Another year, another successful Dogsgiving... Hard to believe this was #6! It was a blast catching up with friends and hearing about their adventures. Lisa shared her first aid class learnings, while Larissa and Helen took us on a virtual bike tour of Rwanda. Thomas regaled us with tales of his splitboarding trip to the remote Svalbard. And, of course, we couldn't miss Brandon and Brian's hilarious attempt to sell us cheap AliExpress trinkets. To top it off, we premiered our latest season edit, showcasing our crew's epic adventures.

Introduction

In 2023 Lisa and I did a gravel bike ride near the Swiss/German border, part of which was along the Rhine River.  Lisa mentioned there was a bike route called the EuroVelo 15 Rhine Cycle Route that went from the source of the Rhine in the Swiss mountains to the North Sea in The Netherlands.  We chatted about it over the next few months and with Lisa’s encouragement I started to warm to the idea.  Lisa thought it would be a cool thing to do for my 70th birthday, and she would ride part of it with me as a birthday present.  So we started planning for the ride that was to take place in August, later moved to September.

So just a note about my history of bike trips.  In 1983, my brother Loren and I rode from San Diego, CA to Urbana/Champaign, IL (~2,500 miles).  We were not prepared or in cycling shape for the trip, but we made it.  In the next few years we took several other long bike trips accompanied by my sister Suzanne and brother John driving support vehicles including:  Cupertino, CA to San Diego, CA, Canadian border to San Francisco, CA, Oregon coast to Missoula, MT and New Jersey to Halifax, New Brunswick, Canada.  All these rides were done on an old Reynolds 531 steel frame Peugeot “Record du Monde” road bike with 2x6 gearing and a low gear ratio of 42 front to 32 rear (not exactly a good climbing ratio).

For the Rhine trip, Freddy let me borrow his Specialized Diverge carbon gravel bike named “Pinkest”.  It has a 58cm frame, Future Shock in the headset, SRAM Rival components, 1x11 gearing (40t front, 10-42t rear), hydraulic disc brakes, Roval aero disc wheels, Specialized Sawtooth 700x38 tubeless tires, SPD pedals and my WTB Speed saddle.  A quick release rear rack was added and I hauled my gear in a 50L pannier bag set.  I used my Garmin Edge 530 (which died on day 3 due to rain) replaced by a new Garmin Explorer 2 I bought at a Transa store along the way.  I also used “The Rhine Cycle Route” book by Mike Wells for navigation.

I have to admit, I was not well prepared for this trip.  I felt I was in good riding shape, with over 5,500 miles logged in 2024, but it was Northern California riding in mostly 80 degree weather.  I assumed I would be riding in warm weather, so I mostly brought short sleeve shirts and an old “water resistant” jacket.  Fortunately, Lisa and Freddy made me buy a really nice Gore Tex rain jacket on day 4, which made a huge difference.  So the bottom line is that I brought too much warm weather gear and not enough colder, wetter weather gear.  Alright, to the recap:

Rhine River Trip - Stage 1

Oberalp Pass to Chur, Switzerland - Thursday September 12, 2024
Stage distance: 54.11 miles  Cumulative distance: 54.11 miles

The first day of the epic Rich's Rhine River Ride started at Oberalp Pass, Switzerland. Freddy is riding with me for the first 2 days. We took 3 different trains from Zurich over about 3 hours. It was 38 degrees at the start and seemed to get colder and windier as we took the series of hairpin turns. There were even a few snow flurries.  I put on every piece of clothing I bought, but being my normal Californian under dressed and under prepared.  I was really cold!  We took the big descent from the 6,700 ft starting point, with me going slowly being a bit nervous about the packs on the bike and the wind. Freddy took off downhill like he was racing in the Tour de France.

There were a few uphill sections, which I struggled with. The route included dedicated bike trails, normal roads with cars and limited bike lanes, farm roads and even some dirt and gravel paths. We are following the EuroVelo Route 15, which is mostly the same as Swiss bike route 2. Freddy was able to get some good pictures, but it was really cold and it was hard to stop, remove gloves and pull out the phone. We stopped at a Co-op grocery store and had sandwiches. There were also some rain squalls along the way.

We arrived in Chur, SW around 6:30 and found the hotel. I stayed in the smallest hotel room I had ever seen, with a narrow bed and a bathroom down the hall. On the plus side, The shower was hot and the bed was comfortable. We had a great meal of local Swiss specialties.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 2

Chur, SW to Lichtenstein - Friday September 13, 2024
Stage distance: 43.28 miles  Cumulative distance: 97.39 miles

Freddy and I had a good breakfast and bundled up for a fairly heinous day. It was cold, windy and rainy the whole way. I was pretty much soaked after the first 10 miles. Even though I had “waterproof” shoe covers, my cycling shoes filled with water.  The route included mostly smaller roads and a long stretch of bike path along the Rhine. The river is now wider and a slate, green, gray color.

At about 25 miles out, we decided to skip a lunch/rest stop and just power through. We were wet and miserable and the reward of a hot shower was the major factor to keep us from questioning the sanity of riding under these conditions. We crossed the Rhine and into Lichtenstein and found the hotel. This is a nice place with an excellent bike room with tools and an air compressor.

We arrived around 1pm which is not a good time to get food. Freddy called around and we managed to get a good burger and fries at a sports field with a kitchen near the hotel. I've been using the hair dryer in the room to try and dry my clothes, shoes and gloves.

Note1: My Garmin didn't save the whole route missing 10 miles of a middle section (it was a 43 mile day)

Note2:  What’s up with ice in Europe?  Trying to get a bag of ice for my nagging achilles tendon was NOT easy.  You don’t get ice water as a default in Europe, you have to ask for it (then pour it into your trusty ziplock bag to ice down body parts!)

Rhine River Trip - Stage 3

Liechtenstein to Konstanz Germany - Saturday September 14, 2024
Stage distance: 58.81 miles  Cumulative distance: 156.20 miles

The day started out cold and rainy as we left Lichtenstein (Lisa, Freddy & Rich riding).  One of our first stops was a dip into Austria. This ended up being a 4 country day (Lichtenstein, Austria, Switzerland and Germany). We had a long stretch riding on a bike trail on top of a levee that bordered the Rhine. The river continues to grow in width as it enters Konstanz Lake.

After several hours of riding, the rain slackened to drizzle and then stopped. We had a bunch of short stops for pictures (mostly of water fountains, for Lisa's life goal of producing a coffee table book "The Water Fountains of Switzerland". We stopped for lunch at a nice cafe right off the route. They had really good fish-n-chips using fish from Konstanz Lake.

It was a tough return to the ride since my clothing was wet and it took a while to warm back up. We rode along the lake for most of the afternoon, crossing the border into Germany and arriving at Constance around 4pm. We showered, cleaned up and explored the city, which was hopping with people. We found a sporting goods store where Lisa and Freddy coerced me into buying an actual waterproof jacket! They got tired of seeing me wet and cold. Dinner was at a Spanish restaurant where we had some excellent Paella followed by a trip to an ice cream shop. Note: Food prices in Germany are about 1/3 less than Switzerland.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 4

Konstanz, Germany to Zurzach, Switzerland - Sunday September 15, 2024
Stage distance: 63.67 miles  Cumulative distance: 219.87 miles

We started the day with a nice breakfast at a small coffee shop in Konstanz (Lisa, Freddy & Rich riding). The sun actually showed its face today. Which was a big relief. It stayed sunny with the temperature in the 50s. We continued to ride along Constance Lake on small roads and dedicated bike trails. There were a lot more touring cyclists on the trail today.

It turns out that German Zeppelins were made in this area and we did actually see two blimps. We rode along some long stretches of dedicated bike trails which were nicely paved. I wore my new waterproof jacket and it kept me much warmer. We made good progress and reached Schaffhausen and had lunch outdoors looking over the Rhine.

After lunch we continued along the Rhine towards our final destination of Zurzach, Switzerland. There were a few hills, some gravel roads and river crossings. Freddy split off from Lisa and me about 25k from Zurzach and he rode another 50k back to Zurich. We made it to Zurzach around 4:30 and found a decent hotel. After we got cleaned up we walked around the town looking for more fountains for Lisa to photograph.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 5

Zurzach to Basel, Switzerland - Monday September 16, 2024
Stage distance: 48.71 miles  Cumulative distance: 268.58 miles

Lisa and I had a nice breakfast at the hotel in Zurzach, then headed out. It was cool and overcast the whole day, but we managed to get to Basel before the rain started. The route continued along the Rhine with a combination of paved bike trails, small rural roads, surface streets within housing areas and crushed gravel paths.

We rode right past a nuclear reactor site and within a mile we rode past a hydroelectric plant on the Rhine. It was interesting to see two forms of energy production so close together. We stopped in Laufenberg to see the ruins of the old castle there. We also got pretzel sandwiches and tea at a local bakery. Can I just say. Pretzels are like the "bagels of Europe"!

We decided to power through to Basel since we expected rain around 1pm. There were some long stretches of packed gravel paths through the forest adjacent to the Rhine. There were a few mild hills, but mostly smooth level roads. In general, the roads in Switzerland are very well maintained and the asphalt is much smoother than the bike paths in the Bay Area.

We made it into Basel at 2:30pm and found our hotel (which I booked myself with help from Lisa, who is patiently trying to expand the planning skills of her father. We went to the Transa store and bought a Garmin replacement (Garmin Edge Explorer 2). The helpful service center guy helped us get the Garmin synced to my phone and set up for the ride tomorrow. We also found the elusive "The Rhine Cycle Route" book at a bookstore near the Transa. We finished the evening with a great meal at a Lebanese restaurant, where I discovered the joys of baked Halloumi cheese!

Rhine River Trip - Stage 6

Basel, Switzerland to Strasbourg, France - Tuesday September 17, 2024
Stage distance: 87.96 miles  Cumulative distance: 356.54 miles

Wow, what a day! This was the longest stage of the tour, 87 miles. It was also almost completely into a 20+ mph headwind. It was cool and overcast when we left in the morning. I was trying to use the maps on my new Garmin for getting us going on the trail, and pretty much failed miserably. As we left Basel we went from Switzerland to Germany to France in about 15 minutes.

The morning route was mainly along a canal that runs parallel to the Rhine. The surfaces changed between asphalt and crushed gravel. The wind was strong, cold and in our faces. Lisa's new nickname is "The Super Domestique" as she took the lead and dragged her father through the headwind. We also rode through miles of cornfields with narrow one lane pathways the effectively became wind tunnels. We saw some old WW2 pill boxes that were part of the massive Maginot defense line to prevent the Germans from invading France (Note: the Germans just went around the fortifications and invaded France through Belgium and Luxembourg).

We had an awesome lunch at a French restaurant that had massive, juicy burgers. The downside was having to get on a bike when you've eaten too much! Much of the afternoon was spent on narrow roads and dedicated bike trails alongside the canal or through more cornfields. Lisa had us cranking at 23 KPH into the wind and sometimes I had her slow down for me to catch my breath.

We stopped for water when we were close to Strasbourg, and when we started back up my front tire was flat. There was a small hole with sealant sweeping out (Freddy runs tubeless tires). We pumped up the tire with the hole straight down (hopefully where there would be more sealant) and magically that seemed to at least temporarily fix the tire. We made it to the main train station that allowed Lisa to get a train back to Zurich via Basel. My hotel is right across from the train station. I was able to walk around Strasbourg for 2 hours and saw the amazing Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Rhine River Trip -Stage 7

Strasbourg, France to Karlsruhe, Germany - Wednesday September 18, 2024
Stage distance: 80.96 miles  Cumulative distance: 437.50 miles

This was my first solo day and I definitely missed having Lisa and/or Freddy on the ride, especially since they are much better at directions. I got packed up and was on the road early, but really struggled finding the start of the Euro 15 bike trail. The new Garmin kept trying to recalculate a route. But it took minutes each time.

I eventually ended up on the German side of the Rhine, riding through more corn fields and on levees. I rode across a dam to get back on the trail on the French side. It was warmer today (mid 60s), but the headwind was really stout all day. On this side of the Rhine the trail runs along both the river as well as some canals. I saw a whole bunch of large white swans in the canals.

There really weren't any towns on the route, so I didn't get lunch, surviving on a Cliff bar and a Kind bar that Lisa left me. There were a lot of cyclists on the trail; some bike packers and some local riders. Almost all of them were riding in the opposite direction, enjoying the tailwind. Near the end of the route I took the car ferry across the river. I then rode into Karlsruhe and found the hotel (it was a totally funky place, almost like a Disneyland attraction). After a shower I walked around the city for a bit and got something to eat.

Rhine River Ride - Stage 8

Karlsruhe to Worms, Germany - Thursday September 19, 2024
Stage distance: 74.63 miles  Cumulative distance: 512.13 miles

Day 8 started out well with sunny skies and warmer temperatures. I found the start of the trail fairly quickly. I rode on paved trails the whole day as opposed to the patches of gravel roads. Most of the morning was spent riding directly next to the Rhine. There were quite a few large, low cargo barges on the river along with a few 2 deck passenger long boats.

I stopped in Speyer for an excellent pretzel sandwich. There were long stretches of trails that started on levees, which again became wind tunnels. I rode around a truly massive BASF chemical plant. I met a couple from New Zealand that had started from the source of the Rhine, but a week earlier (they also had e-bikes). Yeah, Rich, don't you sound all high and mighty! I will say, the last 4 days of steady headwinds, an e-bike would come in hand.

I made it to Worms around 5 and am staying at a brand new hotel (well, the inside of the building was totally renovated.). After a long shower, I walked around the downtown area for an hour. Calling it early tonight.

Rhine River Ride - Stage 9

Worms to Koblenz, Germany - Friday September 20, 2024
Stage distance: 102.83 miles  Cumulative distance: 614.96 miles

Well call me a clumsy carpenter cause I PUT THE HAMMER DOWN! This was the best day riding on the trip so far. The wind was in my face in the morning, but seemed to shift to be coming from the East. In the afternoon there were several long sections heading west and I actually got a tailwind.

The morning started exiting Worms through an industrial area. There are a lot of factories and sand/gravel/concrete yards along the Rhine. There were several long sections directly next to the Rhine River and other sections alongside the tall levees that protect the houses and farmlands from flooding. There were some corn and barley fields, but a lot of the land is being used for vineyards. There were people picking the dark purple grapes in some of the areas I rode through. By the way, I'm risking my life due to wild boars roaming in the forests in Germany! (See picture of the boar warning sign)

I really got rooked today, because there were castles in almost every view of the Rhine (I know the thousands, well hundreds, ah maybe 10s of dedicated people following this blog were just waiting for my awesome sense of humor to surface!). I understand why there are so many riverboat cruise ships on the river. There were also hundreds of touring cyclists out today, most headed in the opposite direction. I would say more than half of those cyclists were on e-bikes.

The original plan for today was to ride to Bingen, but I got there at 2pm and I was feeling good. So I decided to head for Koblenz. This made it a 100 mile ride. I was riding really well until the last 5 to 10 miles when I started to run out of gas. The hotel I'm staying at is right in the old town area and when I walked around the streets and outdoor cafes were packed. Overall it was an excellent day!

Rhine River Ride - Stage 10

Koblenz to Koln, Germany - Saturday September 21, 2024
Stage distance: 70.64 miles  Cumulative distance: 685.60 miles

Day 10 of the ride was really delightful. The temperature was in the 60s with a light wind from the East (so a 2nd day with more of a tailwind vs headwind). I started early, but as usual, I got a bit turned around trying to find the trail. For large parts of the day the bike trail runs directly next to the Rhine. I stopped at a nice bakery and got an awesome cheese pretzel to have with my breakfast tea (ask for Schwarzer Tee).

I rode at an easy pace, since yesterday was so long. The route was at least 75% dedicated bike or bike/pedestrian trails. Most were nice and wide, but some sections were narrower which made it a bit squirrely when bikes with panniers are riding in both directions. There have been quite a few detours due to construction, however they do a really good job of signage to get you around the area.

One part of the trail a bunch of bikes pulled over to let an old man in a cart being pulled by a very small donkey go by. I stopped by a bike shop to pimp up tires and had a good conversation with the owner who is into vintage bikes. I rolled into Cologne by 3:30, found the hotel, took a shower and spent about 2 hours walking around the old town. I was able to check out the Cologne Cathedral, which is absolutely amazing.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 11

Koln to Xanden, Germany - Sunday September 22, 2024
Stage distance: 100.94 miles  Cumulative distance: 786.54 miles

Well, I cranked out another 100 miler today and spent time riding on both sides of the river. I got started early and it was crisp and clear on Koln. My hotel was only about 1/4 mile for the trail, so I didn't have my normal starting challenges. When I was leaving the city I saw a bunch of birds flying around and they certainly sounded like parakeets. A bit later I saw more of them and they clearly were parakeets (The parakeets of Cologne, just like Sunnyvale).

Overall, it was not a super exciting day. There were a lot of large industrial sites along the river, and sometimes I had to ride over a mile out of the way to get around the sites. There were some long stretches of trail composed of brick, mostly smooth, but some bumpy cobblestones. The wind was much milder and it felt like a tailwind in some sections. As like yesterday, there were many people out on bikes; including road bikers, local day riders and bike packers.

Late in the afternoon I decided to go for Xanden and push for another 100 mile day. Xanden has a large Roman fort archeological site. There are some ruins as well as a partially reconstructed fortress wall and towers. I was able to look around. But unfortunately it was closed when I got there.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 12

Xanten, Germany to Wijki bij Duurstede, The Netherlands - Monday September 23, 2024
Stage distance: 80.56 miles  Cumulative distance: 867.10 miles

It was a long and tough day. The weather held up. With overcast and some headwinds, but no rain. After several hours riding through the German countryside I turned into a small town and there was a small Netherlands sign. No board guards, barriers, passport check, big brass band, etc..... What's up with that?

I took a small bike and pedestrian ferry across the Rhine and chatted with a group of people from Belgium. A lot of the route was on small roads on top of levees, so cars had to wait to pass bikes. There were farm animals everywhere, sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys and even some llamas. There were large areas along the side of the levees where sheep were used as manual lawn mowers.

The wind seemed to be coming from the southwest again, so I did catch some headwinds. I had a few directional malfunctions, where the Rhine Route map didn't match up with the Garmin route, nor with the Dutch bike route signs. Somehow I figured it out. I got to the hotel, where the only place to store the bike was in the restaurant associated with the hotel. Hey, whatever works! I had a really good dinner (I was hungry since I didn't stop for lunch). OK, what is up with French fries served with mayonnaise??? On the plus side, I actually got water with ice cubes!!

Rhine River Trip - Stage 13

Wijk bij Duurstede to Rotterdam, The Netherlands - Tuesday September 24, 2024
Stage distance: 69.87 miles  Cumulative distance: 936.97 miles

Other than some rain for the last hour. It was a good ride. The Netherlands is a beautiful country, but after the mountains and small villages of Switzerland and the castles and churches of Germany...... It's a flat country with a lot of farmland and water. For most of the route through The Netherlands there was water visible at all times. It was a bit difficult to orient yourself due to all the canals which could be confused with the Rhine.

I started out early and rode along the dikes with plenty of farmlands (mostly corn) and the usual array of farm animals. There were quite a few "Dutch Llamas" and surprisingly large numbers of ponies and/mini horses. Something I found interesting was that there were a bunch of blue herons in the fields following the cows that were grazing. Another interesting note was that a horde of grade school aged kids came roaring off one of the ferries presumably on their way to school. And yet a final note, I read some info on the famous Dutch windmills which were used to pump water out of areas to farm. Most were phased out in the 1800s, but then were brought back on line during WW2, where there was a lack of fuel for the mechanized pumps.

I made it to Rotterdam without issues, but my Garmin seemed to direct me in weird directions. When I finally got reoriented, it started raining and I got a bit wet. Thank goodness Lisa and Freddy made me buy a nice rain jacket. Note: there are bike trails all over Rotterdam. Every one of the many bridges I went over had nice 2 lane Bike paths. Bike traffic was crazy around the afternoon commute. Motorized scooters (like Vespa size) are allowed on the bike trails and are pretty aggressive. OK. On to the ocean tomorrow.

Rhine River Ride - Stage 14

Rotterdam to Hoek van Holland, The Netherlands - Wednesday September 25, 2024
Stage distance: 21.46 miles  Cumulative distance: 958.43 miles

I made it!

It's been quite a trip and a really big achievement for me. I rode a total of 949 miles in 14 days, from Oberalppass, Switzerland to Hoek van Holland, The Netherlands and 1,018 miles if you include the ride up to Amsterdam. There is no way I could have pulled this off without the planning and support of Lisa and Freddy. I'm super lucky to have a daughter and son-in-law that understand bike packing and trip planning for such an event.

So, the last day. I left Rotterdam around 8am into a light rain. It was a straight shot out to Hoek van Holland and the North Sea. I rode past the massive sea gates that can be swung out if there is a storm surge. There is a beach boardwalk area out there, but most shops and restaurants were closed. I walked out to the water to get a picture with the bike's front wheel in the water. I did feel pretty good about getting to the end, but it was cold, wet and windy, so I didn't stick around for long.

I'll try to add my overall thoughts about the trip in a week or two.

Rhine River Trip - Stage 14a

Hoek van Holland to The Hague, The Netherlands - Wednesday September 25, 2024
Stage distance: 15.90 miles  Cumulative distance: 974.33 miles

This was a quick stretch from the end of the Rhine River route up to The Hague.  It was cold and wet so I wasn't sure if I was going to stop in The Hague or go all the way to Amsterdam.  The trail went right along a levee next to the ocean.  The whole route was on a tight brick surface.  I had a decent tailwind.  When I got to The Hague I rode past some of the International buildings with a large line of flags from all over the world.

Rhine River Ride - Stage 14b

The Hague to Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Wednesday September 25, 2024
Stage distance: 52.78 miles  Cumulative distance: 1,027.11 miles

Once I got to The Hague I felt that I didn't want to give up on a decent tailwind, so I pointed Northeast for Amsterdam.  Again, most of the route was on a tight brick trail along the ocean.  I went past several larger beach villages with apartment/condos and seaside shops and restaurants.  I was making really good time and kept pushing on the pedals.  I then turned west towards Amsterdam.  There were a lot of small bridges across levees and waterways.  Once I got close to Amsterdam the bike trails became more and more crowded with bike commuters from the city.  It started raining harder as I searched for a hotel, but finally got there.  The hotel didn't have a place to store bikes, but I stood dripping water in the lobby of the fancy hotel.  Fortunately, the reception staff had pity on me and found a basement room to put the bike.  It was good to get to the finish of the ride.  What a trip!

Rhine River Ride - Amsterdam

We spent 4 days in Amsterdam checking out the city, museums and coffee shops.  The Rijksmuseum was absolutely amazing with countless pieces of amazing art from Dutch painters and sculptors.  We also went to the Canal Museum which did a great job showing how the canals were built and Amsterdam expanded over the last 500 years.  Lisa and Freddy spent a lot of time trying to find the best coffee shop in Amsterdam (the winner was Rum Baba Coffee Roasters).  Amsterdam was bike crazy, where essentially bicycles have the right of way and pedestrians beware! 

Rhine River Ride - Retrospective and Lessons Learned

First of all, this was an awesome trip!  I’m really proud of myself to be able to complete the ride.  I’m also really thankful for all the planning, support and help that I received from Lisa and Freddy.  To be honest, I was pretty apprehensive about being able to put together 2 weeks of 70+ mile days on a bike.  It turns out, the riding distance was achievable for me.  I was worried about potential mechanical issues on the bike, but other than a leaking front tire (which was mostly solved by the glue in the tubeless tire) the bike worked flawlessly.  I would estimate about half of the ride was on dedicated bike trails and less than 10% was on roads with narrow or non-existent bike lanes and heavier traffic.

The two biggest issues I faced were the weather and my challenges with map reading and directionality.  I did not properly prepare for the weather.  I assumed it would be warm and sunny for most of the trip.  It was cold and wet for much of the ride and I did not have the correct riding clothing for the conditions.  I have never been good at following maps, and it seems to have gotten worse as I have grown older.  I didn’t figure out all the features on the new Garmin and in particular, I couldn’t seem to get the Garmin to find the beginning of route each morning.  In Switzerland and Germany, this wasn’t that much of an issue since the EuroVelo 15 route was well marked.  In France and The Netherlands the routes were not well marked.  Lisa and Freddy were greatly amused as they remotely looked at my daily Strava maps which often looked like spaghetti at the start of each day.  Between the Garmin, the EuroVelo book, the compass on the Garmin and asking people along the way, I was eventually able to find my way.  The route should have been 900 miles and I rode over 1,000 miles.  Much of the extra miles were due to wrong turns.

It was great to ride with Lisa and Freddy at the beginning of the trip.  The last 8 days riding alone had its challenges.  If I do another longer bike vacation, I will definitely do it with other riders.  It got pretty lonely those last 8 days.  Also, I often ride listening to podcasts and audiobooks; I couldn’t do that on this trip due to phone battery life.  I would have stopped at more interesting places and restaurants, and explored more of the destination cities.  I also don’t like to eat alone at restaurants, so many nights I bought take out food or shopped at grocery stores and ate in the hotel.  Also, having friends that are not “directionally challenged” riding with me would have relieved a lot of stress and cut down the extra wrong turn miles I put in.  The last few days of the ride did not have much interesting scenery since it was mostly through flat farmland.

OK, so in summary, it was a great trip and I’m really glad I did it.  I’m grateful to have a daughter and son-in-law that were so supportive of me in this adventure.  I was able to see some very cool sites across Europe.  So what’s next?  I would definitely like to do another trip like this next year.  The Rhone River actually starts at the same location and travels south to dump into the Mediterranean Sea in southeastern France, so that’s a possibility.  Stay tuned for my next exciting post on All My Dogs Eat.   I will keep on riding as long as I can stay on a bike!

Author's note: I did not and have not used AI tools to write parts of this post. Though I do use AI (mainly Gemini) to write in other capacities, I still feel a bit conflicted about it here. The act of adventure writing brings me joy, and I feel like I learn more about the experience and myself through it. That being said, there’s many benefits to using AI in the creative writing process. I would love to discuss this with anyone who reads this post. How would you feel if a part of these pieces were written or edited by AI? Anyways, enjoy!

The Alps are chock full of backcountry huts high in the mountains. These plush accommodations simplify the decision between slogging a heavy pack with a tent and mediocre freeze dried meals versus a day pack and a credit card all the more straightforward. All you have to do is show up by 6:30 pm and pay ~70 CHF. Then you’re served a four course meal for dinner and assigned a spot in a 20 person dorm room after a long day outside. These huts are primarily open during the summer, mid-June to mid-September, while some are also open in March and April for ski touring season.

But in the back of my mind, while I’m sipping on a lovely glass of red wine on an Alpine refuge’s patio, the small voice of my (problematic) American wilderness ethos whispers “You’re getting soft.” And it’s true!

So this ski touring season, Freddy and I pioneered a middle ground between the wilderness camping of the American West and the backcountry luxury I’ve grown accustomed to: The Winterraum.

Most huts have a winter room (Winterraum in German). The normal setup is a small kitchen with a wood stove, utensils, a place to sit, a toilet, and sleeping quarters. The primary difference between the winter room and a normal hut experience is that you have to cook your own food, make your own water, and lower your expectations on toilet facilities. Normally, these rooms accommodate 10-20 people versus the 70-100 person capacity during summer.

The conditions/amenities of the huts vary (as do the prices) so I want to share with my small audience my experience and rating of the winterrooms I visited this winter. This also gives me an opportunity to write about some of the amazing adventures I’ve had this season, so that's an added bonus 🙂

Jamtalhütte:

We came to the Jamtal from Scuol’s ski resort (Motta Naluns), while doing the Silvretta traverse with George. That day, we rode the lifts up, skied a few mechanized laps then donned skins and packs for the climb up to Piz Mischun. It’s always a funny feeling going from the mid-mountain Après scene to complete and utter solitude in less than an hour. After dropping north off top, we toured up Pass Futschöl and crossed into Austria. Not long after, the Jamtalhütte was in view. It’s a huge Austrian hut, and when it’s staffed, they have private rooms, a shower, and an ice wall, but in off season it is very quiet.

The Jamtal had by far the worst winter room we stayed in this winter, so I’m glad it was our first!

Pros: 

• It had running water (most huts you need to melt snow)
• It only cost 12 Euro

Cons:

• Dysfunctional toilet with water all over the floor. Their solution was elevated plywood planks to escape getting your feet wet. 
• No privacy 
• No natural light
• We needed to saw wet pieces of wood to fit in the wood stove
• (not the hut’s fault I admit) we were accompanied by an incredible snorer that night!
• Steep entrance into the basement winterrom, lots of shoveling to get in there.

Wiesbadenerhütte

The Wiesbadenerhütte was our next destination on the Silvretta Traverse. From the Jamtalhütte, George, Freddy and I toured up to Tiroler Scharte, the boundary between the Tirol and Arlberg regions of Austria. The day was terrible; we ascended glacial terrain in thick fog and high winds. When you can’t see 2 feet in front of you, it makes descending a short but steep moraine terrifying. I opted to sit at the pass while Freddy and George ascended Ochsenkopf. We got to the hut early and played cards with our two Austrian friends Jo and Yury.

The Wiesbadenerhütte is also huge when open, but it’s winterroom was quite modest. 

Pros:

• Cheap! 10 Euro a night
• 3 separate small rooms for sleepers so you can spread out
• Cozy kitchen that made for good times meeting new friends
• Has a Chapel

Cons:

• Smelly toilet that had tandem thrones. Who is peeing with their friends? Is this because they think most clients are men?
• Bad stove and cooking equipment, pots couldn’t keep their heat so it took forever to boil water
• No hut shoes provided
• The fire alarm went off all night, annoying, but I wouldn’t expect every visit to be like this!

Silvrettahütte

We stayed at the Silvrettahütte twice, once with George and once with Audrey and Pete. Unfortunately, Freddy and I had a..mild disagreement.. in front of George, so instead I will tell you about the great day we had getting to the Silvretta hut with Pete and Audrey. 

From the Wiesbadenerhutte, we ascended the Ochsentaler Gletscher with quite a Föhn wind. We headed towards Piz Buin, getting absolutely blasted. We ascended the improbable-looking Northwest ridge. It’s snow on the bottom, a bit of mixed climbing in the middle that had enough bolts to calm your nerves over the exposure, and scree to the top. We descended back the way we had a quick glacial traverse and booted up the Silvrettahorn. Once at the summit, we were back in Switzerland! We descended the west face, which was covered in old avalanche debris and booked it to the hut. During our slog through the end of the glacier, we found a glacial cave - I’ve never seen anything like it! 

Pros:

• Instead of the standard issue crocs that SAC huts have, they provided clogs that were hilarious, old and a bit treacherous to walk in
• Beer, coffee, oats for sale
• Shapely stone building
• Electricity for charging phones (not common)

Cons:

• The hut is in lumpy moraine terrain, making it easy to get lost
• I remember being cold both times I was there. The stove does not heat up the place.
• Dark bathroom, George dropped the toilet brush into the depths. 

Chamanna Jenatsch

Larissa, Gilles, and Freddy ascending from Julier Pass.

Hanging out at the Gipfelkreuz on top of Piz Calderas.

Nele and Freddy at the top of the couloir.

We went to the Chamonna in early January on a very cold weekend with a crew: Larissa, Gilles, George, and Nele. We called it the Piz party because in Romansh, mountains are called Piz’s.

It took quite some logistical maneuvering to get all six of us to the top of Julier pass in winter using public, private and personal transit modes. We used a private ski tour bus from Bivio over the pass, which is good information to know about! After the multimodal journey, we climbed 2 Piz’s, Piz Trounter Ovas and Piz Surgonda, which involved a short but exciting downclimb onto the Vadret (glacier in Romansh). We skied down to the hut to start cooking dinner. While we skinned up that day, Freddy realized Larissa (who was on dinner logistics) had a different definition of what is a sufficient quantity of pasta for 6 people (we brought 1 kg). Though no one went to bed hungry, some felt like they could have had a bit more to eat. What can I say? I married an American with a large stomach and a love of butter noodles. We now ask most of our friends how much dried pasta (by weight) they could eat in 24 hours to gauge what kind of eater they are. After dinner, we stood outside gazing at the milky way move in the dark night sky while Gilles took pictures with his cameras. I take partial credit for the night photography because I carried the tripod both days!

The next day, we split into two groups: me, Larissa, and Nele climbed up the Vadret Calderas while Gilles, Freddy and George went around to climb Tschima da Flix. It was a bitterly cold climb, I was wearing all my layers going up, and when we finally met the deep winter sun, it felt like such a miracle that I had to sit down and soak. We met up with the others and climbed Piz Calderas together. After that we descended a fun chalky couloir (it was Larissa’s first couloir and she did great!), while George flew over us with his paraglider.

This was a really cool area and I hope we get back there.

Pros:

• Beautiful location, it felt very remote for being so close to a Julier pass
• Good stove to warm kitchen easily dry boots
• Ski room available, so you don’t need to leave your skis outside
• Nice mud room spacious to get ready with glacier gear
• Water on hand and good pantry (extra supplies like salt and sugar)
• Toilet in building and not smelly

Cons

• Cramped when at max capacity
• Expensive - 40 CHF

Keschhütte

We went to the Keschhütte with Peter and Audrey, starting from Madulain then going towards Davos. While on the train there, I had a funny feeling in my stomach as I remembered that this is where the Swiss military does missile tests; were we about to enter target practice? Luckily for us, we just grazed the perimeter of the danger zone. In shoes we walked up from the train station, with a quick stop at the local Hofladen for lamb meat and Nusslitort. The snow came quickly; we passed an Alpage and Chamonna Es-Cha as Pete and Audrey kept chatting. The final push to the saddle was a steep, icy gully, making the ascent just a little spicy! We skied cold powder on the Vadret da Porchabella down to the Keschhütte.

The next day, we continued our march towards Davos; first towards Sertig pass, rappelling into an untouched face after we misjudged the summit of Passhöreli. Then another exciting boot pack to ski the Northwest couloir near the Mittaghorn. The cherry on top was that we made it to the bus four minutes before it left!

Pros:

• Nice stove good for cooking and warm
• Beer for sale, good pantry
• Two rooms so you and spread out from other parties
• Running water
• Spacious mudroom with Foosball table

Cons:

• Check when the military is bombing (they do missile tests in the area)
• Two toilet holes in the one stall, I don’t get it

Cabane Grand Mountet:

Freddy and I enjoyed a long love weekend doing a shortened version of Haute Route Imperiale. We started in Zinal after the long and exciting bus ride to the end of Val d’Anniviers. We walked right onto the glacier while witnessing some minor serac and rockfall - a reminder that you usually want to start earlier than noon in the springtime! The ascent was gentle but it felt arduous and never-ending - I did not feel like my best athletic self! But we finally made it to the Cabane, with its incredible panoramic patio. Freddy cooked an odd but excellent asian dirty rice the key ingredient being a jar of stinky gochujang and fish sauce he'd stuffed into his bag (always double wrap!).

Pros:

• 3 huge pasta pots for what I call “the water factory” which basically melting a ton of snow while boiling smaller amounts for specific purposes. This is critical to have good vessels for this since there’s no running water. The water factory is key to survival, so much so that I made a jingle about it! 
• Deck with a view. This is true all year, but these mountains are beautiful with new snow
• In both French huts we stayed at they have emergency rations, ash trays, and hand sanitizer in the bathrooms and this is good when someone forgot the pasta

Cons: 

• Bad approach from Zinal, the nose of the glacier felt treacherous this time of year
• Stove overheats the kitchen
• Cramped mud room
• Outdoor toilet, not good at night

Cabane Arpitettaz:

The next day on our Haute Route Imperiale trip, we left Grand Mountet at 6 am and headed towards Blanc de Moming. Freddy and I were familiar with this ascent, after doing Zinalrothorn a couple years ago. It was even easier in this high snow year. We walked along the Arête du Blanc, which felt like a narrow sidewalk with 100 meter cliffs on either side. Any one step didn't seem difficult, but it required strong focus and a cool head. We then descended the convoluted glacier to Cabane Arpitettaz where we spent the afternoon lounging in the sun, reading and getting ready for dinner. Dinner was a big ole pasta boil with veggies and mushroom broth. The next day, we ascended the Bishorn (our first 4000er on skis together!), then had the longest corn descent ever down to Zinal. All in all, a great long weekend!

Pros: 

• The first hut we stayed at where you just used the regular kitchen (instead of a winter room dedicated one)
• Well stocked with supplies
• Milk pail to hold extra water that has been boiled
• Had tons of games - we played French scrabble (why are there so many vowels?!)
• All that was said about the Cabane Grand Mountet

Cons:

• Long walk to the toilet through snow, needed to change from crocs to provided wader boots to do so

A guest post by fellow dog Rich Lacampagne

The year 2023 started out with a somewhat unexpected end to my working career after pretty much working non stop since 1976.  I had been planning to retire in 2020, then 2021, then 2022, but then continuing to work.  With the layoffs at Google in January of 2023, I had a good opportunity to leave with a significant exit package.  OK, then what?  You retire and what are you going to do with the rest of your life?  I had been bike commuting the 18 mile round trip to work for over 7 years (with some break due to Covid).  So I was used to road biking most days and mountain biking on the weekends.  It seemed logical to keep a good exercise program going and continuing to ride.

My daughter Lisa bought me a Garmin Edge 830 bike computer and had me sign up for Strava.  For someone that is very numbers focused, this is a BAD combination.  Since I was riding fairly consistently I thought I would set a personal goal of riding 3,000 miles for the year.  By late spring I was consistently riding 5-6 days a week and in August I hit 3,000 miles.  Spurred on by some Strava enablers (Lisa Lacampagne and John Pucek), I reset for my yearly goal for 4,000 miles.  Well, by October I was blowing past 4k and again was (self) coerced (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it!) into another reset for 5,000 miles.  I finished the year with 5,574.8 miles on 233 rides (that is an average of about ~24 miles per ride). 

Monthly totals:

Month	Mileage
January	187
February	172
March	166
April	373
May	375
June	456
July	650
August	802
September	684
October	630
November	637
December	444
Total	5,574

Most of my riding was in the South Bay area of the greater San Francisco Bay Area.  I also had some great rides in Switzerland with Lisa and Freddy.  About 85% of my rides were road bike trips, the remainder were mountain biking, with a few gravel bike excursions.  One of the highlights was the 2023 “Tour de Crappuccino” century that John Pucek organized in early August doing a big loop around the Peninsula and South Bay.  I will continue to try and ride a 100 miler every year!  Lisa and I also had a great gravel/road ride along the Rhine river in Switzerland and Germany.  It’s been a lot of fun riding with friends and catching up with them.  It was also nice to ride by myself and listen to podcasts.  The mountain bike rides were done on my Santa Cruz Highball carbon hardtail and the road bikes on my Trek Domane AL-1 aluminum road bike and my Fuji Team RC carbon road bike.

So what’s on tap for 2024?  As previously mentioned, I would like to do another century.  I am also looking into a longer bike touring vacation, possibly in Europe.  I will continue to do my normal 20-30 mile fitness rides during the week and hopefully find some different routes to try.  Will I hit 5k miles in 2024?  Who knows.  It takes a lot of dedication to consistently ride multiple times a week, even if you don’t have to go to work.

Best Pictures:

I burned out from work. I have a really hard time diving deeper into how that feeling manifested, as it wasn’t working incredibly long hours. It was a feeling that I discounted the contribution I was making at work because I felt that I, as a program manager, as a young woman, as a person without a computer science background, I was inadequate. I felt like the signals I was getting from everyone around me confirmed that. And that therefore made me a worthless person. Layer that onto having a subpar ski season while perusing strava and instagram where all my friends not only were performing well at their jobs but were doing massive feats of skiing, alpinism, biking, etc, I was also not fulfilling what I saw of what I needed to prove that I am a competent mountain athlete. Then, Freddy had a climbing accident this summer where he tore some ligaments in his ankle and broke his heel -  I felt an immense responsibility to support him. It honestly all came to a breaking point, especially at work. I felt hopelessly glazed over when information came my way. Unable to process, unable to focus, only able to do small tasks to feel some sort of semblance that I was doing something, yet knowing deep down this isn’t forwarding my trajectory. I had no control of thoughts, my sleep suffered, my desire to see people outside of work also plummeted. 

What I did right during this time is have an incredible support system. With the help and advice from my family, friends, colleagues, therapists and Freddy, I went on leave from work for 6 weeks.

But why did I decide on a bike trip? There were many factors that led into this. In the practical sense, I didn’t want to stay at home the Monday after beginning my time off and wallow in shame of not being at work. I needed to get out of the house. The more complex reasoning, which I can’t explain rationally, is this feeling that I wanted to make biking my own. For I was labeled, through fault of others and my own, that I didn’t like it. This distaste came from always being the beginner in the group, and honestly after years of feeling like the worst, the thing that starts as a joke wears on you until you decide to actively revolt against that joke. Yeah well if I suck at biking, I never liked it anyways and it’s stupid. It had been almost a year since I had touched my mountain bike. 

But this battle was still stewing within. I wanted to prevail, the winner in my self-imposed fight. I wanted to say to those who I feel are judging my abilities: Not only am I a mountain biker, but I’ve done a solo multi-day mountain bike route through the Alps with more vert per mile than the Colorado Trail. How about that?! So yes, this decision was fueled by ego, but what this turned out to be instead was a journey toward self-esteem and compassion. A curiosity emerged when I replaced “I fucking hate this” to “I’m learning.” Being alone gave me so much leeway in that pendulum of response, instead of if others were watching my triumph and suffering. I felt no external pressure to perform, to send something that scared me, to yell in anger, to complain, to have something to talk about. I walked my bike and took breaks wherever I pleased. I racked up my highest vert and longest days in the saddle ever. A coach of mine told me to write mantras on my bike “trust yourself” and “growth mindset.” As tacky as it felt to tape words of affirmation to my handlebars, everytime I looked at them, I felt so proud of myself for just being there. I am no expert, but I know I have made mountain biking my own, and biking through the beautiful mountains brought me healing.

Here’s a recap of each day to give you a flavor of what the biking was like and how I felt.

Day one: Andeer to Thalkirch (Safiental)

Mileage: 38.55km; Vert: 1,729 m
Best pictures:

Best Water Fountain: In Urmein

For even more background, the day before, Monday, August 28th, I took the train with my bike to Bergun to meet Kathy and Steve. A proper gail was passing over San Bernadino Pass, swelling rivers over their banks, delivering almost 4 inches of rain to the region and snow in the high mountains. It was the perfect day for me to start my bike trip.. Since I needed to get out of Zurich, I convinced Kathy and Steve to go to the Albulla train museum with me. I’d highly recommend it! It gives good detail on the Rhaetian Railway with tons of fun pictures and a nice model train exhibit as well. I stayed with them in Andeer, and got started the next morning.

The ride started downhill through the Viamala Gorge, where waterfalls mistily tumbled down its high walls. Once in Thusis, I began the very long climb up to Glaspass in the rain. The route varied from farmer 4x4 roads to the paved way. At Glaspass, I was very cold and wet, but it was Tuesday, which means “Ruhetag” and the restaurant I planned to eat lunch at was closed. So I kept going with all my clothes on, frigid and gripped on an old mule trail that has no business for bikes. It became clear in the thick fog along the sheer mountainside, that even with all the hard work of biking up, I would be walking my bike down this mountain. It was not until I made it to the bridge to cross to Safien-Platz that I resaddled. I finished the day by biking up the road to Thalkirch to make a dent on the next day. I stayed at the Turrhaus, which is a no frills bunk house at the end of the valley. I sat with a nice couple from Dresden, and I felt so stupid after learning so much Swiss German that I couldn’t even say Fünf anymore. But they were nice and asked me tons of questions at my level and told me about their road trip to Yosemite when they were young.

Day 2: Thalkirch to Lumbrein

Mileage: 41.81 km; Vert: 1460 m

Best Pictures:

Best Water Fountains: Vals

The Dresden couple seemed anxious about my ride up to Tomulpass, and like most older German-speaking folks, they let me know they didn’t think it was safe being alone. I assured them about my inReach and REGA and went on my way.

This climb was also relentless with sustained sections of 20%+ grade. It only took one push section to realize that pushing a loaded bike SUCKS. So I would gun it, grinding on the pedals with all my might as to not walk and push. Then came the snow, clumpy and wet in contact with the warm summer earth. It blocked my wheels from spinning, leading me to take a slow fall, unable to get my foot out on time. That was the first time I cried on the trip. So I pushed the bike the last 200 vertical meters to the Pass at 2400 MASL. Biking down on snow also seemed sketchy, but at that point I was so over being wet and cold that I went for it. The Tomulboden was incredibly beautiful, full of high meadows and stunning waterfalls. This descent was a highlight of the trip. I made it down to Vals, a ritzy Swiss mountain town and had a delicious soup while apologizing to the patron for tracking in so much mud.

The last highlight was biking through a perfectly graded gravel road in the forest above the town of Uors. It was quiet, smelled incredible, and was the best continuous biking I’d had so far. I ended in the town of Lumbrein, a quaint Romansch speaking enclave in Val Lumnezia. I felt like I was meant to be right where I was.

Day 3: Lumbrein to Sedrun

Mileage: 61.68 km; Vert: 2017 m

Best Pictures:

Best Water Fountain: Mumpe Medel

The day started off as all summer days in the Swiss Alps do: with church and cow bells ringing to welcome the warm sun. I said goodbye to Val Lumnezia with a sweaty climb over a pass that brought me to Obersaxon. This is where I met fellow bikers also on the Alpine Route 1. In a particularly steep section as I pushed the bike, they wizzed by on E-bikes, one guy whispering “sorry.” I guess it meant something.

The descent started at 2079 MASL and kept going to Trun at 840 MASL. By the end my hands were so tired of breaking. It meandered through Cat Tracks in a ski area, steep grassy hiking trails, and road. I continued up the Rhine to Disentis, where I called Freddy who encouraged me to keep going. I was really worried about the next day over Maighels, so I needed to get as close as I could.

I biked up past the village called Mumpe Medel, traveling high above the Vorderrhein, taking in the breathtaking scenery on a delightful gravel path. It was not the fastest way to Sedrun, but certainly memorable. I was so tired by the time I got to the hotel, I ate a whole Poulet by myself for dinner.

A note on my accommodations: I stayed at bunk houses, Jugendherbergen, and hotels. I would have an idea of where I wanted to make it to every night, and once I was there, I would look on Google maps for the cheapest place in town, then bike over and see if they would give me a better rate.

Day 4: Sedrun to Andermatt

Mileage: 30.09 km; Vert: 1225 m

Best Pictures:

Best Water Fountain: Sedrun

This day somewhat broke me. I was familiar with the beginning, having completed it with Felipe last year. Once I turned off on the route the Maighels pass, the gradient and the challenge ramped up. The ascent started on a steep gravel road, where I was dodging cows and cowshit. 

Then I reached this jaw dropping high meadow with a glacial-fed river braiding through it. At the end of the meadow, the trail to the pass was barely hikeable let alone bikeable. It took over an hour and a good cry to drag the bike over boulders and uneven stairs to make it to the pass. Finally! Sweet descent.

It did not take me long to realize that the descent would take as long as the ascent. The steep and sheer hiking trail was unrideable to someone who values her bodily safety. To maintain sanity, I focused on the beautiful scenery of rugged summits and alpine lakes. Just kidding, I mostly stewed in rage that I had pushed my bike up a mountain only to mostly push it right back down! I did however make it to Andermatt.

The day finished by saying hi to our friends Leslie and Felipe before taking the train back to Zurich. A perfect end to a great trip!

Gear

I felt like I was pretty weight conscious on this trip. I used everything I brought (except for medical/emergency stuff), but man it felt heavy! I used a handlebar bag that I would fill up as much as possible, a butt rocket that I would try to keep as small as possible (since it's a dual suspension bike), my running vest (for things I though I would need during the day), a small snack bag that fit on the bike, and a repair kit that would also attach to the frame.

Working attire:

• 2 wool t-shirts that I swapped each day
• Sunhoody
• Loose shorts
• 2 detachable chamois that I swapped each day
• Lightweight puffy
• Rain jacket
• Light bike gloves
• Spring ski gloves
• Running tights
• 2 pairs of socks
• 2 pairs of underwear
• 1 sports bra
• 2 necktubes
• Neoprene shoes coves
• Helmet
• Sunglasses

Evening Attire

• Flipflops
• Clean shirt
• Pants
• Normal bra
• Clean socks

Additional

• 1 L water capacity
• Lock
• Bike computer
• Small medical kit
• Inreach
• Bike repair stuff
• Electronics
• Toilettries
• Kindle
• Notebook
• Sac a viande

Very early on dating Freddy, he made it clear that he DIDN’T LIKE ice climbing. Contrarian I am, to torment my boyfriend-now-life-partner, I told everyone that I, Lisa Lacampagne, am an ice climber. The only problem was, I had never ice climbed... 

I begged Freddy to take me; my unrelenting pleading went on for a whole season. He made me jump through hoops to prove my desire: I had to be able to do 5 pullups in a row (which I can now do!), I had to contribute gear (he insisted on the ultralight BD aluminum screws), and finally my own pair of tools. By the beginning of the 2020-2021 season I had fulfilled all the prerequisites.

The time came when the weather was cold and the skiing was poor in Truckee. I’m specifically talking about November 28th, 2020. Freddy drove as far up Coldstream Canyon as his Chevy Colorado would take him and we started skinning to the crag. “Thin and barely in” is Freddy’s strava title for the day. For me, I was scraping my crampons and ice axe against bare rock because Freddy had kicked off what little ice had held. By the end of that day, I didn’t know if I liked ice climbing, but I had already told everyone I knew that I was an ice climber, so I needed to stick with it!

That season provided many learning opportunities for me, including my first ice lead on the Great White Icicle in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I relished the raw challenge of subjecting the body and mind to unpleasant conditions and the sheer beauty of these ephemeral wonders: frozen waterfalls. I was hooked!

Fast forward to fall of 2022. I had made a great connection with a new friend named Audrey. Audrey lives in Chamonix and is genuinely rad. Physically fit, super friendly, absolutely keen for adventure, and to top it off, she has a darling French accent as she is French and Swiss. So we planned to go to Cogne to do some rad ice climbing!   

We tunneled under the Mont Blanc massif into Val d’Aosta on December 28th with a high level of stoke ready to take down the place with our tagline: “Chicks with Picks.” The mood changed at the bottom of Loye, a frozen Cascata above the village of Lillaz; the psych and confidence had left my psyche and all I could think was “fuck this looks like steep ice.” Wanting to impress my new climbing partner, I started up the climb, but I was over gripping and my calves were trembling with trepidation. I put in screws every 2 meters, a faux pas to more experienced folks. Wow, was this slow. Halfway up the pitch, I’d had enough of being really scared, so I pulled off to the right hand side, finding a platform to stand on and good enough ice to make an anchor with.

I belayed Audrey up, only for her to drop one axe and need to be let down again. There was an old Italian couple doing laps around us, and the man kept looking over with a coy smile though never seeming annoyed. We finally got Audrey up to the belay ledge. We had to make it another ten meters to the anchor, and I had lost all motivation to scare the shit out of myself. 
Audrey stepped up to the plate, taking the strategy of resting at every screw she placed to ease the fear she had. Her mental strength was unrelenting! With poise and deep breathing, she hoisted herself over the ice bulge (a scary and insecure position in ice climbing) and tied into the anchor. The whole ordeal had taken almost two hours, and let me remind you: we had made it only 30 meters off the ground.

We rappelled to the ground, my ego beaten as we trudged back down the hill. We stayed at Hotel Ondezana and laid in bed after a warm shower realizing our bodies were beaten as well. We had to turn this ship around! To do so, we watched the whole youtube collection of Will Gadd showing people how to ice climb. That man made kicking and the perfect swing look a one and done undertaking.

The next day really couldn’t be worse than day one, so we struggled on. What I admire about Audrey is her audacity to be so optimistic with her plans. At breakfast, we made plans for dinner at 7:30 with her French Swiss colleagues, and she casually mentioned we would climb two ice routes that day. I stayed silent, not wanting to burst her bubble, and also not able to communicate my skepticism in French.
 

We were off to the classic of Cogne Icefalls: Patri. The first pitch looked manageable, so I volunteered to lead again. After a day of getting smacked down mentally, this pitch went much better. I still, however, was placing screws every two meters. Before getting to the next belay, I ran out. I tried to stay positive about how this is an excellent opportunity to build my own ice anchor! I plunged my longest screw into the thickest ice I could, and felt safe. Audrey made it up to me, passed, and continued to the real anchor. Temperatures hovered just above freezing and the icefall was turning into a semi-Slush-fall. By the time I resumed climbing, my pants were completely soaked. I cursed myself for the stupid Eiger North Face Mammut pants that, when I bought them, thought they would be the perfect pants for ice climbing. Water squelched in my boots as I climbed up to Audrey.

The challenges continued as both of us attempted and retreated on the second pitch, which was short but started with 5 meters of vertical ice. Being a party of two women comes in handy during times like these. We asked a male party to bring our ropes up to the anchor, so we could top rope it. This turned out to be a brutal mistake; Audrey tied into the rope as I yanked on the other side to get it tight. It would not budge. We both pulled, like a game of tug-o-war against an unknown assailant. It turns out the assailant was a frozen rope plunged in snow. Cold, wet, and without a functional rope, we bushwhacked up a creek bed to the side of the pitch, retrieving our frozen rope and giving up on Pitch 2. 

I led pitch three, an easy WI2 without a hitch - finally! Ice climbing is much more fun when you’re not gripped! At the top of the pitch, I looked down at my watch: 4 PM. It had taken over 6 hours to do 3 pitches. At this pace, we were not going to be able to do the 2 more hard pitches to the top of the climb. Still, we viewed this as a success, we had pushed much farther than the day before, and when things had gotten tricky, we figured out a way through them as a team. We scampered down, barely making it to dinner!

Now a tangent, in Val di Cogne, inhabitants first speak Italian, then French, and English being a far behind third. This is indeed a challenge for me, whose French proficiency has severely declined due to my German Classes. There is room for only one foreign language at a time. Though Audrey speaks great English, her colleagues preferred French. Alas, I dutifully stumbled through an entire meal, answered softball questions and tried to make my eyes not glaze over in confusion. We all had a laugh that we didn’t accomplish one entire ice climb compared to the two Audrey had forecasted earlier that day. In many interactions, I feel scared and embarrassed by my lack of multilingualism, but I went to bed feeling so accomplished that I didn’t give up on trying to be an active participant at the dinner table!

On day three, we decided to keep it simple by going to the man made ice wall in the Gorge near Cogne. Thinking that we would be able to set up a top rope, we were disappointed to realize that was not the case. As Audrey tried to psyche herself up to climb the steep ice, a kind Italian couple, sensing our noviceness, offered to let us use their ropes instead. A massive relief! We got a lot of mileage and focused on technique, getting more pitches in than the previous two days combined. We got back to the car, tired but stoked, and drove back to Chamonix triumphant!

The triumph comes from this being both me and Audrey’s first ice trip without someone more experienced. This of course led to working hard on planning the trip, making rookie maneuvers on climbs, moving unfathomably slowly, and having to face your fear when realizing that there was no partner that could take over lead when you didn’t want to. In the moment, it felt painful, but the personal achievement I feel is so much bigger than any other day on ice I’ve had. Though I will not be leading WI5 soon, I feel like my ice climbing identity is not reliant on having someone else drag me up something. 

I am really excited to keep pushing myself - until next season!

I do not want to be accused of having a pure mountain-adventure blog. The purpose of this blog was to detail what the heck Freddy and I do in Switzerland, which without trying that hard, has turned into essays on adventures in the mountains. Well folks that’s about to change:

After a week of heavy rain to celebrate Freddy’s first week back in a 9 to 5 (it’s actually 9-6:30 since in Switzerland the work week is 42 hours!), the California Princess needed sunshine. Unfortunately, sunshine was not predicted in Zurich for the weekend. In a fit of dreary hopelessness on Thursday while watching fat drops clang against the window of our building, I opened up the Meteo Swiss app only to find out that it was going to be sunny in Ticino. 

Where is Ticino you may ask? Switzerland has three national languages split by region. Ticino is the Italian part of the country, and the only part of the country on the south slope of the Alps. It has a more meridional climate, and when you pop out of the Gotthard base tunnel going south, you see that the landscape has drastically changed from the northern slope; every garden has palm trees. 

We exited the train station and meandered down the narrow cobbled pathways to the Lugano Autumn festival, which was a lively street market of crafts, food, and music. We were both quite tired, so we took the day off from exercise and ate and drank our way through town: for lunch we had a lakeside Italian espresso, then shared a plate of polenta and venison while watching a Ticinese folk group sing and accordion. We continued by going to the Lugano Arte e Cultura, an art museum with a mission of showcasing the culture of Ticino and Ticino Artists. I found out that both Freddy and I prefer impressionist style art over realist/surrealist, a real win if we ever decide to up our interior design with large bright art pieces.

After a couple hours of art, our attention waned, so we strolled along the lake towards the festival and sat at a cafe in the Piazza della Riforma sipping on Rosé and Aperol Spritz. How lucky are we? I thought this while we laughed in the late afternoon sun, watching the festival-goers from older folks with hiking poles, young men with Gucci fanny packs slung over their shoulders, and more geriatric music troupes in traditional Ticinese costume.

The quintessential spot for a lovely dinner on a warm Ticinese night is a “Grotto” which from what I can tell is just an outdoor restaurant in a garden. Because it was a chilly fall evening, we sat in an enclosed glass lanai with Palm trees lined all around. On the menu was local cured meat, cheese and delicious ravioli. We went to bed full of happiness and food.

On Sunday, we set off for Monte San Salvatore. You can see why the mountain was a pre-renaissance pilgrimage site for those who worship Dog. From the lake, the mountain juts out of the water like a fin, its sheer side in full view from Lugano. From the summit, you get a marvelous 360 view of the whole lake district and all the way to Milano. From there, Freddy and I parted ways, he trotted off for a sweet 30k loop through the pastoral land that surrounds Lugano.  

Pictured above: The mountain in the left photo is Monte Generosso, which Carol, Kathy, and Natalie hiked before I was born. Other photos by Freddy

I headed back to town with one mission in mind: fried fish. If you have ever talked to Freddy about food, you’ll know that he will bring up the Lake Geneva perch that are buttered and broiled and inhaled with delight, glass of cool white wine in hand. The Lugano take on this delicacy is fully fried mini perch that are chomped in two bites with a side of very crispy side of fries. 

As I walked off my eating display, I saw that the boat to Gandria was leaving the dock. So I hopped on (thank you GA pass!) the ferry and disembarked in the tiny Riviera village on the border of Switzerland and Italy. I walked back towards Lugano on a hiking path lined with ancient olive trees with interpretive signs about the olive. Imagine a perfectly graded path with lake views and superb lake dipping spots - I would highly recommend this to anyone who is planning to go to Lugano.

Photos above: From my walk on the Ancient Olive Trail

I met back up with Freddy in Lugano for one last Italian meal: Pizza!!!!! I sipped on a Limoncello Spritz, sat back and thought to myself, why the heck do I go to the mountains all the time?! Well the mountains make weekends like this even sweeter.

Editor's Note: After mild haranguing, we have a new guest blogger to allmydogseat.com. Rich came to Switzerland for work, and that means he got to write a guest blog post! Thank you Dad - the fans appreciate it! Without further ado:

Seeing a stage of the Tour de France has been one of my bucket list items for many decades.  I’ve seen the Taj Mahal, traveled to Iceland and Madagascar, climbed Mount Whitney, visited every state in the US, even stopped at Wall Drug South Dakota (OK, skip the last one), but I’ve never seen the Tour live.  I first became aware of the Tour de France from my French relatives as a child, but just something in passing about a big bike race in France.  I started following the Tour more closely when Greg Lemond made a big splash in international cycling in the mid 1980s.  I’ve kept up with the Tour highlights off and on depending on the excitement and American involvement (Lance Armstrong - both the good and the bad aspects).

I was planning a trip to visit Lisa and Freddy in their new home in Zurich, Switzerland.  Lisa suggested I schedule the trip so we could watch a stage of the Tour since it was going through Switzerland this year.  Since this was a Lisa and Freddy (as in AMDE) type event, it had to involve some type of physical activity (as in much MORE physical activity than Lisa’s father can handle).  I was able to borrow a really nice Focus carbon road bike from my Google co-worker friend Marek Nerko.  It was an awesome bike, although for my riding ability I could have used a cassette with bigger climbing gears.  At hot tip for borrowing bikes while traveling: 1) if you use cleats, bring both your shoes and appropriate pedals (fortunately Marek had some extra SPD pedals)  2) if you don’t have well established calluses on your rear end, bring a seat you are used riding on, and 3)  Lisa and Freddy have these awesome packs that fit on the back of the bike seat called a “Butt Rocket”, which are much better than riding with a backpack.

We (Lisa, Freddy, Freddy’s sister Charlotte and I) woke up early on Saturday morning and took a train from Zurich to Lausanne.  By the way, if you haven’t been to Switzerland you don’t realize how well public transportation CAN WORK!  The trains were on time, fast, clean and bike friendly.  Even someone like me who is “directionally challenged” can more or less figure your way around on the train and bus systems (Note:  Lisa had me buy a 2 week train pass that works on basically all public transport so I never had to stress about buying individual train tickets - very good idea).  When we got to Lausanne, we jumped on our bikes and rode about 1k of the Tour course where it was going through Lausanne that day.  People were already gathering around the course to find a good spot to watch the race.  

The first part of the ride was along Lake Geneva, with some dedicated bike paths as well as decent bike lanes along the road.  Switzerland has a fantastic system of bike paths (for both road and mountain bike) and I never felt nervous about the motorized traffic when sharing the road.  The view of the lake was stunning and the hills surrounding the lake were packed full of vineyards.  We stopped in Montreux to have lunch, where we met Lisa/Freddy/Charlotte’s friend Sean.  We ate “French fish-n-chips” which was butter and garlic soaked perch baked with chips.  Not your classic English cod fish-n-chips, but very good nonetheless.  It was quite a hot day and fortunately there are plenty of public fountains where you can get nice, clean, cold water.  It was a good ride, although I was definitely bringing up the rear of the peloton, benefitting from drafting the younger riders.

Then came the huge climb up to the chalet at Saint Maurice where we were going to stay that evening.  There was over 3,000 ft of climbing, and as previously mentioned, I wish I had a 42 tooth gear on the rear cassette like Lisa has.  At this point I was somewhat tired and searching for additional oxygen to fill my lungs.  Lisa was super patient and helped nurse me up the mountain.  It seemed like several hours of climbing, but that just might be a slight over exaggeration due to my oxygen deprived memory (editor's note: There was a bus that would take us most of the way up the hill. Resilient Rich was determined to get up this hill under his own power).

Photos: Sunet over the Valais, the Auberge we slept at, Rich falling asleep at the dinner table.

The payoff was an absolutely stunning view of the mountains and the Bex valley.  The Auberge de Chindonne chalet was somewhat rustic, but very nice and the dinner was awesome (at that point, anything would have tasted good!) (Additional editor's note: The Auberge advertised having some of the best ribs in Switzerland. Don't trust anyone from Switzerland on what are "good" ribs) One of my requirements for this type of trip was a hot shower and a bed to sleep in.  Taking a shower after a long day of riding was fantastic and totally re-invigorating.  Sleeping in bunks with about a dozen people in the same room was an interesting experience, with constant sounds of multiple people snoring (I’m not naming any names FREDDY!).  OK, to be honest, I’ve been accused of snoring from time to time.

The next morning we rode down the mountain, mostly on gravel and dirt trails/fire roads.  Going down a steep descent on gravel roads on a road bike with 700x25 road tires is quite the adventure, but no cyclists were lost on the way down.  We rode into the town of Monthey and then up the finishing climb for TdF stage 9.  We rode uphill for several kilometers, with hundreds of other cyclists and hikers finding a good place to watch the race.  This was a fairly steep climb and I was in my largest rear cog trying to keep within sight of our leader Mr. Mondale.  We found a really sweet 180 degree turn with a grassy area and decided it would be a good place to watch.

When watching the mountain stages of the Tour on TV, I always wondered “how do so many rabid cycling fans get up these massive hills to watch the riders.  The answer is, you either have to walk or bike up the hills.  There were limited places for cars to park, and vehicle traffic is halted many hours before the riders arrived.  The place we chose had a crazy group of about a dozen Belgian and Dutch guys who had apparently been drinking heavily for many hours.  They had a big PA speaker with a generator and were playing an interesting assortment of “Euro Fist Pumping Music”  This definitely added to the spectacle of the event.  My favorite quote was from one of the partying group who mentioned “The Belgians are so drunk they make us Dutch look good”.

Since we got an early start, we arrived at our viewing spot 5 hours before the riders were supposed to start the final climb.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we certainly would have benefitted from more shade as we waited.  We did have a great lunch packed with us which we ate while waiting.  As we hung out there were hundreds of people walking or riding up the hill to find spots to view the Tour.  We were lucky to get there early and find such a good spot.  The Belgian/Dutch group continued their fine assortment of music in different languages.  The only song I recognized was Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” with the Belgian/Dutch bros adding in the “so good, so good, so good” to the chorus.  Our new friends also kept the crowd entertained with some “amazing” dance moves, which often involved drunken staggering and occasional face plants.  About an hour before the riders arrived, a huge caravan of promotional/advertising vehicles  drove up the course, throwing out various swag items and food.  I managed to grab a very cheesy looking polka dot Tour t-shirt and hat.

The anticipation of the arrival of the riders built as several helicopters started to circle the valley below.  Some of the people in the crowd were sharing information about the progress of the stage, who was leading, how far back the peloton was, when the riders would show up, etc.  The helicopters kept moving closer to our spot and the noise of the crowd continued to build. The cheering grew to a crescendo, then came a group of motorcycles to clear the road, and finally we saw the first riders.  It was super exciting to see the lead group and they approached the hairpin turn.  When the lead riders actually rode by us I was amazed how fast they were going.  They had to be riding at least 15 mph up an approximate 7% grade.  They rode as if they were part of their  bicycles, a single blend of human and machine.  The spectacle was just like you see it on TV, the riders climbing through a phalanx of screaming fans on both sides of the road.  You could have easily reached out and touched the riders as they went by.  There were a few people that ran after the riders for 10-20 meters until they ran out of gas.  There was even one cycling fanatic who had “Marry me Sagan” written in marker across his chest!  I don’t think Slovak rider Peter Sagan accepted the offer.

The riders were pretty spread out on this stage, so there was probably 30 minutes between the first and last riders as they passed by.  It was not long after the breakaway riders (led by Bob Jungles)  passed us that the first group of lead riders including the current Yellow Jersey (Tadej Pogačar) and the eventual tour winner (Jonas Vingegaard).  The lead riders and their teammates were closely marking each other, riding in a super close wheel to wheel formation.  Riders continued to come by us and the crowds cheered each and every one of them.  Finally, the group of sprinters brought up the back of the pack.  They were definitely riding significantly slower than the rest of the riders appearing to be on a social ride, smiling and engaging with the crowd.  

Once the riders and following enterages were well past us, we packed up our bikes, said goodbye to our new Belgian and Dutch friends (well, the ones that hadn’t passed out) and headed downhill to catch a train back to Zurich.  The police kept motorized traffic off the road for a while after the Tour, which allowed cyclists and pedestrians to make their way down the hill safely.  When we got into the town below our viewing point, the road was blocked and we ended up having to take a long detour around the town (along with thousands of other cyclists).  We had a fairly long ride to get to the train station, and there were a lot of people with bikes trying to get on the train.  Again, the Swiss train system was awesome and with only one transfer, we arrived back at the main Zurich Bahnhof (train station).  It was a short bike ride home and a much needed shower and a good night sleep.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience.  I would highly recommend that anyone who is into cycling to see the Tour de France.  In addition, cycling in Switzerland is so enjoyable.  The Swiss make both road and mountain biking so accessible for all levels of riders.  The trail and path systems are well marked and safe and the train system allows you to bring bikes with you to explore the country.  The whole event was amazing and I really appreciated that Lisa and Freddy provided me the opportunity to experience the Tour de France.

With Freddy being in the United States for two weeks, I took the opportunity to reach out to two women who I am hoping to become closer with as ski season draws near. Through a sorority acquaintance, I was connected with a few women who are also enthused by high mountain adventures: 

Helen, a native German, took a year off between high school and college to work as a Ski Instructor at Lenzerheide. Falling in love with the place, she stayed in Zurich for school and is now a high school English Teacher with better grammar than me (or is it “I”?). 

Larissa, a Zurich native, met Helen when they were both working in Lenzerheide. She lives right above the Transa outlet, which means she must have good restraint to not frivolously purchase outdoor gear at (for Swiss standards) discounted prices. She is also a runner, skier, and is back in school to earn another degree in Economics.  

We finally nailed down the weekend of September 10/11 to scramble up high together. The conundrum of the Swiss hut system is, on one hand, Swiss people stereotypically plan really far in advance, so many huts by popular routes are full by the time the ECMWF has come to a reasonable conclusion on what the weather will do on any given day. Alas, many of our initial plans had to be scrapped, but Helen found us places in Cabane Tracuit to do the Bishorn, a 4000 meter peak directly above Zinal. 

I used the SAC website to understand what the tour would be like and what gear I need to bring. We’d split this into two days, taking transit to Zinal on Saturday and hiking up to the hut. On Sunday, we’d tag the summit and trudge down 2500 meters back to town. We were crossing a glacier so we brought a rope and glacier gear.

The Swiss Alpine Club’s website is a treasure trove of information, a great resource for routes, hazards, booking huts, everything. Due to my German proficiency, or lack thereof, I must rely on Google Translate to parse route descriptions. In German, they call Alpine tours that tend to involve easy climbing and/or glacier travel as “Hochtouren.” Google translates that to “Full Speed.” This cracked me up as the last thing I'm doing on a high Alpine peak is going "Full Speed."

The hike up from Zinal was faster than expected - we reached the hut at 5 pm with enough time to do some glacier rescue practice before having an excellent spaghetti dinner. The Cabane Tracuit is a really nice hut; the dining room has floor to ceiling windows looking out on Pigne de la Le, Grand Cornier, Dent Blanche, and the Zinalrothorn. It felt very special to see the mountains come in and out of fog as the sun set pink hews on the snowy glaciers. It was time for bed in our 20 person dormitory. 

We had a reasonable wake up call of 5 am. We got on the glacier before sunrise, weaving through the labyrinth of crevasses in a line of headlamps from the 50 other people doing the same route as us. We started up the final tongue of the glacier to the summit as the sky turned purple.

<Author's interjection> Something else I want to call out is MeteoSwiss’s overloaded term of “Frische Brise.” When I first saw them associating a 30-40 km/hr wind as “Fresh Breeze,” I also thought that must be a translation error. With more digging, I found that MeteoSwiss uses the Beaufort scale of measuring wind, the “Fresh” monaker symbolizing a wind speed between “Moderate” and “Strong” breeze. 

I bring this up because as I looked out towards Val d’Anniviers, in awe with my surroundings, this bloody Fresh Breeze picked up, swirling the freshly fallen snow and blasting it in our faces. The sun still hadn’t reached us, and I was freaking cold.  Maybe it is the amount of washing machine detergent commercials that use the term “Fresh,” but I really think it is the wrong term for the conditions it is describing!

We summited all 4,153 meters, and I could not feel my hands. I was wearing all the clothes I had brought. I wish I could have enjoyed that moment of triumph, my first all-woman powered mission in Switzerland, feeling pride in my own and my partners’ abilities. Even musing at the Weisshorn North Ridge and the potential for new adventures in the future. The sun finally thermally caressed my flushed face. But I still couldn’t. All I could think about was my frozen hands beginning to thaw, the tingling fire that was ensuing felt so painful as I cringe-smiled for a selfie. 

So here is my final German lesson of the day: As I described to Larissa and Helen how my hands felt, Larissa said “Oh I know that feeling - Kuhnagel!” My A2-let’s-out-a-huge-sigh-of-relief-after-every-German-interaction German is no match for Larissa’s Swiss German. She explained that Kuhnagel translates to “Cow’s Nail,” but refers to frostbite or Screaming Barfies in Schweizer Deutsche. This really tickled me because (1) how is it across languages we come up with such unique terms for the same thing and (2) out of context, both don’t make much sense!  

We descended quite fast, getting back to the hut before 10 am. So we spent time practicing crevasse rescue and drinking hot chocolate before heading down to the bus home. We chatted the entire time. Needless to say, it was a great weekend, and I hope to have more like this! Lucky for me, Larissa and Helen brought their nice dSLRs on the trip, so I’m sharing some with y’all!

All the photo credit to Larissa and Helen!!