Sunday 30th August: Same as yesterday: Hot with clear skies all day: 18°C to 31ºC.
Klausen Pass Hotel to Braunwald: 12K: 10.00am to 2.30pm: 4hrs 30 mins - PLUS Bus (30min) to Urner Boden
9.22am bus over Klausen Pass
Highlight of the day was getting the bus down the steep road from Klausen Pass into Urner Boden, then hiking 12k to Braunwald and sitting with a beer watching the hang gliders.
The day starts out pleasantly cool, with a view of the moon setting over the alps. Breakfast is busy. There's 50 people in the room already. All those people we saw yesterday travelling to the Klausen Pass - trekkers, cyclists, motor cyclists, sports cars - have stayed the night in this quaint timber hotel. It's a leisurely wait for the 9.22am bus which we intend to take to avoid the steep 600m descent on the other side of the Klausen Pass. Like Swiss Clockwork, the bus leaves at 9.22 with many hikers intending to go in all directions.
Klausen Pass 1952 metres
Off the bus and down by the stream
27ºC at 10am, looking for cold water
Urner Boden in valley below Pass
They MUST be Aussies!!
Looking back at Klausen Pass
Jenny and Jan climbing the slopes
Graham in la la land
More meadows and swiss chalets
Lunch in the shade
Richetli Pass, Tommorows high
Beer )'Clock watching hang gliders
Dinner on the Terrace
Jenny and Graham celebrating
The steep zig zag drop into the Urner Boden Valley is hair raising, with our bus, cyclists, motor cyclists and sports cars all vying for a piece of road on a sharp corner. At 10am, we're dropped off in the flat valley and walk over to a fast running stream in the shade of the mountains. It's lovely and cool in the shade beside the cool water, but as soon as the track passes into the sun, the temperature rises 5ºC. The stream is dotted with campers and soon we spy a Nissan Piston Bully parked in the stream, with 6 guys already drinking beer under their large open sided tent, with cartons of beer cooling in the water - they must be Aussies!
There's a short sharp 200 metre climb out of the valley to a gravel road running through meadows, and we stop for a ciffee in the shade looking back at the Klausen Pass with hundreds of vehicles of all descriptions glistening on the zig zags. The next few k is through welcome pine forests around a balcony high above Linthal. It's hot, and even the water trickling above ground from higher up is warm to drink. The locals tell us it's teh driest warmest summer for a long time. Lunch is on a seat in the forrest and we demolish all our left overs ready to replenish supplies in Braunwald. But 30 minutes later, we arrive in Braunwald to find the only Maxi shop is closed - it's Sunday, and teh Adrenalin Backpackers doesn't open til 4pm.
Graham and Jenny find a beer garden - peanuts with cold beer is nice while we watch the hang gliders. At 4.30pm, we're back at the Hostel Reception, and it takes about 20 minutes to sort out a room upgrade from one 4 person room to two double rooms - all at the same price!! Well done Jenny!! The rooms are perfect - nice shower, clean sheets and it's quiet - mostly because there's no cars up here at 1500 metres. We're right next door to the Bahn Station cog train that will take us down to the valley tomorrow.
Since there's no shop, we have a peep at the Backpackers menu and we're pleasantly surprised that the prices are very reasonable. At 7pm, we're down on the terrace having a beer and ordering cowboy steaks with chips OR salad, with the intention to share, and each meal only costs CHF20 - our cheapest yet in Switzerland. The cowboy steaks are really pork leg steaks but they're really nice. An hour later we're in bed - big day tomorrow!