Last night’s hotel was a typical 1970s station hotel, complete with a smoking bar. We made the mistake of exiting the hotel through the bar and it brought back memories of upstairs on the bus… We had a good evening meal in a French brasserie, just across the road.
No breakfast at the hotel, so we stopped at a cafe for a pastry and coffee, both very good. It was overcast and damp when we left, and we had our jackets on and bags covered. It drizzled most of the day, and when it wasn’t raining in the forest we got wet with the water coming off the trees. At least most of the paths were wide so our legs didn’t get soaked.
The route out of Brugg followed an old track, before leading us through some housing. We then got into the countryside on a wide track. The whole day alternated between wide tracks (some paved) through fields or forests, with only a few narrow sections. We stopped for a rest at a bus stop in Linn (cover and seats) and admired the 800 year old lime tree (supposedly it was planted over some plague victims and after that the plague never came back to the village). It got quite chilly and we put our fleeces on before carrying on with the walk. Even going uphill it was decidedly cool. We had one exposed section with the rain blowing across us, but it wasn’t too bad, just miserable. The path finally dropped down to the end of the stage at Staffelegg. The cafe/hotel was shut for its weekly day off, so we sat in the bus shelter and had some chocolate while watching the hundreds of cars and trucks crossing over the col in each direction. It’s one of the lowest Jura passes, but apparently a very important transportation axis; possibly it’s used by those who don’t want to pay for the nearby motorway tunnel. We then had a short walk to this evening’s accommodation. It’s a conference/education centre and a wind ensemble has been practising since we got here; you can hear them in the corridor but not in the bedroom. (I’m debating whether to sign up for the September Alphorn instruction week).
It’s still overcast, but the forecast for tomorrow looks much better.
Max elevation: 758 m
Total climbing: 753 m
We could have an Alphorn and Bagpipe band …… that would certainly deter anyone thinking of buying a house in the High Street. Perhaps the Stores would sponsor us to stop!
Hope the weather improves.