Day 7 – Urnerboden to Attinghausen

11.3 miles  ascent 1926′   descent 3280′ Klausenpass (pass #3)

At breakfast we met a group of friendly Swiss ladies that had been walking together for forty years.  We left at 7:40 to get a good start on the pass.  As it turned out, this was a relatively easy pass.

As we began some little goats came up to us for a few pets.

The trail emerged into the trees as it went up steeply.  We crossed over the zig zag road numerous times.  We saw our one and only snake on this portion.  We are not  snake fans so it took a minute or two to regain control.  So with the adrenaline flowing,  we finished the climb.

We had a cup of tea and a snack at the pass and then moved on to begin our descent.  We decided to take the cut off to see Äsch and it’s waterfall.  The going was very steep as we went back and forth down the mountain.  Our poles were very handy to keep us upright. The local marmots were out in numbers to watch our progress.  As we rounded a bend towards the bottom, beautiful Stäubifall burst from the mountain above, directly behind the little village.

From here we followed a gravel road down to Unterschächten where we caught the Postbus to Altdorf.  Altdorf is the home town of William Tell.  His monument is prominently displayed in the center of town.At this point I want to tell you how very helpful the bus drivers are in Switzerland.  They went out of their way to help us many times.  A driver would get off the bus and walk us to our next stop if there was a question as to where we should go.  The most amazing helpful gesture was in Altdorf.  We had gotten off the bus and had been walking around town for about 45 minutes when a bus drove past us. The bus driver was wildly waving something at us as he pulled the bus over.  Lynda had left her passport on her seat in the bus.  He had driven back through town looking for us to return it.  He had just saved our trip from becoming quite chaotic!

After a little more sightseeing we took another Postbus to our B&B in Attinghausen.