Day 5 Hike in canton Lucerne

Life, and a simple perspective

I didn't sleep well last night. At the time I didn't realize it, but it was because my knee was swollen up about 3 times the size. It looks like someone jammed a softball in there. I was thinking, I wish I had a bag of frozen peas. Keep in mind, I have not done any food shopping since they left for anything other than green drink stuff and a few odds and ends. I opened the freezer door, knowing nothing would be in there, but I was wrong, a bag of green peas was sitting there. WOW, what are the odds?? THAT was perfect!!! I put it on my knee for 10 or 15 minutes and much of the swelling subsided.

But, before I worked out the problem with my knee, being back home, I made myself a green drink for breakfast. I don't know what I did, but it tasted amazing. This one had spinach, celery, cucumber, carrots, apple, ginger root, and a lemon, all juiced. I then put it in a blender with banana.  Here is how it looked, and I had two full glasses.

I cannot tell you in words how great that tasted. It is the small things that make me the happiest. The one thing I look forward to the most is this drink first thing in the morning... it is unconditional, and always aiming to please. And check out that sunflower growing. It just showed up in the pot and has grown up nicely.

Part I: On to hiking...

With my knee bothering me, I thought I would look for a hike that wasn't so challenging, but yet, brought me some fun. I also felt a little flat today. I am not sure if it is because today is the 5th day in a row I have been hiking (something I have not done since Nepal in 2008) and of course, I was in much better shape then.

Once I found the route, I planned on extending it to get in about 8 miles, but, I made a wrong turn and circled back on another trail. At that point, I decided to let it be fate.

Before I go into some details and pictures, here is something worth pointing out:

1. If it is hot out, try not to hike during the peak hours of heat for the day
2. If you decide to hike during those peak hours, try to find a hike with lots of shade
3. If you don't find a hike with lots of shade, be sure to dress in light coloured clothing, wear a hat, sunblock, and bring plenty of water.
4. And, if you at least follow those guidelines, and you are hiking in cow fields, remember that the flies would like to chew on you as much as the next cow (wait, did I just compare myself to a cow???). 

It was really hot on this hike, as I didn't start until 11, and I spent a lot of time in the sun. No, I didn't kill the flies that were biting me, but I did have some strong words with the ones who were biting the backs of my arms and my neck, this I didn't appreciate a whole lot. But, I know they have a reason to exist, I just have not found out what it is yet.

The hike... itself

As I was planning the hike last night, and early this morning, I thought, I could go hike in the Pilatus  areas, but then I would be ordinary. Further, I would be too close to actually see how the mountain looks. I have been up it once before in the gondola (don't ask about that terrifying ride), so I didn't need to go again for my 11/11/11.

I did like the idea of not being too far away, so I could see the mountain range. I picked the Ruopigen area which is located in the Littau region. What I really liked about this spot is if I looked North, I could see all the small mountains, which look like hills, and when I looked South, I could see the start of the Alps. Really, just an amazing contrast to be the peanut butter and jelly to those two slices of bread.

After my GPS not doing it's job for me yesterday, I accidentally left it home today. When I got home, I could not find it anywhere, so I may have actually lost it. Therefore, I had to map it from memory, which isn't so easy at my age (28).

The length of the hike was 5.8 kilometers, starting out at 1610 feet and finishing at 2526 feet. That is 916 feet up. It took me two hours and five minutes to complete, and one would think it should not have taken so long, but it was a steady climb all the way up and then a 35 minute hike down. In the heat, it went slow. Still, being flat in the morning and my knee problems aside, I felt pretty good.

This may seem crazy, but, I really feel like I am getting a little stronger, or at least my body is adjusting well to this daily activity. I remember hiking a couple of weeks ago and going into coronary failure no less than 25 times.

My car was parked in a neighborhood just above a school. There was a guy on the balcony who showed me a good spot to park and well, the car was still there when I returned so I guess he was on the up and up.

Once I got into the first open field the views were really nice. Whenever there are brochures of hiking in Switzerland, they always show rolling hills with mountains in the background. There is a reason for this, it is like that everywhere. In this picture, that is  Pilatus way off in the distance.

I ask, what is a hike without cows? This time, an elderly lady was leading three down the road followed by an elderly man. She was nice and gave me a pleasant hello, but he seemed a bit grumpy. I presume it had to do with his view of the cows. I stopped as they were passing, and oddly enough, all three of them turned and walked right at me. I wasn't worried as I am the animal whisperer (only in my mind) and have very little fear of such situations, knowing the animals and respecting them. I used this time to say hello to each of them, letting them know I loved them.How about that arse view huh? Awesome cows!!!

Here is one of the many sign sets I found along the way, letting me know which way to go. But, where I made the wrong turn there were no signs.  A lady and her man (maybe late 50's) passed me along the way. She stopped and told me how beautiful the other trail was, so I was compelled to take it. He didn't look to happy that I liked talking to her so much, but what he didn't realize is that I don't speak German.

This trail she suggested, led me to some additional views which were really nice. Along that same trail, I passed a tiny cog-wheel train coming up the side. the Sonnerbergbahn. The conductor was all smiles and waves as he passed.

On the way back to my car, you may have noticed a bit of a house on the other side of one of the cow pictures. I took another picture of it as I loved that it sat on the hill top with a view of so many mountains. Then, when I was about 2/3's of the way back down, a house I passed on the way up, had beautiful flowers and typical Swiss architecture, so I took a quick side shot. I had to keep moving as the flies were almost carrying me away and the sun was beating down hard now.

There was something very interesting at the summit of this tiny mountain. There were flags hanging along a very well maintained path. I didn't pay much attention to them until I got close and could see they were famous quotes. Below is the path, followed by close-ups of each with the German and English translations, I hope you enjoy this as much as I.

In the order I took the pictures (I think).....

Wahnsinn ist, wenn Einer immer das gleiche tut und jedes Mal ein anderes Ergebnis erwartet

Insanity is doing the same thing, over and over again, but expecting different results

Albert Einstein 

In der Natur zu sein, um sich und auch die Natur zu heilen, ist die wichtigste Medizin der Zukunft

In nature to be, to heal and even nature, is the most important medicine of the future

Susanne Fischer-Rizzi

Die Baume, die Blumen, die Krauter, sie wachen in der Stille. Die Sterne, die Sonne, der Mond, sie bewegen sich in der Stille. Die Stille gibt uns eine neue Sicht der Dinge

See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls

Mother Teresa

As a side note, I visited where she did the majority of her work and now rests in peace. She was an amazing human being who gave beyond the definition of what it means to give.

back to the banners....

Der beste Weg, die Zukunft vorauszusagen, ist sie zu gestalten

The best way to predict the future is to create it

Willy Brandt

Es gibt nichts Entspannenderes, als das anzunehmen, was kommt

There is nothing more relaxing than to accept what's coming 

His Holiness Dalai Lama

So, that was the hiking portion of my day....

Part II: Let’s talk about the Canton Lucerne

I will go over some of the general things that are of interest about the canton, and then I will share with you something I found special.

Moving out of the year 1291 when the first four cantons were founded and joined the federation, we jump ahead all the way to 1332 which is when Lucerne joined the Federation. It is the fifth canton. It was originally founded around 750 under the Benedictine monastery.

Like the other visited cantons, Lucerne is located in the central part of Switzerland. It is a large canton, though not the largest, and has five districts: Luzern, Hochdorf, Sursee, Willisau, Entlebuch.

As of 2010, there were 377,610 people living in Lucerne. A statistic a bit older says there are 158,345 single people. Like Obwalden, this seems to be a good place to look for partners if you are interested. I do not have male/female ratio information, so that is that.

What I found special came from my researching Lucerne last evening. I found a picture of a medieval church ruins in located in the Sursee disctrict. I used this as fuel for me to find it as my part two of the day. It is about a 25-30 minute car ride from where I was hiking, and on the way home.

I could not find very much information about this church except it comes from around the time of 1200.


Sursee was settled by the Alemanni (Suebian Germanic tribes) in the 1200's as Roman town and to this day is still almost 75% Roman Catholic.

It has two twin towns, one in the United states, located at Highland, Illinois and the other is in Martigny, Switzerland.

It was awared the Wakker Prize for having preserved its architecture. This is fantastic news, in light of a survey done a few years back showing 22% of it has been forested, which is far too much!!!

Here are the photos that I took of the ruins. Interestingly enough, until you look at the last picture (which I took from a google aerial satellite view) you cannot tell what it was shaped like. Personally, I found this spot peaceful and leaving with a warm feeling.

and here is the view from google.

I hope you do not feel short changed with today's posting. I am trying to mix this up to include some interesting information that covers more than just the hike itself. You will note I did not talk about lunch-checks today. I figured with today being the Swiss National Day not many places would be open so I didn't even bother. But, if you want the list of places that do take them in Lucerne, please click here.

Peace
Dave

I am off to Zurich tomorrow.