Fields of Crocus!

Day 2 of Hiking. There is a strong urge to burst out singing “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music” or at least yodel! Another full day of hiking. The Alpine meadows are filled with wildflowers…crocus! Bluebells, fritallaria….pinks, blues, reds, yellows against a deep green grass background and above we have that deep blue sky and puffy white cumulus clouds. This being the weekend, the meadow trails are also filled with a ton of nature afficionados. Rather than dodge mountain bikes, hiker baby-strollers, elders with walking sticks, and dogs on leashes, we literally head for the mountains where we are only passed by younger hikers and only a handful of those. So we got the quiet and solitude of the mountain trail. As we hiked up, my brand new Scarpa hiking shoes were put to the test and passed with flying colors. I scrambled over rock fields, walked through fast flowing streams of snow melt, climbed up steep rock paths, and trudged through snow. When we got close to the top (and very high up) I opted to be the voice of reason and shouted to Mike. Hey, we can see the top, now let’s go down for a Skiwasser (raspberry drink) and apple streudel at the nearest hut. Continuing meant steeper scrambles and more snow. (Extras). And so we turned around and were promptly passed by a pair of young gazelles aka 20 something couple prancing down the mountain. (I could be your grandmother!!! ) We take it VERY slowly and carefully.