28 days hiking experience

My new journey started with a long-distance-hiking-experience in the Swiss Alps – a latent dream, awaking, to make a reality.

Until the very day to the start, I was convinced that I would do the existing route called Via Alpina from Vaduz to Montreux. However, sometimes you have to be flexible and spontaneous and change the plans last minute due to external factors. Especially in the mountains, I will have to adapt to nature, not the other way round 😉 So very poor weather conditions in combination with still snowcapped passes urged me to look for an alternative starting point.

I started in Switzerland’s so-called “Sonnenstube”, the Ticino and yes, from the first 10 days, there was only one rainy day (which in fact I very much enjoyed during an easy hike through chestnut forests, along a riverside). Every day’s march was created under my feet and brought me from the Ticino, to the Valais and finally to the Bernese Oberland.

Here a very short and more fact-based summary of the fantastic, unique experience full of most wonderful moments, joy, happiness, learnings, insights and encounters. I’ll share some stories and insights over the coming days. Check out the picture gallery >> images!  and the below summary in numbers:

• 1 woman, 1 dream
• 3 cantons, 3 languages
• 5 natural protection areas/parks
• 7 different types of accommodation (mountain hut, bnb, hotels/gasthof, villa, youth hostel, camping van, senn hut)
• 8 days made use of a means of transport (postauto/bus, train, cablecar)
• 20+ animals (wild and some domestic)
• 28 days of experience (24 hiking days, 4 relaxing days)
• 42 flowers identified
• 111 hiking hours
• 245 kilometers
• 3661m highest peak during hike (Blüemlisalphorn)
• 20’004 metres of altitude (11436 metres up, 8568 metres down)