Sunday 29th September : Weather: 1°C in Davos to 4°C in Filisur Max 13°C Filisur:
Filisur: 19.0k walk: 2k up/down to Davos Platz: 17k Circuit Filisur to Wiesener Viaduct and Landwasser Viaduct
Ascent and Descent: Ascent 426m, Descent 426m
Time: 8.31am to 5.00pm: Train to Filisur: Walk 9am to 3.00pm: 5hrs + 2 x 30 mins stops: Ytain to Davos Platz
Accommodation: Alpen Chic Promenade 73 Davos
Wiesener Viaduct
Morning Coffee Wiesener Viaduct
Magnificent Landwasser Viaduct
Lunch overlooking Filisur
Chur train on Landwasser Viaduct
Beautiful Filisur Village
It’s a bit monotonous to say another spectacular day in the Swiss Alps, but today it was one of the best. We took the train from Davos Platz to Filisur, then walked 17k to firstly the Wiesener Viaduct, then across to the iconic Landwasser Viaduct where there were zillions of tourists who had travelled in the mini toy train down from Filisur station. Then back to Filisur to take the old tourist train back to Davos Platz.
A good night’s sleep until 6.30am for a hot cup of Dorchester tea with powdered milk. A quick shower then breakfast for Ian of Meusli and yoghurt and I have the usual bread, banana and honey. It’s a cold 1°C in Davos but no snow last night, so while there’s still snow on the Alps, there’s none on the roads. We leave at 8am and walk briskly down to Davos Platz Bahnhof to catch the 8.31am train to Filisur.
Of course it departs on time but it’s not the same tourist train we were in yesterday, but a modern one which doesn’t stop at the tourists spots - the waterfall, the Wiesner Viaduct or any other tourist attraction. We arrrive in Filisur in 25 minutes before 9am, where it’s a “warmer" 7°C. The train has many day hikers who pile out in Filisur and some then hop on the Landwasser Express - the mini toy train that takes tourists, not hikers, down to the Landwasser Viaduct.
From Filisur station, we follow the signs back to Wiesener Station where the train had just passed through and it’s a beautiful walk with very little elevation through meadows and forests. After one and a half hours we’r at the Wiesener Viaduct and walk across to the Wiesen Station. It’s still cold, but we find a spot in the sun sitting on a smaller viaduct with our backs to the wall, for a coffee and the last of our Arnott’s spicy fruit rolls. We linger in the sun to warm up.
Doing a U turn to take the lower walking route to the Landwasser Viaduct, we’re surprised it’s in the sun on the south side of the valley. Down a well graded path through the pine forests, the track folllows the fast flowing Landwasser, the river over which the Landwasser Viaduct is built. After another hour, passing through scary landslides of loose dirt, we see the Viaduct in all it’s glory with zillions of tourists who have arrived in the mini train. It’s a bit of a circus with mobile cafes and restaurants set up to cater for the tourists. We admire the massive structure and marvel that it was built more than 100 years ago.
Moving on, at 1pm, we find a lovely spot for lunch in the sun with 180° views of the snow capped alps over Filisur. Lunch is a cup of tea with the last of our Alpine cheese and apple. Our train back to Davos doesn’t leave intil 4.06pm, so there’s time to visit another view point of the Landwasser Viaduct. After an easy walk of thirty minutes, we reach a viewing platform with timber barriers, perched on a precarious ledge overlooking the Landwasser Viaduct. I say precarious because it looks like it’s sitting on an already washed out landslide of loose dirt. The view is impressive but we can only see 5 of the 6 arches and not the point where the track disappears into a tunnel. We linger for a while hoping to see a train on the track, and after 10 minutes, the St Morritz to Chur train passes over the Viaduct and disappears through the tunnel. A truly impressive structure built more than 100 years ago.
Back to the small village of Filisur, with a population of less than 500. It’s part of Route 35 on the Walser Weg and at this time of year is almost deserted. We wander through the streets before walking back to Filisur Station. We pass through an apple orchard, where farmers have rattled the trees and are picking fallen apples buy hand to put in crates. We have an hour to wait for the 4.06 train back to Davos, but it’s nice sitting in the sun looking through the day's photos.
The old tourist train arrives on platform 3 and is soon filled with day trippers, taking off on time at 4.06pm. It rattles, rocks, rolls and hoots along the track at speed as it did 100 years ago. We arrive in Davos Platz after a wonderful day just before 5pm and it's a cold 7°C. Walking briskly through the village, all the shops are closed - it’s Sunday. In 15 minutes, we’re in our warm cozy studio heating up the last of our food for dinner - pan grilled pork filet with capsicum, onion, mushroom bathed in pumpkin sauce/soup, with several pieces of bread fried in the pan. And with a beer/red wine.
Shower time, sorting photos, blogging then a cup of hot milk and honey before bed at 9pm. We hope to go for an early morning walk before catching the 12.01 train from Davos to Zurich.