Went for a longer hike today, then extended it, then made it longer yet.

I think it was about 12 miles, but it’s hard to tell. The elevation information is easier, we did at least 3,000 feet up and 3,000 feet down. There was a long, steep switchback that was a lot of the uphill, but the downhill was treacherous. The steepest parts of the trail had about a 45 degree cross slope. Several areas also had water running over the rocks, making them muddy and slippery. So we both lost our footing and “aiee!” went sliding down the rock slope. Then a portion of the trail had slid away leaving a hard steep surface covered with fine stones. “Aiee!” and I went sliding down that!

Scraped, bloody and muddy we headed on to Gimmelwald, where I suggested Cathie take the aerial tram while I walked the last couple of miles up the hill to Mürren. When I got back to the hotel, I was surprised to find Cathie not there, so I called her cell phone and she was walking back, having discovered she didn’t have money for the tram. (Then we found she actually did, but missed it in the pack.)

So we saw some great scenery and amazing hillsides of wildflowers, got some exercise and are beat up and tired.

We are thinking of something easier tomorrow.

We took three trains and a gondola to get to Mürren today. All within three hours. I am always amazed at how well a train system can run. Our first train left Lucerne just a minute or two late and they apologized for it.

Mürren at 5,400 feet sits on sheer cliffs almost 2,800 feet above the valley floor, surrounded by mountains more than 12,000 feet tall. It’s a stunning scene standing in meadows full of flowers surrounded by snow covered mountains and waterfalls cascading down the cliffs. None of our pictures begin to do it justice.

Our balcony looks out over the valley at the Eiger and Jungfrau. We have three more days here to hike and such.

Another nice day in Lucerne. We spent the day walking around the old town and visiting the Verkehrshaus, or Transportation Museum.

There are lots of shops selling Swiss watches and there appears to be no limit on what you can spend for a watch. I saw a number of $25,000 watches and the some shops that were clearly above putting watches and prices in the window. If you have to ask, you shouldn’t. Luckily I am doing just fine with no watch.

We walked the old city walls and climbed every tower that was open. One had a collection of old tower clock movements dating back to 1500. It was interesting to see the changes and how they were mostly the same for the last 500 years.

The transportation museum has a real Swiss focus, especially in the trains. They went to electric trains pretty early, so lots of electric locomotives, something different than in the US.

Mt. Pilatus stuck its head out of the clouds occasionally, but it was still a little cloudy. We’re hopping for clear skies tomorrow.

The trip from Mooney to Beaver Falls included hiking in the river, through fields of wild grapes and scrambling up rock walls.  But the destination was worth it.  Instead of one large waterfall, it is a whole series of cascades and pools, a great place to spend the afternoon.

We hiked back to camp in the afternoon taking every opportunity to use the water to cool off.  When we got back to camp, several of us moved camp chairs into the river and chilled.   

Last weekend I kicked off our summer season with a Team in Training hike weekend in Havasupai Canyon, Arizona.  It was a three day hike with a couple of travel days on each end.  Havasupai canyon is a side canyon of the Grand Canyon and is on the Supai Indian Reservation.  Hikers need to have a permit from the tribe to hike into the canyon. 

There were two dozen hikers, half from the “flex team” and half from Atlanta who had been training together all spring.  While just meeting for the first time we “flexers” quickly bonded into a dynamic and fun group.  All the participants had raised at least $5,200 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and some twice that. 

It’s over 5 hours from Phoenix to the trailhead, so we stayed Thursday night at the closest hotel, the Grand Canyon Caverns Inn.  The GCCI goes back to the heyday of Route 66, and is still in a time warp from back then, but the rooms were clean. 

Friday morning we got up early and headed for the canyon.  Our Friday hike was 10 miles down into the canyon.  Our camping gear was carried by pack horses.  It was a pretty easy hike down, at least until the last few miles.  We had to wait in the village of Supai to get our permits, and the last several miles of the trail are loose sand.   By that time it was in the high 90’s and we were getting hot and tired.  So we stopped at Havasu Falls for a swim before heading into camp.