hiking alone
Our last full day in Gimmelwald, i decided that i should make the most of the beautiful place i was in. I asked this Texan, charlie, who had been staying there for the past couple of weeks, what some good hikes were and he informed me of a few, and gave me a map of the mountains i would be hiking. Excited about my hike, i quickly gathered all of the essentials, a water bottle and my ipod, and left our mountain hostel…with the map conveniently located on my bed. After about 30 minutes i realized i was without direction, but decided to keep on trekking. At about the 45 minute point, i really became enveloped in switzerland’s nature, and started a grueling hike to the top of some peak. It was unbelievably tiring. (You all know what kind of shape im in.) Luckily, I had my Beatles music throughout the entire hike. However, some of the lyrics proved someone foreboding and ominous. The two times my ipod disconnected were right after the lyrics “all good children go to heaven” and “no where to go.” While these lyrics might sound quite innocuous, in the mountains, completely isolated, they were a little freaky. At the hour mark i had my first hiccup when the trail that i had been following just ended. I examined the grounds nearby looking for my trail, and ended up stepping in cow shit, which completely swallowed both of my feet. It was really, really gross. After running through about 15 consecutive feet of manure, i found my path again and continued on it for about 1 and a half hours. I was looking for this restaurant on the mountain that i had heard about, and at one point, i even saw it in the distance, but the trail i was on didnt take me there. Instead, it led me to a deserted horse stable, which was also pretty spooky.
At this point, i had no idea where i was going, and hadnt seen a person in about 2 hours. I was kind of nervous that i was just going deeper and deeper into the mountainous wood. Despite my panicked state, i did get a chance to really take in the scenery, which was nothing short of remarkable. Never have i been such a part of nature, and never have i been in a place like that before. There were rock cliffs to every side of me, wild flowers of every color, powerful waterfalls, lush,green grass. It was so beautiful.
Anyway, about 30 minutes after the stable, my trail ended again. At this point i really started freaking out, because my water was almost out, my phone was almost drained, and i had no clue where i was going. Then, miraculously, i saw three heads in the distance, maybe a mile or two away, but they were on a different trail, maybe 30 meters up the mountain. “That was the only way,” i thought to myself, as i began the arduous treck up the steep incline. It took about 15 minutes of painful exercise to finally reach the fenced in trail. To hoist me up, I grabbed onto the fence marking the trail, and ZAPPPPPP, i felt a shock rush through my body and i flew backwards. Fuck, i was just badly shocked. this is an electric fence, and what the fuck do i do now. I took a few steps back, and dove through the fence as fast as i could. I made it. I hiked on that trail for about an hour and a half - 2 hours and then i finally saw a small town in the distance. That was one of the biggest feelings of relief ive had in a while.
Often throughout the hike, i had to walk on these thin paths through the trees, and once, this thin trail was blocked by about 5 cows. Quite nervous, i slowly walked towards them, causing them to walk in front of me. Eventually i ducked through them. (I have this on video) As i approached a main town, where i would look for a bus to my hostel, it began to rain. And as i exited the forest, i saw a rainbow, and i swear to god, it ended at the tram station. As soon as i got in the station, i saw 6 other people from my hostel, and was informed that there is a gondala that will take us home. THANK GOD!!!!
hiking alone was one of the scariest but also one of the most thrilling and unbelievable things ive done in a long time. Im gunna put pictures up when i can…………
ben
