The power of nature

Day 5 began in a slightly more chilled fashion. This was going to be an easy day ... ready for the big blowout Thursday.. our last day here.
We got up pretty late... tested out our various aches and pains in the walk to the shower... declared ourselves fit enough for an easy 'by the river' walk and set off.
The first little bit through the forest challenged our slightly broken joints.
Just as well its an easy day huh

We passed the Europaweg signs with ease... we have done that one and strolled down towards the town of Randa... we reached the river crossing.... or where there had been one to discover that the bridge... steel girders and all had been torn from the mountainside by an avalanche. It was not the first sign we had had here. If the lower reaches of the mountains... even into the valleys had paths and bridges torn out... it was little wonder that the upper reaches were deemed impassable. We had struggled over tiny snowpacks in comparison to the monsters that hung above our heads.
If anything has been shown to me this week.. it is a reminder of the forces of nature and how man can build and try to tame it with bridges... roads and houses... but in the end ... all one can do is cling on and hope that the destructive power of nature will pass by you... in some cases by only inches.
Paul said that it was a reminder of the cycle of life... there has to be destruction for renewal to begin. All too true.

So we went down the slope... and found a lower path which led to an undemolished bridge. Of course we couldnt resist a little rock clambering and came up to the edge of the end of the avalanche... bits of bridge everywhere and the ice still a foot thick with the water gushing out from underneath it.

We then continued on the path... down into the town of Randa... a very quiet town... no people... or shops. Some of the older chalets were decorated beautifully as a reminder of times when this wasnt a tourist trap valley. The slate roofs now coloured with moss and lichen blended into the rugged landscape perfectly.

We found the path on the other side of the river and dutifully followed it... ignoring signs for Domhütte (blue route) and Weißhornhütte (undoubtedly impassable) and stuck to our easy day plan. Go us!

Having decided our goal was mileage rather than vertical feet we were aiming for 10ish miles... we continued on by the river.. noting all the places washed out by Avalanche. We came to a sign for St Niklaus. Lets go that way.... regretted instantly as the footpath went straight up. Immediately we came across signs... fallen trees blocking our path .. ignored and stepped over as usual. We continued ip and it wasnt long before the first snowpack came into view... we clambered down the slope... around the bottom and back up to the path. Here we go again!
Several snowpacks later the path wound down back to the river path that we could have followed. To be honest the path after that was rather dull... it just steadily went down the valley. Miles down that would have to be climbed back up...

At nearly 7 miles with aching feet and legs we called it a day and turned round to head back. On our way we saw the Hängebrücke (suspension bridge) perched high above the valley floor. That part of the mountain looked clear of avalanche chutes and below the main snowline. Given that our original plan had included a traverse of this monster bridge a plan formed for tomorrow. We could at least climb up to it... even if the bridge was shut it would be a good climb. Perfect way to end the week here.

And so we crawled back to the campsite for a cold coke and a good game of cards... with my head filled with what tomorrow might bring.

Deffo no easy walk in the morning we agreed... lets go out on a high!