Actually since starting I’ve found very little goes to plan, maybe these just came along together.
Oddly, I decided to carry a small amount of food on days I had a tough climbs ahead of me. So by when lunch came along, I had run out of food and was unable to find a supermarket, despite having passed several. I’m not sure why I had made these types of decisions, but it made the day really tough. I ended up grabbing a panini at a small side stall at Gruyere castle. This turned out to be a bad idea, more on that later!
The second half of the day was a climb up Juan pass, with the sun at my back all the way. I managed to pause for refreshments prior to the climb and to, I hoped, to get supplies for the evening meal. Unfortunately they only had a small selection of locally produced food. I ended up dropping back down to the village for the bits I needed and then head back up again! All that work for nothing.
I then start the actual climb, 1,000m, with the sun at my back. This was on top of a 600m climb in the morning. I decided to film my suffering and I will get round to producing the video when in Zagreb. My legs start to wobble with the exertion, the sweat seems endless and I am stopping every few 100m. On top of this my bowel starts to make ominous movements and sounds. The panini might have been a bad idea.
Nothing ever goes according to plan…
I finally make the top and was planning to have a drink, descend and find a wild camping spot. My bowels had a different idea and I find myself quickly walking penguin style towards the nearest toilet! Made it. Knowing it would be best to stay near a functioning toilet I opt for a campsite, which happened to be at the top. So I setup camp and force some basic carbs down me, still need the energy after a day like that. I hope that everything will be back to normal after a night’s sleep.
The morning comes and I feel much better but still wary I might have some issues so I plan to head towards another camp spot. This allows me to move all the climbs to the beginning of the day. This also makes the day rather short. Well, almost. I noticed there was a small climb of a couple hundred meters and I thought I found a route by the lake. A bit off-road but looks like a nice cycle and would reduce the climb. I ended up adding two hours to the day, lifting the bike up lots of steps and a 300m climb at the end of the route. Me and my shortcuts!
I camped in Meiringen which is only 5km from the start of my next climb. Whilst there I met Martin from Innsbruck who was climbing in the area with a friend. He offered me a place to stay and do my laundry in Innsbruck on Sunday night if I am passing. Once over the climb and starting the descent on the other side the valley opens up and the views are amazing and look as if they would go on for days.
Anxiety
That evening, with a storm rolling in, I opted for a Warmshowers host in Brunnen. This was a blessing for staying dry but that evening I had an adrenaline anxiety attack. This resulted in my amygdala deciding on a different worry every 5 minutes and firing adrenaline into my body keeping me awake. The resulting one hour of sleep will make the day tough. Not great for a day which will have 111km and 1,000m of climb in it.
I had also lined up another Warmshowers host at the end of the day. But now was nervous I wouldn’t be able to make it. The climb was tough, especially considering Komoot decided to take me on a route away from cars which made it steeper! But I managed to get over and down to the lake I had to travel along and find a bakery for lunch. This turned out to be a bit of a blessing. Because I realised I had covered almost half the distance and was still feeling like there was energy in my body.
In the end after a tough afternoon I made it to my hosts and I was happy I did. Marlis and Peter were excellent hosts and they were also hosting a French couple (Caroline and Joseph), heading towards Lake Constance. When I arrived Marlis and I discussed the anxiety I had experienced the night before and she mentioned other long tourers do suffer with it as well. Hopefully, this will not be a too regular occurrence.
Marlis and Peter produce most of their own food and jams, this meant that often they could go weeks eating the same vegetables. Today’s case in point was courgettes and they would be eating them for another few weeks. In the evening we spoke about our journeys, past and present, challenges we have and Swiss history.
Preparing for a climb
The next day would involve my 9th and 10th country with Liechtenstein and Austria. I did consider staying over in Liechtenstein but the prices were astronomical at 45 CHF! I always found Liechtenstein an odd country, how did it survive all the wars in the region?
Crossing over into Austria I know I have a large climb ahead of me, the Arlberg pass, I decide to get an early night and tackle it in the morning. It would be a short day at only 44km, having found a hostel on the other side. But it would still take almost 5 hours to get over the pass. The worst bit taking 3 hours to get to the base of the climb! What I also noticed about Austria was the food prices in the stores were much cheaper, a blessing after being in Switzerland!
The hostel was new and ran by an Austrian and his partner from Manchester, always nice to hear a familiar accent. They had set it up for winter but opened for the weekend due to a village festival. The festival was right outside the hostel, going to be a noisy night. I also happened to be the only customer. The festival is similar to the ones in Germany which celebrate the churches patron saint.
The next day I set off towards Innsbruck but had to get breakfast first, I head towards a petrol station after realising once again it is a Sunday and the stores are all shut! It was nice to be heading downhill.