a mountain brought us out into the wide manicured valley of the Inn River -- the Engadin.
We thought to stop for lunch in S-chanf, the village just before Zuoz (our destination) but it left a Shining-like impression of being deserted and spooky, so we walked the additional 30 minutes to Zuoz and had an excellent lunch there (Rösti, cheese, bacon and bratwurst... just the thing for hungry hikers!). The hike had taken around 5 hours (less than planned :-).
Our hotel is very nice, and dinner in the Stube was excellent. Millie announced that despite various aches and pains she would actually prefer to stay and keep on hiking, so much she had enjoyed herself... so it looks like we have a new convert! She and Oliver left this morning to return to the UK... we'll miss them.
Today is the Swiss National Holiday, so there will be various events and fires on the mountaintops tonight. I think I'll make it outside to look at the bonfires, but otherwise I'm planning on a typical HxH rest day: clothes-washing, games, blogging, sauna, and reading. Got to heal up for tomorrow's big pass hike to Livigno (highest one so far -- 2782m). Madeleine and David will arrive towards the end of the afternoon and the forecast for the next couple of days is good... all is well on the H3H!
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