Check out the photo album to see our photos and read about our trip in the photo captions - or read on for a little bit more information.
In early May, after much deliberation (and lots of flight research/agonization) we booked tickets to Geneva, Switzerland which was conveniently near the end point of the Hope 1000 - a circuitous bikepacking route through the Swiss Alps. We were beginning to work through the bike logistics of our trip when Seth broke his wrist mountain biking in Oakland and we decided long-distance mountain biking probably wasn’t in the cards for the trip.
Despite this initial setback, our trip was great! We had an incredible time taking trains and buses around Switzerland and hiking on trails we couldn’t have biked on.
Since a visit to the Alps in 2019, Ali has wanted to stay and hike between Swiss mountain huts. The Swiss Alpine Club (SAC) has a network of huts in the mountains that provide “half-board” - a place to sleep, dinner and breakfast. Dinner is a four-course home cooked meal; the sleeping arrangements are a comfy sleeping pad, comforter, and pillow in dormitory style rooms; the breakfast is a hearty (dairy heavy) meal with coffee, and hikers tea to get you going. You just have to get yourself to the hut and bring a sleeping bag liner. Many of the huts don’t open until late June but we were able to find three that were open and a true joy to stay in. Our hikes between the huts were the highlights of the trip.
Finally, here is a photo of the two of us in front of the Freddie Mercury statue in Montreux - which is the finish point of the Hope 1000, the bikepacking trip that we originally were planning on taking ;)
