Day 34 – to Kemmeribodenbad

After a hike around the lake in the first part of the morning it was onwards and westwards. It was the sort of hike that makes use of the season; I saw a couple of other walkers, in a couple of months that would be very different.

The van journey through middle Switzerland was much less enjoyable than the trip across the top through Davos a couple of days ago. This was partly my own fault though, as with fuel prices so high I’ve decided the compromise is to avoid toll roads as much as possible on this course. The vignette for Swiss motorways is 40 euros, regardless of whether you are on them for 10 minutes, or a year.

The route through Zug and Lucerne reminded me of previous trips to the country. I made a few rather unmemorable short 2/3 day trips when working as a consultant just a few years ago to some of the very wealthy International schools, Basel, Zuoz, Berne. I also led several outdoor trips, mainly to Grindelwald, where a few of the group entered The Eiger Challenge MTB race.

My destination was actually not far from Interlaken, the approach route to Grindelwald those years ago. Im at the northern end of the Alps here in Switzerland, at the back of the Schrattenfluh ridge in the Emme valley just a few kilometres after the public road ends at Kemmeribodenbad. This is the Emmental region, known for its more gentle and green hills, but here the Emme is headed up steeply, through a number of waterfalls towards its source.

This is one place in the Swiss Alps where there is a fee to pay for driving the mountain roads. I’m in Zone One, so it’s 7 euros a day. I’m at the barrier to Zone 2, which is closed for another few weeks, and would cost 17 euros a day. But there’s no problem staying here at this time, it’s so quiet. A good spot as well, dominated by the spectacular peaks of Schibengütsch and Böli.