Alpine Panorama Trail – Leaving the Mountains

Three o'clock in the morning at the hotel window.

Pitch black night. The contours of the trees are absorbed by an impenetrable blackness. Not a sound, not a single one. No owl calling in the distance, no wind whistling through the leaves, no raindrops knocking on the roof, nothing at all.

Somehow beautiful and irritating at the same time.

That reminds me of one of the famous novels by Philip K. Dick (author of the basics for the film adaptation of Bladerunner, Minority Report, Total Recall etc.), namely Marsian Timeslip. He thereby describes the problem that the human brain cannot survive without sensory impressions.

In the novel, the timing problem in transporting a brain to some other body (SF literature) is solved in such a way that artificial sensory impressions are transmitted from the outside in order to keep the brain alive. However, the brain has no possibility to recognize whether the perceived sensory phenomena are real or artificial.

Which inevitably brings us to the question of the possibilities we ourselves might have to recognize whether the things we think we are experiencing are real or implanted from the outside. By the way, in the film MATRIX the subject was adopted.

Disturbing considerations in the middle of the night ...

The last day in the mountains

Tonight I will arrive at Lake Geneva. The mountains will finally stay behind, after more than three weeks and countless meters of altitude, numerous paths over hills and mountains, over passes and through forests. Oh God, how I am going to miss them ...

But once again the hiking guide gives the green light for a particularly beautiful stage:

The hike to Vevey via Les Paccots crosses the border between the cantons of Friborg and Vaud and has many discoveries in store: the natural Lac des Joncs, the Pont de Fégire (border between the cantons), a wonderful view of the foothills of the Alps and Lake Geneva as well as regional ones Specialties.

That miserable rain sends a wet greeting, but my inexhaustible optimism resists. And quite honestly the rainy days were the most beautiful. I never had more peace and quiet, not a soul far and wide, the rain dropping and beating on my head, a tireless concert all to myself.

So I'm almost a bit disappointed when the rain has already cleared up as I set off, with only a few low-hanging clouds hiding a pale sun. The Landlady has managed to get cash payment from me, supposedly because of technical problems. Well, sometimes everything fits.

Above Les Rosalys, I chose a variant, I enter a damp green world, still dripping and smelling of wet earth. But it reminds once more of Middle Earth, and behind the bushes forest elves or hobbits hide, or perhaps orcs or Uruk-Hai, bred by Saruman.

But nothing in this forest above Les Paccots implies evil. The only thing that can happen is that you lose your balance on the slippery ground. And there also a wooden owl, the guardian of the forest, greets me, keeping track of the clumsy steps of the rare visitors, warning the creatures of the forest of the intruders.

A simple life

When walking, life becomes very simple - you walk, you eat and drink, you take breaks, you spend the night, you maintain yourself, you move on ... It's a kind of metaphor of how one might or should live. Simpler, more modest, focused on the essentials and nothing more.

But of course that' s difficult in our complicated world. How can you live simply and modestly when you are constantly overwhelmed by offers? Consumed by duties and goals and actions? When life is an endless parcours through all that is called modern life?

At times you get lethargic, at times depressed, at times despairing. But that's the way it is. Everyone has to cope with it in their own way.

That's why time-outs are so popular, an actual hype everyone wants to follow and yet almost no one succeeds.

My way to ease the problem is to hike (or travel). Sometimes just for a short time, sometimes a little longer. Like just now. On the way from Les Paccots to Vevey ...

The last human

Sometimes I feel like the last human around. I've been on the road for some time, but even today I'm apparently the only hiker far and wide.

No wonder, today is definitely not hiking weather, as the path remains slippery, full of deep puddles, the overnight rain has left traces. Strange smelling moss has overgrown trees and ground, the path is soft like a bed of down feathers. Sometimes the lush green is suddenly no longer lush but somehow faded, as if nature was dying.

It's still uphill, towards the pass Les Joncs. The detour to the much-praised Lac des Joncs I skip, it is still a long way to Vevey. The only thing I miss is the coffee in the guesthouse at the lake.

The bridge across to Vaud

A wooden bridge crosses the Veveyse de Fégire river, which is the border between the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud. According to the hiking guide, the Fribourg trails are very well maintained, but in Vaud a rather dull affair. We will see.

On the other hand, the path I take, regardless of whether it is in Fribourg or Vaud, is just as bad as it has been all day, flooded with the worst puddles of water, sometimes I have to swerve right through thick bushes, sometimes the only thing helping is a long jump across the sodden path.

An alpine tavern and a reunion

The forest stays behind for a moment, a wide green plateau stretches under the gray sky, and not for the first time I am greeted by a flock of black and white Fribourg cows. They have lined up in a row at the fence, the only thing missing is the respect position.

We are no longer in Fribourg, but there is still no shortage of alpine inns. The Buvette les Mossettes looks closed from the outside, but inside the interior is exquisite. One might spend days here.

I take the liberty to adopt the drawing of the interior from the Buvette's website.

While I am still looking around the room with due respect - by the way, a stove is burning in the midst of the room to warm up my clammy fingers - a man and a woman enter. A happy reunion (remember the dinner in Jaun, the couple from Lucerne that aims to complete a few stages to Vevey).

They know that their tour ends tonight and with it their alpine panorama adventure. I can feel their regret about it, they would so much like to come along to Geneva.

The realm of daffodils

A short time after the Buvette, the path leads again through dense forest before turning south and reaching the area of ​​Les Pléiades, the realm of daffodils.

Unfortunately, the blooming season is over, but in May thousands of white daffodils are supposed to bloom on these alpine meadows. Too bad, I would have loved to see the bright splendor of nature, but the nature reserve of the Marais des Tenasses is in itself a feast for the eyes.

The path is leading through meadows, on a kind of wooden walkway that you are not supposed to leave. And so you follow pure nature on slightly swaying ground, as it is still preserved here in its original state. Or is that just how you imagine it? Is the wooden footbridge really the only human intervention? I can't imagine it, although I would like to. And yes, the doubts are justified - power lines cross the nature reserve. Another greeting of civilization ...

Les Pléiades - panoramic happiness

After crossing the nature reserve, I arrive at Lally, from where a rack railroad runs to the top of Pléiades. As an inveterate hiker, it is clear that I take the footpath leading up the slope next to the train tracks. Not necessarily the most pleasant way, I remember once again the Niesen mountain run. That's about how it must look there, much further and much higher.

Of course, there is a big restaurant on the summit, the view from there is indeed breathtaking. And of course I meet my Lucerne friends, they are just having a well-deserved lunch, to which I gladly join them.

We decide to walk the rest of the way to Vevey together, and so once again a happy, quite chatty trio results, we have a lot to tell each other. And so it is not surprising that we need for the rest of the route of almost 5 kilometers over one and a half hours. That's just how it is when you like each other right away and yes - have a lot to tell.

The last kilometers

Eventually we arrive at the first houses, but it takes me a few minutes to realize that I have just left the hills and mountains for the last time. I try to hide my aching heart.

At Blonay, it's definitely the end. The way down to town is long and tedious, so we take the train. A strange experience. Civilization has caught hold of me again, it won't let me go until Geneva.

Anyway, I knew what's expecting me.

At the terminus we say goodbye, once again knowing that the farewell is definite and forever.

I walk the last few meters down to the lake, all around me the hustle and bustle and the noise of the big city - bright lights, big city - what a difference to this morning.

And then I have arrived, standing by the lake for a moment, strangely touched, a foreign object with my hiking boots and my backpack and my hat in the midst of the happy crowd heralding the start of the weekend.

But I'm indeed at Lake Geneva, I never thought I'd make it this far. Still 5 days to go ...

The first time something like exhaustion

So far I have been unaffected by fatigue, but tonight I feel something like exhaustion. Is it the realization that my dream will soon be over? Or does it simply stem from the fact that I have eaten far too little all day, stupidly?

So later I'll sit in a garden restaurant, beer and pizza and coffee and dessert, and the supposed exhaustion is gone.

A few sparrows quickly realize that someone is sitting there who is well-disposed towards them. They sit relaxed on my table, nibbling on the remains of the pizza, a very welcome contribution to my entertainment.

A perfect end to a wonderful day ...

 

Matching Song: Ruelle - The World we made

And here the trip continues ... to Lausanne