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Twenty-Four Hours.
- annatripp757
- Jul 26, 2020
- 7 min read
Twenty-four hours doesn't really seem like a lot of time when you spend eight of those hours asleep. But when you spend all 24 hours hiking, it feels like a lifetime. For me, spending all of that time in the mountains is a sort of paradise; a paradise with blisters and sleepy eyes, but a paradise nonetheless.
In 2019 I spent the beginning of the summer living in France, finishing my year off as an aupair. I was planning to go visit a Swiss friend in Zermatt at the end of June, and one day she texted me with a proposition. She said that the week-end I was coming to visit her, she had an opportunity to do a big hike for her work in Davos, a Swiss town very special to her. She said I could join her on the hike, or come see her in Zermatt another week-end. I quickly jumped on the chance to do some hiking in the Swiss Alps, not really knowing what I was getting myself into.
My friend explained that this wasn't your normal day-hike, or "bivouac" (camping in the wild), but that we would be starting the hike at 8 a.m. on Saturday and finishing at 8 a.m. on Sunday. My first thought was, "Oh, cool! We are going to sleep in a mountain refuge." But I was wrong again. The whole idea of the company that puts together these hikes is to push yourself to new levels. So, as you've probably already guessed, this was a hike for 24 hours, straight. We had scheduled breaks for food and water, but other than that it was simply hiking.
My journey started getting to Geneva (Switzerland), from Lyon (France), and after that I had to take three more trains to get to Davos, which is in the East of Switzerland. If you don't know already, Switzerland is a beautiful country ... every single part of it is stunning! During my day of travel, I passed countless lakes, beautiful mountains, and I had a quick stop in Zurich (the largest city in Switzerland) to look around the city. It might be an expensive place to travel, but it is oh so worth it.
Speaking of expenses, I thought I would give a quick travel tip for anyone looking to travel to Switzerland. Busses and Blabla car (a carpooling app) are going to be the cheapest ways to get around. Trains are super efficient, but a little expensive. I would recommend, if you're going to be traveling around the country a lot by train, to get a discount card. There are a few options, but the one that I got was the half-fare travel card. With this pass you get half off every train ticket. This is something that you need to consider in advance, but the info is in English on their website (https://www.sbb.ch/en/travelcards-and-tickets.html). If you are planning a trip to Switzerland, I'd love to help you find the cheapest option, so don't hesitate to reach out. Even Rick Steves agrees that the train discount cards are the way to go https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/switzerland-rail-passes.
My last train was one of the old red mountain trains. It was slower because it wound through the valleys and up a good bit of altitude. This was my favorite part of the trip, seeing the swiss mountain countryside, the lakes, the trees, and the mountains. The only part that was not super enjoyable was going through the mountain tunnels. The windows were open, because it was hot, but beautiful, summer day, and when the train took the turns inside the tunnels the noise that echoed was cringe-worthy.
Davos is a beautiful little town. It sits in the valley between multiple mountain peaks and is home to a lovely lake, just at the tip of the city. During the summer you can start from anywhere in the city and hop onto a hiking trail, and for the winter time it is a skiers' playground.
When I arrived, my friend met me at the train station and we walked through the town to her friend's house where we were staying that night. After, we proceeded to the registration tent to sign-in for the next day, met some of the leaders of the organization, and after had dinner with friends.
The day of the hike arrived and we were up and at 'em ready for a mountain adventure. We packed our backpacks with extra layers for the chilly mountain nights and set off for the starting point. Because we were doing this as a part of an organization we thankfully didn't have to carry any food or extra water with us, because they had set points where they fed us and gave us extra water. Looking back we were very spoiled in that aspect, but grateful for those perks during the hike.
We started off through the city, and within five minutes we were ascending on a trail. I don't remember too much about the first part of the hike, because my friend and I were just chatting away and all of a sudden we were at the top of the mountain. (Time flies when in good company.) After the first ascent it was already time for a snack and juice break, with a beautiful view. Then we continued along the mountain, through some melting snow and rushing, freezing, water. This brings me to the things that I regret not bringing on the hike: sunglasses and hiking poles. Without sunglasses it was quite hard to see straight when walking across the snow patches on a sunny day (snow blindness is a real thing my friends), but with the help of one of my friends hiking poles no tumble was had down the mountain.
After hiking along the range we proceeded back down to the lake for a hearty lunch accompanied by Alphorn music (a traditional Swiss instrument). After lunch began the hardest part of that 24 hours, for me, but also the most beautiful. When starting our ascent of the other side of the valley the summer sun hit me and above the tree-line there was no protection from it. The things that got me through that ascent, which felt like hours of straight up hiking, was partly the ice cold streams running down the mountain but mainly the help and encouragement of my friend. She stayed behind me the entire time, pushing me (literally at points), encouraging me, and even carried my pack for a bit when I was hurting.
After what felt like forever, we made it to the top, and with a few minutes of break and some water I felt refreshed and ready to keep going. We went to the highest point of the peak where we got a stunning 360 view of the surrounding area. We continued along the ridge and then descended back to the village for dinner. We ate, changed our socks, tended to blisters and chatted with our friends that came to cheer us on. If there was a point where I wanted to give up, this would be it. We had been hiking for 12 hours and I was tired, however I had no intentions on giving up that easily. The dinner and taking off our boots to sit for a bit was life-giving. We were ready to conquer another 12 hours of hiking!
We bid our friends good-bye and started for the trails again. We hiked up to the top of a ski lift then further along the mountain ridge. It was around midnight when we went down the mountain again to start the last ascent. I've done night hikes before, but when you spend that much time looking into the darkness, or your illuminated feet, you kind of forget about how tired you are and your mind starts to wander. I don't remember what I was thinking about, but when we weren't talking with each other I was so lost in my thoughts that the time flew by.
Around 2 a.m. we reached a mountain refuge where we, once again, refuelled. We ate a "late-night snack" of local sausage, coffee, and gummies. We didn't really realise how tired we were until we sat down to eat, that's when the giggles hit. We sat there cracking up trying to keep our eyes open, but loving every second of it. After we ate we sat outside and grabbed some star-gazing time. It was so beautiful I wasn't really tired anymore, even though it was pitch dark and quiet.
After we left the refuge continued along the trail and met a herd of cows. I think they were confused as to why a bunch of humans were ruining their late-night grazing. We kept on going though they were obviously not very happy with us. We had to side step a few angry cows but they quickly became uninterested in us. We didn't stop again until sunrise, and man, that sunrise was gorgeous! We'd spent all that time in the dark it was refreshing to turn off our head lamps and see the sights again.
The second hardest part of the entire hike was the very last descent. My blisters had grown a decent amount and walking down was bringing out the pain and exhaustion in my body. Thankfully we chatted our way down the mountain so it passed quickly. Upon arrival to the "base camp" we were offered a beer (at 8 a.m.), a snack, and a seat. We thanked the organizers, received our certificate of completion, and headed straight for the lake, where we spent the rest of the day napping in the sun, before heading to Zermatt.
Looking back at this experience, I wouldn't say it wasn't super difficult all together. Yes, I had my moments of exhaustion hiking up to the peaks, yes it was hot, yes I got blisters, but when you have the supports of friends, and strangers, and you get to spend that much time taking in what the mountains have to offer, time flies by and you are only left feeling fulfilled and a bit sleepy.
Thanks for reading!! I hope this makes you want to find some nature and go enjoy it! Whether it's the Swiss Alps, or the Appalachians, or a local park, adventure is waiting!
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