bike trip day 3: Le Caylar to St. Guilhem de désert

Mileage 26 and elevation 1,100 feet

Today was smooth sailing! We had a lovely breakfast in Le Caylar.  Thanks to mini croissant, I was able to try a plain one and a pain au chocolat.

The road was smooth and there was a lot of downhill on this ride.  We added 3 more to the group riding the road today which was good fun.  

Lots of descent with impressive views! What a blast.

With a stopover in a cute town, we had a drink with a scrumptious appetizer: smoked trout with jelly and goat cheese.

From there we carried on to the final destination.  Wow, Saint Guilhem de Désert is such a cute town.

Each day of this trip get better and better.

A quick dip in the river, then some shopping and a walk up the hill. 

 

The evening finished off with another fabulous three course meal.

I'm glad the biking burns enough calories to eat all this wonderful food.

Tomorrow is the last day of the bike trip. Too bad.

bike trip day 1 and 2

Day one: Octon to Roncels

This was a suffer fest simply put. 

5,000 feet in 25 miles with some of our in rocky terrain. 

The place we stayed was beautiful and finally with lots of artsy wooden carved and also clay figurines. 

day 2:  Roncels to Le Caylar 20 miles 2,260 feet gain-Carol, Stephanie, and I decided to take the road instead of the trail recommended by the guide.  This ended up cutting the elevation gain by half and avoiding the rocky trails. 

It was enjoyable. What a nice day!

we're have been having nice meals everywhere we go! 

Estavayer le Lac

We did a lovely walk around town.  

Highlights include steep steps up the tall tower where they once held prisoners, street art, and lovely gardens.  This town is known as the city of roses.

Oeschinensee lake hike plus time in Thun

Today is day 6 of my trip.

Because the bike group had plans to go back to Neidielhorn, I opted to check out a recommended hike.

It was spectacular!

Oeschinensee lake!

I missed the train by a few minutes which gave me an opportunity to buy food and explore the town of Thun.  I found a cool DIY walking tour and enjoyed my time there.

https://wanderineurope.com/thun-walking-tour-do-it-yourself-with-route-and-map/

The train to kandersteg was easy and it was a 10 minute walk to the gondola next.  Once at the top of the gondola (had to book time slots in advance) I ventured to the lake.  The hike started  with a steep and strenuous trail.  It was just a small taste of what was to come.  

The trail brings you along the lake, then up and up and up.  Half of the lake is surrounded by tall limestone walls.  It was overcast and tough to see what else might hiding behind the clouds.

As I continued to steep switchbacks, the clouds started to part.  To my surprise, there were glaciers up high on the rock above.  What an impressive view.  

I reached the top where they have a mountain hut and skipped the option to have coffee or beer (cash only).

The trail then winds around the lake up high.  It has many exposed sections offering the opportunity to be appreciative for the many others on the trail.  

Some hikers seemingly a bit more nervous about the exposure than others.

Though the trail was wet, thankfully it's wasn't slippery.  I only had a few points where I crouched lower to keep my bodyweight close to the ground.  Nah, I didnt want to crawl....not at all.

It's hard to do justice to the trail wrapping around the mountain to the start of the hike.  Think tahoe flume trail meets a few portions of angels landing in Zion?

I read all the recommendations in a blog.  Since they advised to do the slide after the hike, I did just that!

Fun metal Tobagon to end the day!! I'm not trying out for the luge Olympic team yet.  

What a wonderful day!!

Switzerland to do links for reference. Park along the train route for easier access options.

https://wanderineurope.com/tag/switzerland/

Link to hike 

https://swissfamilyfun.com/de/oeschinensee-panoramaweg/

Lidernenhutte to Eggbergg, 5 miles

The hut experience went well because there were only 12-15 people there.  I have a feeling it would not be comfortable to sleep in a room with so many people on a night the hut is full.

There were 5 of us in the room: no problem.  But, there was space for 12.

We hiked uphill to a lovely lake reflexing the crags above. 

 From there we gain elevation and found some fantastic views of peaks in the distance of the Glarnar Uri Alps and the central swiss Alps.

From there we began our descent towards the gondola to take us down.

It's amazing the high elevation development here in Switzerland.  Some of these houses in altitude have cables rigged to get hard goods up the mountain.

From the gondola to the bus, to the train, and then to the main twin station in Basel.

It was a beautiful trip and fun to explore the mountains of Switzerland.

Stoos to Lidernenhutte (swiss mountain hut)

With an early start in Basel, Mirjam and I had a nice adventure ending the day at a swiss mountain hut. 

Starting with a tram, then a transfer to a train, then a bus, to a steep funicular.  

Actually this might be the steepest funicular in the world.

We started our hike at the top of the funicular and ventured past Swiss mountain homes and many a grazing cow.

Highlights include beautiful views in all directions, rest breaks with chocolate, and options to buy homemade cheese along the way. 

When we arrived at the hut, we welcomed a local hay beer and hut issued crocks. They want you to ditch your stinky hiking shoes at the door.

The best part of the meal was a yummy soup with cabbage, apple, and well balanced spices.

Everything is in German here. Were shared a dinner table with 4 Germans and one gal from France. Some of the Germans spoke English well, others just a bit. 

Cartagena

Arrived in Cartagena this morning. 

Hot and humid. 

Visited the castle

Tunnels 

Wonderful food