Night on an Alpine Farm

You can find small huts, or seasonal farms, in the Alps that rent rooms to hikers. On Wednesday, Isabella, Xavier and I joined our friends Karin, Aurelia and Jannah on a hike and overnight on a farm.

We took the train to Reichenbach, then a Post bus up the base of the mountain to Griesalp. Here we grabbed our packs and began our hike. After about 45 minutes into the hike, the rain and thunder started. We took cover in a small cow shed along the path for about an hour. It was still raining slightly when we set out again but cleared by the time we completed the next 90 minutes of our hike.

We found ourselves at Budalp, a lovely alpine farm. The kids spent the day playing in a small stream, feeding the pigs, playing with the dog, and watching the turning of the cheese. We hiked a bit about and mainly relaxed and dried off until dinner. We spent the evening in the main room playing games.

Although it rained more during the night, we woke to sun and had a beautiful day for a hike back down. We took a less traveled route down the mountain, stopping at another farm to buy cheese and dried meat. We also spent some time playing near a beautiful waterfall.

When we finished our hike in Griesalp, we had just enough time for icecream and coffee before beginning the journey back to Ittigen. We all arrived home Thursday night tired and satisfied.