Full moon, sunrise, and a very long walk

It was the night before the full moon and the weather was perfect, so we set out for a full-moon hike and to have breakfast while watching to sunrise. The rest of the plan for the day was just to do a long hike.

We left at 4:30 with the idea of having a couple of hours under the moon before the sun came up at ~6:40. Good theory, but we mis-calculated how long the hike to our planned breakfast spot would take. Fortunately we realized this while hiking, changed plans, and did a bit of light running to reach a bench above Oberwil with a good view in the right direction.

The moon was super bright (I love moon shadows!), we had a beautiful sunrise and a good breakfast and then started walking again. Eventually we decided that Delemont would be the goal, so that's what we did.

This ended up being our longest hike so far. Super fun, great day!

Track:

Stats: 

Total time: 10 hours (7:24 moving according to my watch), 42.8km, 1300m up, 1200m down.

Breakfast hike to the Belchenflue

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Breakfast hike

G had his second vaccination Saturday evening, so we wanted to get an early start and be flexible in case he started feeling the vaccination.

Tram to Allschwil, then walking up to Schönenbuch along the usual running route. Breakfast at the water tower, then onwards past the start of the firing range to the trail along the border, down beside the woods, then through the woods and along the usual running route. Stop at the pond at the bottom of the hill because the frogs are so loud, then onwards. Instead of taking the usual route down we decide to go find the tower which G had seen on a couple of runs. We take an improv route and need to cross the stream at a random spot, but eventually find our way there. After enjoying the view from the tower it's back along the bridge trail and then down into town where we catch the tram to shorten the way back (G is starting to feel the vaccine).

It's great to have nice breakfast outside spots so easily accessible. :-)

Track:

Stats: 2:50, 11km, ~175m up and down

Climbing at Baerenfels

It's supposed to be hot, we want to get some climbing in, and G has an appointment for his second vaccine in the late afternoon, so we get an early start. From Aesch we walk up to the Bärenfels, do a bit of searching to find the routes in the Gewächshaus sector, then walk up to the top to have breakfast and enjoy the views.

After breakfast, the climbing:

Sector Gewächshaus (grades from the SAC book):

• Kampf der Titanen (5a)
• Superdirettissima (5a)
• Schlacht um Chronos (5b)
• Chronos Direkt (5c+, A in lead, G with the rope through the quickdraw just above the 5c+ bit)
• G also did some combination of Superdirettissima and Schlacht um Chronos in his trail running shoes in top rope

After that we hiked over the ridge and then moved to the sector Ostgruppe where we climbed:

• Mardi Gras (5a, kind of a goofy route, but fun at the very top)
• Oliver Twist (5a, fun climbing with interesting body positions)

Afterwards we walked back down and took the train back home.

Shouldn't forget that Bärenfels is super convenient for us.

Frick to Wenslingen

We enjoyed having breakfast outside so much that we decided to do it again, but this time a bit closer to home.

Train to Frick and then up, up into the orchards. Our original plan is to do breakfast in the ruin, but there's a nicely situated picnic table with good views so we stop there instead. After a good breakfast we continue along the path to the ruins of Alt-Tierstein. A bit of playing around in the ruins and then up the rest of the way to the ridge and onwards. Along the easy path under the trees, past the outdoor chapel at Buschberg, onwards, a bit too much on the road, until the view opens up before us and we find a bench with a nice view. Here we do a food break (wearing our warm stuff... it's not particularly summery today) before continuing on through Anwil, down into the gorge, past the frog bridge, and then up the other side to Wenslingen. We do this last bit at a decent pace so that we can catch the bus.

Track:

Stats: 4:20, 16.1km, ~525m up, ~325m down

A long Jura ridge hike

The weather forecast wasn't great, so we opted for a long Jura hike. 

We got a quite early start and took breakfast with us with the idea that we'd have breakfast with a view from the Vogelberg. Starting from Reigoldswil things were ok, though cloudy and somewhat cool, and we even saw a bit of sun as we worked our way up. Our intent was to move reasonably quickly, but it's muddy enough that this doesn't really work out. The weather slowly gets crappier and by the time we hit the ridge above the Vogelberg restaurant it's actively raining. We stop under shelter at the restaurant and consider our options. No matter what we're going to need to head onto towards Passwang, so we set back out again. 

By the time we reach the Vogelberg itself the rain has stopped, but since it's really too windy to comfortably have breakfast we continue on to a spot a bit below the pass where we're out of the wind and can have breakfast. We'd brought along a thermos full of porridge and the jetboil so that we could do coffee and tea, so it was a nice breakfast. And, despite the suboptimal conditions, it really is nice to have breakfast outside! After breakfast the weather has improved a bit, so we continue on past Passwang, down, down to Ramiswil (and past the odd little chapel in the gorge), and then up, up to the next ridge at the Laupersdörfer Stierenberg. Great Jura views from up here (there's a curtain of clouds over the Alps today, so all eyes are on the Jura!).

The original plan is to follow the ridge for a bit and then head down into the next valley and up to the first Jura ridge near the Rüttelhorn, but after seeing the ridge we're on stretching temptingly out in front of us, we opt to just continue on this one. At Obere Tannmatt we stop for cafe and kuchen (how civilized!) and then continue on and on, past Probsteberg and the cool field stone wall we saw last January during the cave trilogy hike, past Malsenberg, and then along the trail diagonally down to Gänsbrunnen (we haven't taken this route down before... it's nice), where we have a bit of time to finish our last sandwiches before catching the train that starts us towards home.

This ended up being our longest hike. We did a few over 33km last year during the corona restrictions, but this one topped those.

Track

Stats: 9:44, 35.6km, ~1600m up, ~1400m down

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