Time to check out the backyard

Just when you thought the world couldn’t get any crazier, it did. Rock bottom apparently has a basement. Until about a week ago I still had hopes to go on one or two smaller hikes in the US, but due to Covid-19 and due to the recent demonstrations against police brutality and systemic racism, triggered by the murder of George Floyd, that definitely won’t happen. Luckily I happened to live in one of the most beautiful countries in the world, so I decided it was finally time to check out my own backyard. Switzerland is slowly getting back to the new normal. Shops, restaurants and bars are all open again, and after being locked in at home for months the great outdoors seem more appealing than ever before.

There’s this trail called Via Alpina that I didn’t even know about until two months ago. It starts up north in Vaduz and ends down south in Montreux and it’ll take me about 2-3 weeks to complete it. The trail winds over 14 gorgeous alpine passes which sounds pretty god damn dope to me! Some friends and I went on a little adventure last week to check out what the trail would be like. They left the planning up to me which obviously was a mistake, as I planned the thing like I plan most of my hikes: not much. It had been hot for weeks so it didn’t even cross my mind that there would still be snow up on the peaks. Spoiler: There was. We ended up hiking through intense snow fields and there were times when I got a little worried about my inexperienced companions. At one point there were two skiers coming down the mountains while we were hiking up. But we were careful and the whole 3 day trip ended being one for the books.

So in about four weeks from now I’ll pack my bag and man… I can’t wait to get back out into the woods.
Chillos Pepittos