Day 3:

When we left off, we had just arrived in Zuoz.

After checking in, and showering, we strolled
around the city before dinner.  This is a picture

of someone’s house.  Absolutely everyone

adorns their doors and windows with flowers.
 

See a short video clip with scenes from
some of the Swiss mountain tows we visited.
Swiss Town (wmv) - 18 sec 2295K

 

Day 4:
This morning a funicular in "Punt Muragl"

will start off our fourth day’s hike.  The funicular
drops us at the top (Muottas Muragl).
There are a lot of people there having a lunch and
taking in the view.
See a video clip aboard the funicular ;-).
Funicular (wmv) - 22 sec 1150K

Day 4:

This is the view from "Muottas Muragl" near the

funicular station.  Today we will hike to

Pontresina via Alp Languard.

 

Day 4:
Looking west toward St Moritz a mile or so

south of the funicular top station.

Day 4:  

Today's hike includes hiking to the point just

below the summit seen top right, Alp Languard.

Day 4:

Trails were well marked, but all with exactly the

same marker.  You could be on the wrong trail

for hours and not realize it. We were very glad
to have the GPS.

Day 4:

Another view on the way to Alp Languard.

Day 4:
You can not grasp how far away

the background is.  Way the heck down there

are little black dots.  Those are cows.

Day 4:

We are nearing Alp Languard, and looking

back toward the funicular station that we just

hiked from.  My camera is fully zoomed in.

Day 4.
An amazing view up the valley
from Alp Languard.

Day 4:

There were no fewer than four gliders visible!

Apparently because of the updrafts off the

mountains on which we're standing, the gliders

get higher with each flyby,  not lower.

Day 4:
Yes, you can buy lunch way up here at Alp

Languard, but a 10 oz soft drink costs

about $7.50 (And yes, it was worth it).

Day 4:

Descending down from Alp Languard into

Pontrasena where we will stay tonight.
 

Day 4:
Here I ran ahead of carol and took

her picture looking back up the hill toward

Alp Languard.

Day 4:

There are steep switchbacks all the way down
to Pontrasena

Day 4:

Almost there, we're only about a
half mile from Pontrasena

Day 4:

Arriving at Hotel Steinbock in Pontrasena

 Tomorrow we hike to Sils Maria. 

Day 5:
Today's we have a pretty long hike to
Sils Maria. We didn't take very many pictures. 
This one was taken  from the mountain pass we

came through en route to Hannensee.   The town
you see in the background is St Moritz.

Day 5:

Last night in Pontrasena, just before going to our

hotel, we finally decided to copy all of the
Swiss locals and ‘Hire some Sticks’
as the people said back at hotel in Guarda. 
We now are of the  opinion that trekking poles
are nearly essential.

Day 5:
From the mountaintop Café at Hannensee.

Literal translation: "Chicken(s) lake"

We bought a piece of $12 Apfelstrudel here,

and again yes, it was worth every cent.

Day 5:

I am sitting opposite Carol in the previous picture.

I just handed her the camera.

Day 5:
Here we are descending to Sils Maria
from Hannensee. 

Day 5:
This is the view from our bathroom window

at the Hotel Edelweiss in Sils Maria.  

Day 5:
Edelweiss was one of the nicer hotels we

stayed at.   This is the dining & breakfast room.

We are here at Edelweiss for two nights.

Day 6:
A morning view from our room at Edelweiss

Day 6:
Our first day of hiking from Sils Maria...

Day 6:
…we’ve not attained much altitude yet,
but we will.

Day 6:

We stopped to look at this very interesting

cave-like rock formation. 

Day 6:

Out in the middle of nowhere, we would find

little Herding villages this one (Grevaslavas)

Despite the abundance of space, all of the

buildings are built right next to each other. 

Day 6:

Descending into Grevaslavas.

We're not staying here though, we're just

 passing through.

Day 6:

This little barn belongs to the herding village

Grevaslavas, which is just over the ridge.

Day 6:

This is just few miles past  Grevaslavas.

Those are cows on the ridge.

Day 6:

Since our hike started at the valley floor.
All of the altitude you see, we gained on foot.

Day 6:

Just after this picture was taken, it stared to pour.

It poured for until we got to the lake called

 Lagh Da Lunghin,  (next picture).

Day 6: 
This is  Lagh Da Lunghin

The approach to this reflective mountain lake

was really quite treacherous.  We’re not sure

how ordinary people are supposed to get here.

It was steep, and exposed, and the traverses

were across steep jagged cliffs.  Perhaps it would

not have seemed quite so treacherous

if it had not been wet from the rain cloud that
seemed to stay in that one place for hours

despite the rest of the sky being clear. 
I suspect that it's orographic precipitation.

Day 6:

Looking down toward Maloggia and Casaccia

from the edge of lake Lagh Da Lunghin. 

 This was the highest point before descending to

 Maloggia where we shuttled back to

Hotel Edelweiss.

See a short video clip of some of the Scenery
from this very day of hiking.
Swiss Hike (wmv) - 37 sec 4662K

Day 6:

This is the view toward the lake as we descended

 into Maloggia, where we will shuttle back to

Hotel Edelweiss in Sils Maria.

Day 6:

We were happy to be nearing our destination.

Day 6:

This is one of many creatures that we had to share

 trail space with.  He/She is blocking the view of

Isola.  Maloggia, our destination is to my right.

See a short video clip of these cows and
hear the cowbell cacophony.
Swiss Cows (wmv) - 16 sec 722K

Day 6:

We are waiting for the shuttle, happy to sit and

rest.  We are looking forward to the hotel. 

Day 6:

I've said it before, but the best part about this

kind of hiking is that at the end of each day,

you get to shower, eat real food,

and sleep in a big feather bed.

Day 7:

Today's hike began with a shuttle to Casaccia

where we begin our final hike to Soglio. 

Here are the switchback roads the shuttle

took us on.

Day 7:

More switchbacks

Day 7:

A wooden footbridge on the way to Soglio

Day 7:

Views en route to Soglio

Day 7:

More views en route to Soglio

Day 7:
This was an interesting undercut  rock formation

Day 7:

Nearing the end of the day, we thought we’d

be descending down into Soglio and that it would

look something like this view here.  It turned

out that Soglio is way up high in the

mountains so we didn't have to descend at all.

We were very happy to discover this.  The town

you see in the background is Vicosoprano.

Day 7:

This is a view from the terrace of our hotel.
The high mountain town of Soglio is quite

beautiful. The Italian border is a stone's

throw away. Only 1.2 miles!

Day 7:

The whole village of Soglio was built like this.

Day 8:

This morning we woke up early, had a big Swiss

breakfast and departed from our hotel in Soglio,
Once again we boarded the Rhätische Bahn train
for a very pleasant (yet somewhat complicated 
 trip to Avignon, France where we continue our

trip by cycling through the historical towns of

Provence.

Video clips from aboard the Rhätische Bahn

Better: Red Train (wmv) - 38 sec 4975K

Short: Red Train Short (wmv) - 10 sec 635K  

Day 8:

 The last leg of our day's rail trip is aboard the
 famous TGV in France. 
Our GPS clocked us at the staggering speed of
188 MILES per hour (not kilometers) on
our short trip.  I snapped this picture (foolishly)
 thinking we'd hit top speed. 
See the French countryside
passing by at 187 MPH
TGV twilight (wmv) - 02 sec 342K
This video was taken on the run between
Lyon par deux and Avignon.