190/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 8: Laupen - Murten

Following my visit to the university, I decided to go for one more hike before the year ends.

The weather had been beautiful for a few days. Cold, crisp but without a cloud in the sky. So I decided to go for one more stage on the trans Swiss trail. This time time I would do stage 8; Laupen to Murten. I was actually really hyped that I would get one more stage before the year ends. I had wanted to do it for a while but I have been really busy in the last few months.

As soon as I arrived in Laupen, fog set in. And that fog would stay with me until the very end of the hike. Right before my train arrived in Bern, the sky cleared up again. Apparently the weather had been good here during the whole day. Huh. Lucky me I guess.

I am still glad that I went. Hiking in winter really has it's own appeal. I dressed appropriate so I never really felt cold. The only downer of the day was the fact that I missed the hourly train back to Bern by about 4-5 minutes. So I spent some more time in the fog.

The path itself was easy and just a quick three hours. I think the vista would have been very nice. But as it was with all the fog, there was not much to see.

I have a few days off around Christmas, if it is nice weather I might do another stage. Let's see.
For now I leave you with a few impressions.

136/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 9: Bern - Laupen

After a long break for various reasons, but mostly for overdoing it on the last stage (knee) and not having enough time, I have been able to do another stage on the Trans Swiss Trail.

This time around I didn't head south to continue where I left off but headed north out of Bern. I mostly went for this Stage (NR.9) because it was a very spontaneous decision and I wanted to get going straight away instead of spending two hours on the train to get where I left off .

Before I went, I did look at some info of the stage, like that there would be 300m elevation change and that it would be around 5.5 hours long. Didn't seem to hard. Now, what I missed, was the fact that the stage was 21.5 km long. The longest stage so far. That I got lost right when I started off and did a good km or two more didn't help. I have to admit I was hurting in the last hour. But there was no way I would stop before I got the whole stage under the belt.

The Stage itself was a nice walk but not really exciting. Scenery wise it was probably the most boring so far. Maybe I feel that way because it was mostly flat and therefore I didn't have any spectacular views. I guess not every stage can be a new highlight.

I am happy that I was able to do one more stage before the years end. Maybe, if I am lucky, I can do one or two more. I would love to do so.

 Things going on are a bit different in autumn.

 Best view of the day.

A traditional farm house.

An emo sheep?

Probably the high point of the day, the cute little village of Laupen.

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.

86/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 14: Eggiwil - Schangnau

There is one thing about hiking that keeps fascinating me; no matter how high you get, whenever you think you are about to reach the final ridge, you turn a corner and there is more to climb. 

The ascend on my most recent hike was even tougher than the day before. I did 800m in one go and it was REALLY steep. I will refrain from complaining though because the view was so worth it and I am pretty sure there are more ascends to come before I am done with the trail. Judge for yourself if the view was worth it:

I am finally starting to feel like I am getting closer to the alps. I am really looking forward to get there. Trouble is, the next stage will take me a long some pre-alps mountains and then turns east and away from the alps for a few stages. So far every stage has been great so I am not too worried. I am will get to the alps eventually. 

I am planning with another three stages next week. I want to stay in the villages next week and not return home after each hike. This will depend on the vacancy of the hotels because I will not make any reservations. I would like to get a third of the whole trail done before autumn sets in. I am close, oh so close! Praying for good weather. 

hike on. 

85/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 13: Langnau - Eggiwil

I continued my little trek across Switzerland today. The start was, where I left off the last time and the today's goal was Eggiwil. A little village you will probably never hear about again.

It was a really nice walk and I would have loved to go on because it was rather short. Without the break just about three hours. This stage gave me my first taste of what will follow once I enter the alps. I had my firs real altitude change since starting in Bern a few weeks ago. The beginning of the trail was steep and all in all I did about 600m (upwards that is).

I was thinking about doing two stages today but the next stage is over four hours long and I think that would have been a little too much. I guess that first has to wait a little longer. If all goes well I will tackle the next stage tomorrow. Can't wait!

 Tried to show the steepness with this pic. Not sure if I succeded.. let me know!

 Typical landscape from this part of Switzerland.

 A house?!

 Some more landscape.. too bad it was a bit hazy so I couldn't see the mountains.

 This is supposed to be one of the oldest tunnels in Switzerland. It was built around 1839....

 ..but don't take it from me.. read it here.

Just another lovely view I was able to enjoy today.

By the way... I always feel like this when I go hiking:

Keep walking.

57/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 12: Lützelflüh - Langnau i.E.

I continued my hiking along the Trans Swiss trail today.

It was supposed to be a short walk from Lützelflüh to Langnau i.E. The guide lists it as walk about 3h in duration. Which I guess is about the time it took me to do it. It felt very exhausting though. I guess it was the weather. The temperatures were around 31 degrees Celsius. Luckily though most of the walk was in the shade of trees and along the river Emme. I think that made it more bearable.

The whole hike started a little later than expected. About half way to Lützelflüh the train got split in two parts and both parts went in different directions. I didn't notice until they announced that we reached the end of the line. Oh well, stuff like that happens and it wasn't like I was in a hurry to get anywhere.

All in all it was very enjoyable and easy walk. I was expecting something easy so I didn't wear hiking boots, just some comfy sneakers. I really do have to get a proper backpack soon. My Back is usually drenched in sweat after minutes.

 Traditional Farmhouse in this region of Switzerland.

 Quite a few bridges used to be built like this in the old days. Don't ask me why.

 All Swiss hiking trails have really good signage. You have to try hard to get lost.

 A more modern version of the bridge across the river Emme.

 The River Emme in all it's glory.

The meeting point of two national hiking trails.

go out there and hike a little my friends!

17/356: Trans Swiss Trail Stage 11: Worb - Lützelflüh

I went for a small four hour hike today. It was awesome!

First thing is first so let me get my first out of the way. First time I rode Bern's tram nr.6. And not only that but I rode it all the way from one terminal station to the other. I really enjoyed it too. I just have this thing for public transport.

Now about that hike I did. It was from Worb to Lützelflüh and is the eleventh stage of the trans Swiss trail. The trans Swiss trail is my second project this year. A total of 488 km spread out over 32 stages.
More Info here: http://www.wanderland.ch/en/routes/route-02.html

This is the second stage I have done. The first one was from my apartment to Worb. I wish I could have done more already but the weather was not very springish in europe this year.. you might have heard about that.

I really enjoyed this stage. It was some really nice scenery. The weather was great for hiking. A little sunny and a little cloudy. Not too hot and not too cool. I did it without a break so I can proudly say that I was an hour faster than the five hours they list in the website.

It is a beautiful hike for somebody wanting to something near Bern and I will definitely recommend it to my couchsurfers. I imagine on a cloudless day you will have an awesome view of the alps.

 I most enjoy hiking in autumn but this time of year is nice as well.

 beautiful.. now picture it with less clouds and more mountains.

 A very typical scene for this part of Switzerland.

the stone says "five hours from Bern" I saw it close to the end of the hike and I was really glad not to have to walk another five hours. From what I read, the path I took was the main path from Bern to the Emmental