90/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 16: Sörenberg - Giswil

Today's hike took my from Sörenberg to Giswil. I started the hike with a bus full of old people and ended it with a sprint to the train station. 

Yesterday I overheard the bus driver say that there would be some kind of senior citizen day in the valley where I would start walking today. I didn't give it a second thought. I got reminded this morning when I arrived at the train station where I was going to change to the bus. Normally there is one bus, when I arrived there, there was the normal bus plus three extra. All of them looked like the picture below... and just to stop you right there, I did offer my seat but nobody would take it.

The hike today was great. Awesome weather, again, and some really really nice scenery. The ascend was just 500+ meters so no problem there but the descend was 1200+ meters. I can tell you, it is now past 8pm, I arrived home over two hours ago and my knees still hurt. Walking up might be more exhausting but it sure is comfortable than walking down. 

When I got close to Giswil I decided I didn't want to sit around an hour waiting for the next train, as the train ride home was two hours. So yeah, after walking for 5 hours, I had to run the last bit to make the train. Made it! 

I had planned to go hiking again tomorrow but since it is the last day of my holiday that I have nothing planned, I might just sit it out and enjoy the nice weather here in Bern. Let's see....

I always see lots of old people when hiking, might it be because up in the mountains Switzerland is still the country they know? Might it be an escape from a fast moving world that they don't fully understand? Btw. just in case you ever go hiking in Switzerland, hikers ALWAYS great each other. 

Loved the scenery today.

 Switzerland in one picture. Cows and mountains.. that's about right.

 I present to you the wanderer.

Once the way markers that mark the routes go from yellow to white-red-white you know shit is about to get real. Yellow is for a normal hiking path, red-white-red for a more challenging mountain hike path.

 Just a small chapel for the mountain farmers.

My view when I had lunch. I love it when you come around a corner and suddenly you have this view. 

See the snow capped mountains all the way in the back? I have been waiting to see them ever since I started hiking. Today I finally got a glimpse. Hope to see more of them soon. 

have a great day. 

89/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 15: Schangnau - Sörenberg

It was another stunning late summer day so I had no choice but to continue my hike across Switzerland. 

I have now finally reached the next Canton (State) after hiking across Bern for all the previous stages. To be fair though, Bern is one of the biggest Cantons of Switzerland. Not only did I leave Bern behind but I also felt like I crossed into a whole new landscape. The scenery up to this point was dominated by soft rolling hills and valleys. Now I seem to have reached a rougher area. The mountains are not overgrown anymore but the rock is exposed. 

The guide said that the hike would take about six hours. I did it in five, and that includes a 30 minute lunch break. I don't know why but I always get a big satisfaction about being faster than the guidebook expects. It was another 800 meter ascend but spread over a much wider area so it wasn't bad at all. 

The hike started off a little rocky, I thought that I had missed a connecting bus to Schangnau because my train was a few minutes late. After being annoyed for a little (there is only one bus an hour), I realized that I had looked at the schedule of Saturday.... yeah I got on the bus 10 minutes later. 

Right now I am really tired but my feet and legs feel surprisingly well, might it be that I am adjusting to all this walking? Let's hope so, I want to go again tomorrow! I want to make the best of my stay at home holidays. 

 The view close to Sörenberg, today's destination. I will probably cross one of those ridges tomorrow.

 The start of the hike.. keep that mountain in the distance in mind.

 beautiful scenery today.

 ...oh got a little closer to that mountain from two pics above.

 Sometimes you have to turn around and see where you came from to appreciate what you have achieved and where you are going... this is true in hiking as in life in general... ohhhh so deep!

 Yeah, that mountain from the second picture? I was now on the other side of it...

After nearly 19km in 5h I think this beer was well deserved!

keep walking.