Kunkel pass continued

After breakfast we pay our bill and set off for yet another walk. It has been decided that we will continue to ascent another 200 meters to the next mountain hut.  The weather is most agreeable to everyone's delight as the weather forecast had predicted rain. During our ascent we see a lot of wildlife and I have managed to take a once in a lifetime shot of a very curious marmot. He kept on looking at me and I continued to close in on him. Really pushing my luck. The photo of this marmot was taken from a distance of approximately 1 meter and it  will be turned into a poster sized canvas and get a special place in our living room. I have been using Barbara's nordic walking sticks again and I am no absolutely certain that I am going to get my own pair. On our descent back to the mountain hut where we stayed last night. I need to go to the bathroom and want to ask if I can use their facilities. Here Barbara tells us another bit of important bit of Swiss information. This time about how to tell if a mountain hut is open for business. If the Swiss flag flies at the mountain hut it is open for business and if it has been removed it is closed for business. Well right at that time there was no
flag flying so I just had to find myself a bush to go
to the toilet. Afterwards we continue our descent only to have the weather take a turn for the worse. It starts to pour down and we are left scrambling in search for shelter, which we find soon enough at yet another mountain hut. We notice a car parked over there and soon some people return to the car and offer us a lift to a nearby restaurant. We accept gladly and Gary and I are first. We wait at the restaurant over a cup of coffee and when everyone has arrived the weather has fined

up and Barbara decides to continue our descent. When we finally return to the cars, we are informed that we will be going to the river Rhine for a barbecue. This turned into quite another experience as well as the barbecue was over an open fire and we used sticks to do the cooking. After a marvellous meal we do some sun baking on the pebbled beach before returning to Dora's place very happy, contented, exhausted and dirty.


The mountain hut we were staying at had no shower facilities or hot water. The water came straight from the mountain and was freezing cold. Needles to say no one braved the icy water and only attended to the bare minimum. We all splashed some water over our faces and brushed our teeth. after a good soak we finished the weekend over a beer on Dora's little balcony.

The Kunkel Pass

Dora and her friend Barbara have arranged an overnight stay in one of the many mountain huts in the Alps. Apparently Barbara is a very good guide and Dora has explored many a trail with her. Today we are meeting Barbara and her boyfriend Vernie at a local petrol station. Once there we follow Vernie to a carpark, where we leave the cars behind. We continue on foot and initially the walk is rather un impressive.

We find ourselves walking on an ordinary path with no views. The only thing we are doing is zigzagging our way up the mountain. I am starting to wonder if it will be worth our while but soon the scenery improves dramatically. I find myself once again completely captivated by my surroundings. Switserland is a truly awe inspiring country.

We see our fair share of wildlife and some rare flora as well. However I miss out on seeing an Edelweiss as it is not the right time for Edelweiss. We have seen some Murmels and a type of deer. Barbara gave me a lend of her Nordic sticks as she felt it would be beneficial for me. I am rather slow whilst going uphill and the Nordic sticks will make going uphill easier. Once I got comfortable using the Nordic sticks I had to admit that they do take the strain of your joints. I decided here that I might just have to buy a pair of Nordic sticks for our walk in Spain and Australia as well. I was feeling the uphill especially today as we did not do many walks in australia this year.

The Kunkel Pass is 1300 meters and I was getting totally exhausted with 200 metres to go. Those last 200 meters were so difficult. Not technically but every time I get that tired it is always like that. When we finally reach the peak, Vernie took out a bottle of Swiss liquor and explained that in Switzerland when you reach the peak you drink this particular liquor to celebrate it. Celebrate we did. That bottle did a few rounds and we all took a good long drink out of it. I had to be careful as I am not used to drinking liquor and did not want to end up getting tipsy on a mountain. Vernie also explained that if you reached the peak with a beloved, you also shared a kiss. Gary and I were more than willing to oblige. After the traditions taken care of we continued to make our way to the mountain hut. It was quite cold on the peak and when we walked into the dining room, we were pleased to see the place had a welcoming fire burning in the fire place.

We were shown around before sitting down at the dining room table for a four course meal. The meal was scrumptious. There was soup, salad,meatloaf with a potato and egg type of pasta dish and of course a dessert to finish of the meal. We remained at the table and chatted the night away with plenty of wine and beer. Well around 2100 hours I was getting pretty tired and decided to go to sleep. The people who were working at the mountain hut had warned us that some people have trouble sleeping at high altitudes and soon it became apparent that I might be one of them. Even though I was exhausted, I only slept fitfully on and off throughout the night. I finally decided to give up and got up at 0600 hours the next morning. Gary soon joint me and we both sat in the dining room waiting for breakfast time. We waited for quite some time as I soon discovered that Europeans still like to sleep in.