Do you ever go hiking in the evening or at night? If you haven’t tried it yet, why not sign up for one of the guided tours as part of Schweizer Wandernacht? Guided walks are organized throughout Switzerland on a Saturday night in July with a full (or nearly full) moon.
Last year we walked in the rain at Rigi – the sky was cloudy so we barely saw the moon at all and certainly didn’t get to see the spectacular sunset we’d hoped for. This year we ventured slightly further to the stunning Bödmerenwald in the Muotathal region with the weather on our side.
We were in a small group of six people taken on a guided tour of one of Switzerland’s three Urwälder (ancient forests). These forests are basically left alone to do their own thing, dead trees are left where they fall and there is no commercial logging.
After driving up the Pragels pass we headed into the forest around 7:15pm. The light was still good at this time, which was essential, as the ground was so uneven – with various holes to avoid and a few obstacles to clamber over.
The forest was simply beautiful with lots of spruce trees (Fichten) and ferns everywhere – it really felt like we had gone back in time. Our guide was friendly and very knowledgeable, explaining why the region had stayed so unchanged over the years, what happened to the dead trees, why trees have rings, the best locations for the trees to grow and much more.
The guide spoke Swiss German to us and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I could understand. He also taught us a few words specific to the Muotathal region such as Hund-schi – which means ‘Muskel Kater’. I’ve no idea whether I spelled it correctly, let’s hope so!
After hiking for a couple of hours and covering a surprisingly short distance we emerged from the forest just as it was getting dark (‘es mauklet’), in time for a quick glass of wine and some local cheese.
All in all, it was a brilliant evening. The terrain was tricky so it’s not a walk for everyone but if you like getting off the beaten path and seeing nature how it used to be (and still can be), then this area is definitely worth exploring.
Finally, you may be hoping for a picture of the full moon to accompany this post. Sadly we didn’t catch a glimpse of it at all on the walk but did see it as we were driving home. It really was spectacular! Next year we’ll try to choose a walk where we get to walk in moonlight – third time lucky!
Language Tip
Many of my German speaking students use the expression ‘we were six’ to describe the number of people in a group. In English, it’s quite unusual to express it this way. Instead we tend to say ‘there were six of us’.
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