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Wednesday September 1, 2021
Oberaarsee and Grimselpass
Nufenen is the 12th highest paved road in the Alps, and the second
highest paved road in Switzerland.
(Umbrailpass is higher, but it doesn't "count" for me since the road
continues up to the Stelvio.)
Nufenen, Gotthard, and Furka could be ridden as one big loop.
The cobbled Gotthard tremola is on the south side, so the loop should
be ridden counter clockwise to ride up the tremola.
This would mean climbing the east side of Furka, which I rode in 2017.
If I was going to climb Furka again, I'd climb the west side out of
Oberwald instead. The west side of Furka was a stretch goal for this trip.
North side of Nufenen. I started another 4km uphill in Oberwald
South side of Nufenen, I planned to do this downhill to get to Passo
del San Gottardo - this
canton speaks Italian!
South side of Gotthard
North side of Gotthard, though I'd only do 12km down to Andermatt, then
take
the train back to Oberwald
07:48 Switzerland time 23:48 California time
Dusty: As i was leaving Oberwald I saw the steam
train approaching town, didn't get a good pic, then it stopped in the
trees.
Dusty: i got to the train station and saw guys with cameras and
tripods, i
knew from my last trip the steam locomotive only runs a couple times a
year,
chatted w some of the guys and waited for the train for 5m before
deciding to move on, had a long day ahead of me.
08:06 Switzerland time 00:06 California time
Looking northeast back to Obergesteln
The Rhone valley was still in the shade, it was chilly!
The road up Nufenen was totally shaded as well, continued to be dark
and chilly for the first 90 minutes or so.
08:43 Switzerland time 00:43 California time
Nufenen, looking southeast / uphill
Nufenen, looking northwest / downhill
09:18 Switzerland time 01:18 California time
09:35 Switzerland time 01:35 California time
09:36 Switzerland time 01:36 California time
I finally got into sunlight and it started to warm up.
However the huge web of power lines made the scenery less than stunning.
10:22 Switzerland time 02:22 California time
PANO - scroll right
Nufenen got prettier closer to the top when the power lines didn't
stand out so much.
The dam for Griessee is on the opposite side of the valley, I planned
to ride over there to see the lake and glacier.
10:24 Switzerland time 02:24 California time
10:25 Switzerland time 02:25 California time
10:35 Switzerland time 02:35 California time
Griessee is closed!
If you look closely you can see why, there are fresh brown tracks in the green hillside ahead on the left from a rockslide
10:36 Switzerland time 02:36 California time
Griessee is closed!
I watched another cyclist ride around the closure and continue on.
I decided against it, I still had a long day ahead of me.
10:57 Switzerland time 02:57 California time
PANO - scroll right
Griesgletcher is above Griesssee.
The ridgeline south / left of Griesgletcher is the Italian border.
10:59 Switzerland time 02:59 California time
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11:05 Switzerland time 03:05 California time
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11:11 Switzerland time 03:11 California time
South side of Nufenen with another web of power lines.
11:12 Switzerland time 03:12 California time
PANO - scroll right
11:27 Switzerland time 03:27 California time
The top of Nufenen was pretty but still not great for an Alp.
Once I got low enough to see Gotthard it took my breath away.
It got nicer as I got closer.
11:35 Switzerland time 03:35 California time
12:13 Switzerland time 04:13 California time
There are two roads up Gotthard plus a highway that goes under it
through the tunnel, finding the old road - the tremola - was supposed
to be a bit of a challenge
The Grand Tour signs marked the way.
12:17 Switzerland time 04:17 California time
The only real challenge I had finding the tremola was dealing with the
closure of the main road through Airolo.
I decided to stick with the closed road for now.
12:20 Switzerland time 04:20 California time
Airolo
12:20 Switzerland time 04:20 California time
12:32 Switzerland time 04:32 California time
I stopped for lunch - candy and a coke - at the coop.
I walked my bike through the closure and proceeded up the mountain...
12:33 Switzerland time 04:33 California time
13:15 Switzerland time 05:15 California time
The start of the cobbles!
There were a few intermittant cobbled sections before the road turned
to cobbles for good.
The cobbles were kind of painful.
After a while I was able to ignore the pain and enjoy them..
As I was climbing I thought I heard cyclists say "Bonjour" as they
passed me which confused me since we weren't anywhere near France.
Eventually I realized they were saying "Buongiorno"
I'd never heard Italian in Switzerland before so this was new to me...
Airolo
13:46 Switzerland time 05:46 California time
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14:24 Switzerland time 06:24 California time
I saw the horse drawn coach
approaching and started taking video.
The coach is slow enough you can easily hop off the back to take
pictures, as long as you're willing to run to catch up to it again..
I later saw they charge an insane 680 chf per person for a full day
ride across the pass, though it is more reasonably for a 1 or 2 hour
ride.
You should rent a Ferrari instead, it would be much cheaper and much
more fun.
14:26 Switzerland time 06:26 California time
14:26 Switzerland time 06:26 California time
PANO - scroll right
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timed construction lights, saw plenty of these on my rides.
14:48 Switzerland time 06:48 California time
14:53 Switzerland time 06:53 California time
I made it up the pass!
But I still had to get to Lago della Sella!
15:00 Switzerland time 07:00 California time
While I was approaching the pass from below I thought I heard
bagpipes...
As I got onto the road to Lago della Sella I saw a bagpiper playing on
the rocks for all to enjoy.
Wrong country, but the right effect, bagpipes in the mountains on a
sunny day was pretty awesome.
15:13 Switzerland time 07:13 California time
Lago della Sella 2257m, the 41st highest paved road in the Alps.
15:14 Switzerland time 07:14 California time
15:14 Switzerland time 07:14 California time
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PANO - scroll right
15:18 Switzerland time 07:18 California time
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PANO - scroll right
15:32 Switzerland time 07:32 California time
I was now ravenously hungry.
I was worried that I didn't have enough cash to buy a braut from the
guy at the top of Gotthard, but I found an extra 20chf I'd forgotten
about and celebrated by wolfing down a braut and beer.
15:54 Switzerland time 07:54 California time
16:06 Switzerland time 08:06 California time
16:12 Switzerland time 08:12 California time
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16:21 Switzerland time 08:21 California time
Return to Andermatt
I spent 3 days here in 2017, only got 1 day of cycling in cause it was socked in or rainy the other days..
The one day of cycling was awesome.
16:24 Switzerland time 08:24 California time
I rode past this former-gas-station-now-hotel in 2017 without noticing
the sign.
The sign points out that this is one of the locations from Goldfinger.
This is the gas station where James drops off Tilly Masterson after he
destroyed her Mustang's tire and nearly killed her on Furkapass.
17:00 Switzerland time 09:00 California time
Dusty: having dinner at same restaurant i ate at twice in 2017, but
they no longer have my smoked salmon rosti! The horror!
Dusty: on train ride back from Andermatt had at least 12 guys w tripods
and cameras, they'd all taken the steam train...
Dusty: the one of the most awesome cycling days ever....
16:12 Europe time 07:12 California time
Kent: Very cool Dusty!
16:14 Europe time 07:14 California time
Ray: looks like great weather
Dusty: Gotthard pass was gorgeous but the top half was windy...
Dusty: still sunny though and I didn't freeze to death...
Dusty: Nufenen was full of power lines everywhere since theres a dam up
there
Dusty: Nufenen was shaded this morning and very cold until i got into
the sun about 90 minutes in...
17:00 Europe time 08:00 California time
Dusty: Todays added degree of difficulty: about 8km of cobbles...
Dusty: eventually i got into the zone and enjoyed them....
21:08 Europe time 12:08 California time
Paul: What was that horse team all about
Paul: Was it for tourists or was that a real working team?
22:49 Europe time 13:49 California time
Kent: Like train turntables
Kent: Cool place
Kent: I assume it's the tunnel at end of Rhone valley
Kent: I walked there in the mountains from Munster along the high
route in '00
Kent: Long walk for short distance
Kent: Lots of in and outs of side cantons.
Kent: Here's sort of neat thing I think
Kent: Picked up this not great technique painting at thrift store
last week for $1.50
Kent: Investigation makes me believe it was painted 50+ years ago
and I think it's likely Mt St Helens prior to eruption
22:52 Europe time 13:52 California time
Kent: I remember there being a huge sail port for sailplanes at that
end of valley
03:26 Europe time 18:26 California time
Kent: Dusty, you may enjoy this map view I picked up a few years ago
Kent: I framed it and put tape over towns ive spent time in rhone
valley
Kent: From the Sebastian Munster printing cosmographia 1556
Kent: I suppose my favorite parts are the ibex near where zermatt
should be and the title Wallisser Land
Kent: (You can see St Bernard on it too)
Dusty: I have a couple of maps I bought of the alps intended to frame,
still rolled up in the garage...
Dusty: 2 nights ago a watched a middle aged Swiss couple walk into the
hotel, straight out of a time machine from 100(?)y ago, both dressed in
black, formal old clothes, hats, and they were carrying a cane or stick
between them, hanging their largest suitcase from the cane..
Dusty: also saw them at the train station next morning, same outfits,
caught her eye for a second trying to guess what kind of interesting
life she was living..
Dusty: couldn't tell whether they were re-enacting the past, part of
some cult, or just really really swiss....
