Next
Saturday August 1, 2015
and Sunday August 2, 2015
USA to Luzern
After a somewhat disappointing trip to Switzerland
in 2014 due to poor weather / early summer conditions, I told Kent that
if he waited until 2016 to return to Switzerland I'd go with him.
In early December 2014 he'd booked a trip back to Geneva for early
August 2015,
and it didn't take me more than a week or so to book my own
flights. In late December Paul booked flights as well. In
late March Jed booked his tickets.
After completing the Haute Route I was eager to attempt a similar
hike. I had no interest in the Tour de Mont Blanc after seeing
how crowded and relatively tame the trails were in 2014. I
focused in on the Tour de Monte Rosa instead. The Tour de Monte
Rosa was interesting because
1) The only book about it was out of print, and wasn't going to be
re-released until later in 2015
2) Relatively few trip reports are available online.
3) The actual
route varies and the exact route near Klien Matterhorn is
quite dificult to determine. Many people take alternate passes
and trails on a number of the day's hikes to avoid the ski lifts that
are sometimes available. The ski lifts actually appealed to us since they are much easier than hiking!
4) You can climb up Monte Rosa to the Gnifetti and Margarita Huts with
relatively little experience.
5) Bailing out of the hike is difficult because the Italian towns are so
isolated.