On the 3rd day of my visit to Switzerland, Brigitte decided to take me hiking in the mountains. Now I do have a fear of heights, so I was not expecting to go too high.

We boarded the train and headed  from Domat/Ems to the area of Disentisl. Normally the train would take you quite high up into the mountains, but as there were engineering works being carried out on the track, there was a bus replacement service in place for the last part of the journey.

 

 

Once on board the train I realised we had a stow away on board. Julius a sharp nosed early Gotz boy had joined for our mountain trip.

 

The views from the train as it wound its way up the mountain side were spectacular

The Autumn colours were beautiful and the weather was very sunny and mild for the time of year.

Switzerland has its own Grand Canyon.

The next part of trip was by bus up to The Oberalppasse

Just before we started our mountain hike i took a couple of photos of a little lighthouse and other  informative signage.

Brigitte and I commenced our walk. The plan had been to walk down the mountain to the train station. However, we took a wrong turn and ended up going up the mountain instead. The views were fantastic.

I could see snow on top of an opposite mountain.

Julius was having fun and taking in the views too.

As we made our way up the mountain the views became even more spectacular. As the path we were walking on was solid on one side I hadn’t really noticed how far up we were.

Along the way we spotted some red berries growing on the side of the mountain. Brigitte told me that they were used to make jam and were very tasty. So we had a little feast of tasty berries.

We also spotted  a wild star flower, which would have been a beautiful yellow when it bloomed.

And also a little blue mountain flower

more spectacular views

We came across an information point

Julius insisted on having his photo taken

We continued up the mountain.

It was around about this time that the mountain path changed to a goat track and as we approached the summit, my fear of heights kicked in. I had a bad panic attack. I literally sunk to the ground and told Brigitte that I did not think I could go any further, but with her encouragement I carried on. I did try to run up the mountain, but as the air was thin, this turned out to be a very bad idea. so shouting out “oh my God” all the way to the top  and Brigitte saying “Do not worry he is with you”we carried on.

When we reached the top I was ecstatic

I hugged the cross at the top of the mountain.

Julius reached the top safely too.

Brigitte had prepared a lunch for us and what better place to eat it than sitting on top of a mountain.

Whilst we were eating lunch the mountain rescue helicopter came past. At first I thought, blimey, I hope I wasn’t shouting that loudly, that someone had called for help. As it turned out it was rescuing someone on an opposite mountain.

After eating our lunch we made our way down the mountain, again taking in the scenery as we went.

The building below is used for storage

On the way down the mountain a man passed us on a buggy with his 2 children. They were checking a blue machine that I had not seen before. Brigitte told me that the blue machines, were in fact snow blowers. Their function is to create snow to get the skiing season started if there has not been a snow fall. Amazing !!

Safely back down the mountain we waited for the bus and then the train to take us home.

Tomorrow is another day.

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