Postcard from Timperley

Tuesday, 2 July 2024

Tuesday 2 July 2024 - Alp Muntatsch (Europe Day 15)

Today the weather was superb, so it was good to enjoy a higher level route. We were on another section of the Via Engiadina long distance route, this time above Celerina and Samedan in the Alp Muntatsch area.

We started with a 30 minute bus ride to Celerina Cresta Palace, then a gondola ride up to the Marguns Top Station at 2278 metres.

Then a gradual ascent took us all the way to Marguinin, a sort of col with signposts.

Looking back to the gondola station

The mountain views and banks of alpine flowers were simply wonderful.

There was just one patch of late snow to cross.

After Margunin, there were fine views down to the Bever valley.

Sue was delayed by multiple flower identification issues, but she eventually caught up.

Alp Muntatsch (2185 metres) was reached down a lovely path. Here we enjoyed cappuccinos and apfelstrudel. Delicious.

The view from our table

Then a delightful, leisurely, descent took us all the way back, past Cristolais, to Celerina and the #6 bus home.

Sue spotted a patch of Fire Lilies as she marched through the final field.

The bus took 15 minutes longer than this morning's #2 route, but our hotel was bathed in sunshine when we reached it at 4:30.

The 12.2km route with 435 metres ascent took us around 5.5 hours, including a multitude of flower identification stops.

And here are a few of those flowers. As always, the nomenclature may not be entirely accurate, and click on any image for a slideshow.

Ciliate Rock Jasmine

Leopardsbane

Slender-leaved Marsh Orchid

Alpine Toadflax

King of the Alps

Great Yellow Gentian

Fire Lily

Later. We enjoyed a very civilised evening with the other Collett's guests. We are now up to 14 in number.

Mileage: 0 (Cum: 1160)
Garmin: 12.2km, 435 metres ascent

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Monday, 1 July 2024

Monday 1 July 2024 - Via Engiadina (Europe Day 14)

After saying our goodbyes to Markus and wishing him well on his bike ride to Zernez, we caught a bus for the 14 minute journey to Maloja, on the other end of Lake Silsersee.

Before embarking on our walk proper, we walked up to the Belvedere Castle. I may add more about its history later. [I can't find anything about it!]

There's a splendid view to the east from the castle - a reminder of how high we are in the Sils area (1800 metres or so).

On the paths around the castle are a number of circular holes formed by meltwater from a glacier where it has spun around with sand and debris to wear away the rock.

This 'glacial pothole' still has snow at its base.

This one just has a deep pool.

After this 2.5km meander, we joined the Via Engiadina route out of Maloja. We were soon looking back down to the town from today's short section of the long distance route.

A splendid waterfall caught the eye.

The visibility was OK, but dark clouds hinted that the Swiss Meteo forecast might be correct. "Rain from 12 noon to 1pm."

As the skies darkened, we climbed up to 2000 metres, passing a herd of very relaxed cattle.

At Blaunca we encountered a comprehensive signpost before continuing along our route.

Next stop: Heidi town, aka Grevasalvas, the Swiss village where 'Heidi' was filmed.

By now it had started to drizzle. We walked on for a few minutes before sheltering under an overhang whilst we enjoyed our lunch. The predicted rain had arrived bang on time.

We enjoyed the confined space and tried to cheer up some bedraggled walkers from both directions.

There were better overhangs further along the path, but we stayed dry and happy until it was time to continue along the excellent belvedere path.

Eventually we came to a closed section of path that Taea and Arabella had warned us about. From there we simply headed down the open path and back to Sils before 3pm.

Here's my last picture from the descent, towards the Sils end of Lake Silsersee.

We had walked 11.6km, with 449 metres ascent, in around 5 hours. There followed a relaxing afternoon and evening, with more Collett's guests arriving (four arrived yesterday) and a welcome party with wine, organised by the hotel. We need to decide what to do tomorrow, but first, here are a few of today's flowers.

Golden Cinquefoil

Thyme

Cyprus Spurge

Dark Mullein

Leopardsbane

Lesser Butterfly Orchid

Common Butterwort

Mileage: 0 (Cum: 1160)
Garmin: 11.6km, 449 metres ascent

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Sunday, 30 June 2024

Sunday 30 June 2024 - Val Fedoz (Europe Day 13)

We had a lie-in and a late breakfast as Markus, our TGO Challenger friend, wasn't due to arrive until 10:30. He duly turned up after a 5:30 start in Dornbirn, then travel by train and e-bike, and we had a most enjoyable day in his company.

We had chosen a walk through the woods to Val Fedoz on this cloudy day. Sue and Markus are pictured above outside our hotel before the walk, and below is a view through the woods before we reached Pretpreir.

Pretpeir is at 1991 metres (Sils is at about 1800), and we enjoyed a rather late elevenses on a bench before continuing into Val Fedox.

There were good views into the mountains beyond the valley, and we continued along the path as far as a couple of bridges over the torrent, which was full of snow melt.

The view ahead was of rain in the mountains beyond Lake Silsersee, and we donned waterproofs for a few unnecessary minutes when the storm passed nearby.

Lunch was taken on a bench on the descent path that headed towards Maloja. There were excellent views.

Eventually we reached a gravel road near the bottom of the hill, where we turned right to reach a friendly café at Isola.

The glacial torrent passes very close to some of the nearby properties.

Sue and I posed on the lovely woodland path beyond Isola.

Shortly before the village of Segl Maria was reached, we passed a museum piece.

Here's our route. The 'Ride with GPS' App that Collett's are using for the first time this year seems to have got the stats a bit awry (probably a user defect!). We actually walked about 14km, with 400 metres ascent, taking 5.5 hours including some lengthy stops.