Recently I got to spend a whole week with my class from school, climbing in the mountains. When I first heard that I would be spending a whole week hiking my first thought was that there was no way I was going to survive a week of intensive hiking. But after getting to think about it, I realized how lucky I was to be getting the opportunity to become better aquainted with my fellow classmates.
The two or three days before we were supposed to leave, I spent preparing for a week in the wild. I didn't have much trouble with that part though since, being from Alaska, my whole life is spent living in the wild (just kidding). I must admit though, I found myself listing pointers that my dad had given me in the past, such as no cotton and plenty of chocolate. Being in Switzerland I had no trouble with the chocolate part. I have to admit that is one of my favorite aspects of Switzerland, the chocolate. Although I have to admit that the transportation is pretty incredible too.
One Monday, we all arrived at the bahnhof at about 8:20 in the morning. We then proceeded to get on about five different trains and travel for about four and a half hours before we finally arrived in Andermatt, our starting point.From Andermatt, it was a five hour hike up into the beautiful swiss mountains. I actually found myself singing songs from The Sound of Music. I wanted to start dancing and singing Do, Re, Mi . Sadly, I restrained myself. I also found it curious how many little cabins there were fpr people to stay in, all along the trail.
The next day we had pretty horrible weather. It was like Switzerland was trying to prove to me that it could get as cold as Alaska if it wanted to. I got really frustrated when I had to take off and put on my jacket, like twelve times throughout the day. Everytime we started hiking I would heat up and have to take of my jacket and then everytime we would take a break, I would immediately freeze my tushy off. I am a little suprised I didn't get hypothermia. Needless to say, it was a blessing when I finally saw the place where we would be staying for the next two days. It was a cute little hostel (for a lack of better words) up in the middle of the mountains. After securing a bed for myself, I went to obtain some food for my poor stomach. Unfortunatley, that meant walking uphill for five minutes, in pouring rain and strong winds. The meal was so good that it ended up being worth it. After hanging out with my classmates, laughing and talking, I finally curled up in my bed and slept.
The next day was nice because we didn't have to go hiking at all. After breakfast, we all came back to the hostel so that our teachers could outline what the plan was for the day. For the most part, we would stay inside. However, for two hours we were supposed to go off by ourselves and have alone time to think. As much as I had enjoyed my classmates, I welcomed the opportunity to be by myself and just let my mind have a rest. So I went off into the woods to think. At first I was a little bored because I had nothing to do, but once I settled down, it was nice to just think about home, what I missed, what I would do when I got back, how happy I was in Switzerland, and I even started reciting sentences to myself in German. After getting back I sat in front of the fire driving the cold from my bones. We had a brief moment where we panicked about the exchange student from Mexico who hadn't returned yet. When she got back, she calmly informed us that she had fallen asleep. I still chuckle when I think about it. That night, one of my classmates had a fever, so the next day he went back home.
On our fourth day we were back on the trail, heading to the next hostel that we would stay at. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and even though it was cloudy, at least it wasn't raining.
The next day we were blessed with beautiful weather and I mean absolutely gorgeous. There was not a cloud in the sky and there was only a slight breeze to keep us cool as we hiked. After about three hours, we were in the valley where we would catch a train back. It was really cool to be in the italien part of Switzerland and the other exchange student kept pointing out words that she understood because of her spanish. One of my classmates ran around with no shoes and we all enjoyed a nice meal. I really enjoyed the architecture because it was slightly different from what I had seen so far in Switzerland. After catching a train back to Nidwalden, I took a bus to get to Stans and was there picked up by my host parents after having said good-bye to everyone. Once I got home, I had dinner and then excused myself to go get some well-deserved rest. For the next two week I would have fall break and I knew that I would need my rest because I had a lot ahead of me.
Grace Mullins
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