Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Swiss National Park, Engadine







Mid-July I had a few days off to make it to the Engadine, located in the canton of Graubünden, Switzerland’s easternmost canton bordering Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. I have been wanting to visit the countries’ only national park for years. The famous red Rhätische Bahn (largest narrow-gauge railway network) travels up, up, up, around, in and out of tunnels until we reach the village of Zernez, main entrance of the park.

http://www.nationalpark.ch/go/en/visit/accomodation/

The first day is spent traveling and hiking to the log cabin, Chamanna Cluozza, the only accommodation inside the park. We will spend 2 nights there and do day hikes. The trail passes through lovely forest, across riverbeds and up into the rocky terrain of this region. I think we have brought along the heat from Geneva, even here at 1600m it must be over 30 Degrees... Anyhow it is getting late and we have to pick up the speed. Dinner is served at precisely 7 p.m.

On the second day the hike takes us up to Fuorcla Val Sassa viewpoint at 2857m. You can see down into the green valley below to S-Chanf and up to the snowy mountain peaks on the Italian side. Walking in the rocky terrain is tricky; we pass around and on snow patches, following the tracks of others before us. We keep our jackets on the entire day, it is cold and windy. It must be around 8 Degrees at the pass, but the view alone is a nice reward after 4 hours of uphill walking.