Month: October 2018

Stanserhorn

8.5 km, 1,385m ascent, 3h:35m
This hike was by far the toughest group hike to-date. In fact it was probably tougher by a factor of 2 or more. It will probably be the toughest hike we do all season aside from our end-of-season goal of ascending Mt Pilatus from the bottom. Prior to this hike the most we had ascended was 650m. It was also the longest hike by an hour.

This hike was very difficult for me. I got dehydrated and low on salts and bonked near the end. I think I was also feeling the altitude. The last 10% was technically the easiest (not nearly as steep as the first 90%), but it was very difficult for me to finish. I was last out of our group of about 30 hikers, but I am proud that I finished. Also, despite my slow finish, I still did it well below the sign-posted Swiss time of 4h15m. If I ever did this again, I think I would like to take a good 5 hours and enjoy the route.

I set numerous records on my watch: most Move calories ever (out of > 500 days of meeting my Move goal), most Exercise minutes ever, 400% Move goal, most calories burned in a Hiking workout, etc. (I was disappointed to see there is not an award for 5x or 6x Move goal, which I also achieved.)

The hike began by following the funicular track up the mountain to the bottom cable car station. From there the trail became a series of switchbacks mostly through woods up until the intermediate cable car station. Past that it was switchbacks up a very steep alpine meadow but staying near the cable car line. The last section was a traverse across the mountain away from the cable car then switchbacks up onto the ridge and finally we followed the ridge up to the cable car station at the top. We ate lunch and enjoyed the views up top before taking the cable car and funicular back down to our cars. I would hate to have to hike back down.

More pics here.

Route map from my watch:

Auw via Horben Loop

11 km, 370m ascent, 2h:30m
This was the longest hike since Week 1. Ascending-wise it was not difficult, but I was feeling the distance in my legs by the time we finished. To truly whip myself into shape I will need to train on both long hikes and steep hikes.

This morning’s hike was more rolling hills and farm land (with the occasional forest) rather than actual mountains. The weather was cool but not cold (maybe 7°C at the start).

More pics here.

Route map from my watch:

Week 4: Maria Niederrickenbach

4.75 km, 640m ascent, 1h:45m
The hiking group was smaller this time: only 14 people, which is a much nicer group size than 40. This was the most ascending we had done yet. Parts of it were quite steep (averaging almost a 15% grade), but I did well. I hiked in the vanguard and was able to rest and catch my breath during regular pauses to wait for stragglers to catch up. The weather was cooler (cold at the beginning), which I appreciated. We took a decent length break at a shelter midway up.

This was a one-way hike. Most of the group stopped for lunch at the mountain restaurant up top before taking the cable car back down.

Sheep grazing on the mountain.

A view of the convent that was our destination, taken as we neared the top.

Selfie with sheep cheese! This region is known for its sheep’s milk cheese, so I bought some from a self-service kiosk (basically an unattended refrigerator and a box for cash).

Route map from my watch (the gap is from when I forgot to resume the workout after our break):

Training hikes

This week I fit in two training hikes.

Wirzweli from Dallenwil, 4.5km, 650m ascent, 1h:30m
This hike left from the opposite side of the valley from Tuesday’s Niederrickenbach hike, but in profile the hike was very similar. I hiked this one by myself. The weather was warmer this day, and I was sweating profusely and drank a lot of water.

Mostelberg from Sattel, 5.5km, 450m ascent, 1h:40m
I hiked this Sunday morning with my son. This hike is from the bottom station of the Sattel gondola to the top station. (The previous weekend we hiked in the same region but started from the gondola top station.) This was a pleasant hike but not as pretty as others I have done recently.