Geils to Lauenen
Day total: 20 km walking
Plus we took the gondola from Lenk which jumped us ahead 900 meters and 3 km
VA1 total: 258.5 km
At 4:30 am it started to rain. That caught us by surprise. It stopped by 6 and our tents almost dried by the time we left. After about 40 minutes of paved road walking we arrived Hahnenmoospass, 1956 meters. It is probably the least exciting of all the passes. The paved road, ski lifts and non dramatic views made it just ho hum.
Hahnenmoospass
Looking back up at Hahnenmoospass
We walked down to the village of Lenk, bought some food and hung out in front of the tourist office.
We had a decision to make on the rest of this hike. The guidebook describes the next 4 days of the official Via Alpina 1. Then he describes another route to the end in Montreux. It’s 3 days, one half hour longer but sounds more interesting. So that’s what we are doing.
We decided to skip much of the next climb because it was mostly in the trees and it was hot and humid. The gondola took us 900 meters up and we got to walk a route with great views before we rejoined the other route at Trüttlisberg Pass, 2038m. We also walked over some really interesting limestone with big craters that looked like empty water holes.
Lenk from the gondola. It cost CHF 26
Lauenen
We walked down to Lauenen, 1241 meters. We got there at 4 on Sunday. The store was only open til 5 so we had to quickly decide if we were staying or moving on and how much food we should buy. Jim asked the grocery store owner about where to stay. He told us to go over to the old school house which has dormitory accommodations. There is a phone number listed at the door which you need to call. When we got there 3 hikers had already phoned and said the lady would be there at 6. So we waited. The 3 hikers are from Korea (2 men aged 66 and 67 and a woman age 56) and have hiked all over the place including the JMT and Mt Rainier 3 times.
The woman did show up before 6 and let us in. We were the only ones there and each group got there own room. There was a kitchen also. If we had known we would have bought food to cook. Instead we went out to eat. It’s by far the best deal in Switzerland…. CHF 20 each. The shower was awesome.
The middle building is the old schoolhouse. We are on the top floor.
We stopped early and I thought I would get caught up on my blog. That didn’t happen.
nancyhikes 
Pretty nice looking for an old schoolhouse..
I find all the place names there are not so easy to pronounce in my mind. Not surprising, I guess, since I never took German. I had 3 years of Spanish in grades 9-11 and 3 semesters of French at Berkeley and if course living in So Cal I hear and see Spanish all the time.
But no language needed to appreciate what you are accomplishing (and eating).
“That didn’t happen.”
I love the way you are going with the flow, just letting things happen as they will. I hear myself thinking “I should do more of that. They sound like they are really enjoying their walk..”
Switzerland doesn’t sound a cheap place though!
Reservations sometimes bring peace of mind. But no flexibility. This is a good walk to be flexible.