Km today : 30
Km remaining : 229
What a long day! After a difficult night under the street lamp and all of the noise of Altdorf, I packed my wet tent from last evening rain. I took the bus to the main place of Altdorf and had breakfast there. After getting some food it was time to start the hike at 9:20. Announced time was 10:45 and that’s hiking time only. The first part was easy but the wall I had to climb was getting closer to me. And it was quite warm already. To get up to Brüsti 1000 meters higher, you can take a cable car. I didn’t. Instead I took the very steep path to the arrival of the cable car. I took me almost 2 hours (instead of the three announced) and I was soaking wet. Despite the horsefly biting me I didn’t stop much and I sweated so much that salt had started to cristalize on my forearms. It was crazy! But I was happy to have this first part behind me. I ordered 1.5 liter of iced tea that I drank in 10 minutes. Then I went on with the ascent. It took another two hours to reach the pass. At the start it was easy but then they were a few steep snow field that I had to cross and I tried not to slip down the mountain. Some other hikers even had worse footwear but they still frowned at my sandals, some saying I was crazy, the other laughing about my feet getting wet and the others congratulating me about this curious idea. Despite the snow burned my toes a little, I reached the Surenen pass slowly but quite easily. Finally, Engelberg was getting closer. After a small break under the burning sun, I started the descent to Blackenalp. I had a big glass of milk and enjoyed the place. I need to get back there sometime. Another two and a half hours brought me to Engelberg at 18:45, getting through a nice protected forest. I had a look at the itinerary and found out that the total ascent of the day was 2100 meters which easily explain the 6 liters I drank today.
Tomorrow will be a zero day. This mean just rest and do almost nothing. I may enjoy it a lot.