Day 2 Hike in canton Uri

A couple of general things before I get into the hike and all the details of Uri.

Planning is an essential element to most things, including hiking. I was quite tired yesterday and didn't do a great job of preparing for today's hike. I printed a few maps, and did some short research, but nothing substantial came up.  So, today, was a seat of the pants hike, and let me tell you, it was the seat of the pants hike!!!

Next, I find it funny that the Swiss and I have two separate definitions of "flat" when referencing the hiking conditions. I will give more detail below about where I hiked, but when I got to the place, I asked the woman and she said, yes, it is flat.

So, let me clue you in a bit. "Flat" to the Swiss means that you will climb, you won't need ropes and helmets to get up the mountains, but you will be sure to go up. It is amazing to me how fit the Swiss are, hiking in the Alps is normal, and climbing is normal, and up up up is to be expected.

On my way back down during the hike, a young man passed on a run up the mountain with a huge backpack and just bouncing up the path like he was in a swimming pool and weightless. That was annoying!!! But, just made me envious. :)

Ok, last thing before I dive in.. tell me, does it ever stop raining in Switzerland?  I cannot remember more than 2 days in the last three months where it didn't rain at least once in the day. Today, was no different.

Part I: On to hiking

My original plan was to a flat hike from Silenen to Erstfeld and back. This would be about 10k round trip. Ironically enough, it looks flat on the map, but, it isn't. Not very hilly, but still has its moments. Well, not entirely true, I actually planned on taking the gondola to Eggbergen and hike around there, but when I got there, it was not open.

As I passed these two towns, and I am much further than I realized I noticed a gondola service located in Intschi. Something very important to point out, I am quite afraid of heights, to the point where I feel like I will pass out, though I am pretty sure it would not happen.Anyway, my friend Andrew was with me, and we got the tickets. As we sat in this gondola, big enough for 4 comfortably, 4 other adults go in, and all sat on the other side. So, as it went up, and passed the towers, it shook, then rocked quite a lot. Andrew was kind enough to snap a few photos as I was keeping myself busy looking at the map and trying not to look out the windows.

I will admit, it doesn't seem all that bad looking at these two pictures, but, for me, it was a lot of stress.  You should also note, the weather looks not so bad at this moment in time.

When you get to the top and there isn't anyone to greet you. You just open the door and hop out. I had a look of terror in my face for sure, and I survived.

At the top we had a decision, to go "flat" or to climb which was a shorter distance. My goal was flat, so I opted for flat. As mentioned above, that doesn't necessarily mean it was really flat. Also, at this point, it was raining off and on, and the fog (or clouds) were dense. This to me, is sad sometimes when hiking because I am certain the views must be amazing, but, you cannot see more than 100-200 feet in front of you. So, the pictures you will see below, where foggy at best.

Some Statistics

• The distance of the hike was 6.43 kilometers, but I cannot verify the accuracy because my GPS is on the blink and not working correctly. Meaning, it is moving the points around a bit, so I had to manually input this map after reviewing the original.

• Vertical climb, elevation increase, and elevation
  For this hike, it was 1017 feet in total climbing.  The elevation in feet increase was 924 total feet. The hike started out at 4,555 feet and at the top it was at 5,479 feet.

• Time
  This is something I am not 100% on because I didn't really pay much attention to when I actually started the hike, but, my best guess is 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Overall thoughts about the hike
I love being out in nature, there are always things to see that are pleasing to the eye. The start of this hike is along a mountain lake, sadly, you could not see much of the lake because of the fog. It is a very safe hike, the trails were a bit muddy because of the rain, but I imagine on a sunny day you will tell yourself 100 times how beautiful the views are.

This is a shot next to the lake. I wanted it to be more artistic, but with the rain coming down, the heavy fog, and my camera/me getting wet, it wasn't so easy.

Like all of the major hiking trails in Switzerland, there is always information to be found that will help you understand where you are and what is going on there. It does help if you speak German. What? Are you really going to insult me and ask if I speak German or at least understand this stuff? Ha!! Of course I don't. Well, one can easily figure out bits and pieces though.

I do not know what it is, but I love cows. I find them to be beautiful, friendly, and harmless. Really, I think cows are a good metaphor of how we could be. Ok, the cow chips (I am not going to link to a definition or explain that) aside, I think they are great. These two were just sitting and watching me walk by, clearly aware of my being clueless and annoyed, but they didn't budge. A few of their friends were on the other side of the path, with a family view of the lake, they looked very relaxed.

My parents have a few cows and I am quite fond of them. One of the two younger ones, which is easily as tall as me, would give me kisses. I know it sounds crazy, but one day, I was feeding him with some grass in my hand, he leaned over the fence, and licked my face. After that, every time I would see him, I would bring him close, move my head next to his, and he would bump his lips on my face. I really loved that a lot. Here is a picture of him I took shortly before moving to Switzerland.  A funny note, when I was moving here, they (the moving company) asked me about my dogs, I sent them a picture of him. They didn't think it was as funny as I did.

Along the hike, since the view was quite limited, I took some photos of the stream and such that I passed on the way. Actually, for the most part, the hike was parallel to the stream, just zigzagging back and forth across it a couple of times as I was hiking up.

During the hike, I came across this plaque and stone carving. I thought it was interesting but I didn't know what it said at the time, so I of course, did some translation to come up with a rough idea of what it says. I am also including a close up photo of the carving and plaque, and then a third, which shows a happy snail, deciding it was the next location for him to scurry about on.

I wonder, as a side note, do you like the images more or less than the blog details? 

The exact translation of this doesn't say a whole lot, but the sculptor of the piece was Ettore Jelmorini if you would like to look at his other works. This one, I could not find on his site and after a few minutes of googling, I did not continue.  Translating Geometrischer Mittelpunkt simply says "geometric center" if that helps. The rest is just coordinates and general information.

Before I end the hiking segment, I would like to just talk about the ride down the gondola for a moment. When we got in, he announced via speaker from the ground it was time. Then, that thing took off and I swear, we were doing double time. When I spoke with him, I told him, it went too fast. He laughed (and I could smell alcohol like nobody's business), and said, it moves 5 meters a second, it moves 5 meters a second. I'd say it was more like 10. He laughed again and that was that. The guy was drunk as a skunk and telling me it was on the up and up? come on!!!

Part II: Let’s talk about the Canton Uri

Ok, not sure where to begin but lets start here. The canton is centrally located in Switzerland, and I can tell you, while it isn't the smallest canton, it is mostly made up of mountains and very small villages.

(sorry I forgot to add this image for day one but here is a link to that image)

Currently URI has a population of 35,422 people. I could not find a male to female ratio, so I am just going to make up numbers and say it is 25% male and 75% female, but before you roll your eyes, I know this is not true.

URI is one of the original cantons of Switzerland and, like Schwyz, it was founded in 1291, so it has some history to it.  Altdorf is the capital city of URI, and, the only city that takes lunch-checks. But, don't try to eat at Danioth on Sunday and ask them to take the lunch-checks, because they rejected me flat out. Not to mention, to be honest, the food wasn't all that good.

The old town is really beautiful and here are a few street pictures I took.Clockwise starting with the upper left: the road headed out of town, the picture doesn't do justice to how authentic it is; next two are perspectives of the same building, which I will talk about more in a minute;. nice typical side street view; what looks to be a typical in-town home; close to the previous picture, I thought the rose bush was amazing so I had to take a quick picture, though, I was tempted to photoshop out the satellite dish.

The last interesting image I have for you, was a shock to me, mainly because of my limited worldly experience or knowledge I suppose. But, I loved this little nugget.

The picture is of  Wilhelm Tell, does that name sound familiar? William Tell easier to associate with? It never occurred to me as a child to question where he was from, where he lived, etc. But, let's get on to the legendary tale...

On 18 November 1307, Tell visited Altdorf with his young son and passed by the hat, publicly refusing to bow to it, and so was arrested. Gessler — intrigued by Tell's famed marksmanship, yet resentful of his defiance — devised a cruel punishment: Tell and his son would be executed, but he could redeem his life by shooting an apple off the head of his son, Walter, in a single attempt. Tell split the apple with a bolt from his crossbow.

I found this very cool and very interesting. I guess that since this has happened so long ago, the story could have twisted and turned many times, but, I really like this short recap of the legend and who am I to question it?!

I hope you have enjoyed today's blog entry. I am not sure if I am giving you all the information you would like so please leave me comments and ask me to add other things. I am amazed at how long it takes to do this blog, this one was about 2 hours of time to write and insert the pictures.  Tomorrow I am off to Nidwalden and Tuesday I will be in Obwalden. I am considering getting a hotel room for tomorrow night and save the driving. Then, come home Tuesday after I complete the hike. Then, I am excited to spend the national holiday hiking in Lucerne on Wednesday.

Lastly, I am going to do a couple of town walking hikes during this and stay out of the mountains. I think this will be during off days of harder hikes. As of right now, I still have no clue where I am hiking tomorrow :)