Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

In Part 1 of this account , we outlined the project and covered our first two days, hiking from Mels to Elm (and taking transport to Braunwald). One nice feature of this hike, like many in Switzerland, is that you can often shorten or ease hikes by using buses, trains, and lifts to cut out extra mileage or hills (up or down) that are just too long, steep, and/or tedious, and we did so whenever possible. Thus our third morning found us enjoying the stunning views from out hotel in Braunwald, and preparing for a much easier day. VA Day 3: Braunwald to Klausenpass First light touches the Todli. As usual, I awoke early to catch the best light. Happily, I had to move no further than my balcony to take the photos. Panorama from my balcony, looking down the valley below Linthal, as well as across to the Todli and at the nearer Ortstock. A hearty breakfast sent us off in a good mood, and since we'd dealt with the climbing yesterday (mostly on the funicular), we had a pleasant walk with onl

I've been running a series of photo posts of my summer's European travels in company with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Last week I finished the section on hiking the Tour de Mt. Blanc (see series:  Part 1    Part 2     Part 3    Part 4   Part 5   Part 6 ) (or go here to search all my photo posts). Between the TMB and our second long hike of about 2/3 of the Via Alpina , or Swiss Alpine Pass route, we spent 4 nights/3 days in Saas Fee for recovery and further exploration. The trip from Chamonix to Saas Fee was a scenic tour in itself, as we first took the small mountain train up the Chamonix valley (valley of the Arve river) to the border, then transferred to a Swiss train (which switched between regular rail and cog rail depending on the grade) to drop into the Rhone valley at Martigny. Cool mural as we entered the station at Martigny. From there it was another train down the pretty valley, then a bus up into the mountains once more. Saas Fee is one valley over fr

Read the complete TMB series :  Part 1    Part 2     Part 3    Part 4   Part 5   Part 6 TMB Day 6: Rifugio Bonatti to La Fouly (Italy to Switzerland) Since the Bonatti Refuge was in the mountains, not in town, I was up and outside at the crack of dawn to see what photos might be taken. It wasn't the best early morning I've done, but the mountains were beautiful in the early light. Bonatti hut with Monte Bianco in the distance catching the morning sun. After being up very early for the photos, it seemed an eternity until breakfast at 7 or 7:30. We finally got fed (as noted last week, breakfast was limited in scope but all-you-can-eat so we were able to get enough food to go on with), and headed out. Today's hike was the  longest of the whole trip, and we had a major pass to climb (and descend even farther), so we didn't dilly-dally. The first part of the walk, however, was a fairly easy traverse with fantastic views. Through the window of one of the many ruined build