A Walk to Unterschachen {Switzerland} (32/48)

One week in Switzerland the rain seemed to settle into our valley with no intention of leaving, so one morning we got up and drove the incredible Swiss tunnels through the mountains to a different valley in search of sunshine.

And we found it. In Unterschachen, which was up the road from the town of Altdorf.

It was fun to hike a new valley. Same gorgeous rivers and Swiss alps, but different views.

Often on our hikes in Switzerland, one or more of the kids would opt to stay back at the house. Especially if we had been on a particularly long hike the day before.

But this day everyone came and we had packed a big picnic lunch complete with fresh bread from the bakery on our way out of the village.

The hike paused at a ridge where there were 360 degree views of mountains. I was in awe.

And so were the kids. Really.

At the ridge there was kind of a settlement, a collection of just a few houses and farms.

And a darling little church.

There was actually a road to this area, but you were only allowed to drive on it if you live up there.

And to the places where the road does not reach, there are these cargo pulleys.

I actually saw a man unloading several huge milk cans from this one into the back of his station wagon. I would love to know where that milk was going, and how to get some of it, because it came from happy cows wandering free in the mountains. So that means it must taste good right?

I think this guy was headed to the beer garden. There was one in town, just around the corner from the church.

Past the settlement, we hiked further up into the mountain before we had our picnic.

We didn’t really reach any certain destination. Just a spot for the boys to play and a place to eat.

Then we hiked back down the ridge, where the kids stopped again, mostly because they were waiting on me to come down. I came up behind them all sitting on this bench, a memory I’ll be holding in my heart for as long as I have life.

It kind of captures the summer for me.

The year ahead will be Cole’s last year of high school, and I don’t know if we will ever have another summer like this one, where we’re all together playing in the mountains for an extended period of time, just the six of us. This summer was one of those ones you never want to end. And this day in particular, I wanted it to go on and on.

But eventually it was time to hike back down to the car and drive back into the rain.

This hike was our 32nd hike this year in my goal of 48 walks, and our seventh hike in Switzerland. Feel free to join in and walk with us for the rest of this year!

This week I have just begun to walk the epic Coast to Coast walk in England with my friend, Diane. Follow along on Instagram or Twitter.