Chaiserstock (2515m), Fulen (2491m), Rossstock (2461m)

Today I intended to hike with our resident Kiwi hacker Ben. He chickened out at the last minute though because he got blisters from "playing with the girls". Too bad for him. So I went alone. I started very early, getting up before 6. Public transportation didn't leave me much choice in the matter because the valley I was going to is only reachable by "Postauto" which goes there twice a day (once in the morning and once in the afternoon). There is a saying in Hiker circles "Morgenstund hat Blei im Arsch". I can definitely identify with that!

In any case, I went on to hike up Chaiserstock (2515m), the highest peak of the range. It's graded as a T4, high level alpine hike. It doesn't really merit that rating except for some small climbing parts and a narrow exposed ridge just below the summit. All well secured with cables and chains. The view from the top was disappointing because I was basically standing in a soup of clouds.

I still had some juice left, was hoping for the clouds to clear up and thought now that I'm here I may as well benefit from having started early. So I went on to climb the next peak of the range, the Fulen (2491m). Still no real luck with the view. Fuck it - next one. Rossstock (2461m). At the end of the day I had gained almost 2000m in height. My record for this year (for now ;-)).

The whole area seems to be prime climbing territory, with the Liderner hut suitably situated as base camp and the Schmal Stöckli rock needle that was obviously designed for climbing. And indeed I spotted some folks chosing the vertical route to the top. Apparently there are some very nice routes up the Chaiserstock as well. I shall return one day...

I descended down the Rossstock Lücke and through the Seenalp and Hürtital towards Muotathal. A looong trail. At the end I totalled about 27km, 2000m elevation gain and 2600m elevation loss. I left my house at 6 in the morning and returned at 10 in the evening. 5 hours spent on public transportation and 11 hours of straight walking/scrambling. I was pretty much wasted. So wasted in fact that a random stranger at the train station walked up to me, looked at me and said "go to sleep". Which I found kind of amusing ;-)

I have encountered lots of animals this time. Marmots and an assortment of domesticated ones. I had a lot of fun with a group of what I called my "Commando Sheep". You see, most sheep would run away from me when I approached. Not this group. They actively stalked me and followed me around for several hundred meters. One in particular trailed me so closely it literally stepped on my foot several times. Maybe they liked the salt on my skin or something - they kept licking.

My hikes are getting surprisingly expensive for public transportation alone. I seriously consider buying a "Generalabonnement" which is essentially a flat rate for a whole year. Spending ~3000CHF once may well be cheaper than ~70 a weekend. I don't know if I can keep this up through the winter (skiing?). On the other hand - I have pretty much exhausted the mountains close by, so I need to go further each time ;-)

The count is Germany 3 points, New Zealand 0 - your turn Ben!

All images here:

2011-07-02 Chaiserstock, Fulen, Rossstock Hike