Full moon hike

It was almost full moon and the forecast was good, so on Friday evening we made the spontaneous decision to do a full moon hike.

Greg got up early to make hot beverages and porridge and we left the flat at 3am on Saturday under a bright, bright moon and the occasional thin cloud and set off towards Allschwil. It's insanely bright outside, with super sharp moon shadows. We start off along the Bachgraben and continue through Allschwil. We decide to go through Schönenbuch so that we get out into the open sooner, and enjoy the moon as we walk through the fields (this is one of g's normal running routes).

Back down the hill through the woods to rejoin the other running route, up the hill, and then through the fields along the broad top enjoying the views. We take a short break to eat a bit and have tea and coffee before heading into the woods. Through the woods, past a woman walking with two dogs who were not happy to see us - the only other person we really see on the whole hike - and then down, down into Biel-Benken. The really muddy bit down the hill is pretty dark and not-quite frozen, but we still manage without headlamps (fun!). Through Biel-Benken then up onto the broad ridge and along (in the open again, yeah!) until we get to Flüh. We had toyed with the idea of stopping at a bakery here, but end up not walking past one, so we skip that. Onwards up, up, past Mariastein and then to the start of the climb up to the Blauen. By now the moon is quite low in the sky and the eastern horizing is definitely starting to get light. Another very short break before starting this to eat some dried fruit and then up, up, along the trail. At some point towards the top we opt to just go cross country instead of switching onto the forest road and head up, up, through a snowy bramble, until we hit a road just under the ridge. Along this for a bit (we aren't 100% sure where we are relative to the Metzlerenchrüz at this point, but it doesn't really matter) and then we just head directly to the ridge again so that we can catch the sunrise (it's 7:30!). We follow the trail on the ridge a bit more towards the east until we find a perfect bench with a great view and a bit of table. Here we stop, have breakfast, and enjoy the sunrise while appreciating the views (we can even see the very top of what is likely the Alps on the horizon). Soooooooo good!

We don't really have anything more concrete planned for the hike, so it's all improv now. After breakfast we head back along the ridge, past the Metzlerenchrüz, and then continue along the ridge for a while before heading down to Challpass. Here we pick up another trail and head down, down into the valley. Through Burg (with its cool castle on a sharp ridge), and then along the trail through the woods along the border. Another food break when we find a good bench in the sun above Metzerlen, and then the last bit along the trail to Rodersdorf, where we get the tram back to Basel.

This was really fun and definitely something we should do again!

Some notes:
- We weren't moving slowly on this walk. The average pace, including breaks, was below 15min/km.
- Heading down the other side of the ridge from Metzlerenchrüz to Laufen would have allowed us to get back quicker.
- We talked about heading down towards Kleinlützel but opted not to do this because the timing to get a bus would have been tricky (they only go a few times a day).
- Continuing past Kleinlützel to Delemont (another nice route that g has run before) would add about another 8km to the overall distance - probably 38km in total - and would also be a nice way to finish. We'd see more early sun that way too.
- The route we did would also make a nice run. Could be extended to return to Basel (this ends up being around 45km)

Track:
Stats: 29.7km 1165m up, 1028m down