“You’re going to get wet!”

Yesterday after lunch we set off on our first swiss hiking trip. The weather forecast had predicted thunderstorms in the morning and rain in the afternoon. The thunderstorms never came, but the rain sure did. We took the gondola from Kies up to Mettmen. At the gondola station, the woman behind the counter (who, by the way, only spoke Hochdeutsch with me) said, “You’re going to get wet”. Ten points to Griffindor! 

The hike from Mettmen to the Leglerhütte is only 2.5 hours. We were soaked to the bone after the first hour. We saw cows down in the the valley; salamanders and frogs on the path, and Gämsen up in the hills. Towards the end of our hike we were walking on snow. The Leglerhütte was a sight for sore eyes.

2273m ü.M.

The hütte is run by a couple (Sara and Romano) who live there with their young boy Nik. Dinner is home-cooked and served in the Gaststube at precisely 6:30 pm. We had a table reserved for us next to the fire, which we shared with the only other guest; Herr Küttel. Half-way through eating our soup, Romano came to our table and insisted we come outside to see some ibexes up on a nearby rock. We all stood outside the kitchen in our house slippers, watching as a young ibex challenged a much older one to battle. 

At the dinner table we talked about language and dialects. It turns out Herr Küttel is a slam poet, and travels from school to school doing workshops. We talked about the importance of spoken word, and how hard it is for Swiss people to express themselves accurately in written form. 

We drank cider and then went to bed early.

In the morning we shuffled down to breakfast at 7:30am. We wanted to make moves to avoid the afternoon downpour. We had birchermuesli and cheese on Züpfe before heading out the door. 

Unsurprisingly, the descent was much easier. On the way, we saw a wildcat chasing Gämsen. But what was more interesting was our encounter with domesticated animals. 

Yes. Swiss cows really do wear bells – and they are really loud! This young lass was on her way to another paddock with the rest of her heard. The whole experience was like some sort of swiss-tourism fever dream.

We made our way back through the thick fog on the lake at Mettmen, and down the gondola. At the station, we were told the next bus wasn’t for another hour and a half. Of course! The driver was on his lunch break. So, we headed down to the Restaurant Fryberg and filled up before jumping on the bus home. As we stepped in the door of the bus, the driver said “ah! You must be the young couple who stayed the night at the Leglerhütte.” 

S.