May 29th, 2009 
Sheila Simkin I’m halfheartedly wishing for a rainy day, just one, then we’d take a day off from hiking. But it’s another blue sky, sunny day with the mountain views mentally forcing us to exercise. Picked what is supposed to be an excellent hike for today. A classic, easy, panoramic, high-altitude family hike. The Tourist Office literature suggests beginning in Lech and ending in Schrocken because there are cable cars in Lech to begin with. We’ll do the reverse and end in Lech.
There was a 30-45 minute hold up on the bus to Schrocken and no traffic is going in either direction. I asked the person behind me if they sprechen ze English, and the women mentioned something about a landslide, but while sitting an ambulance went by. They are doing roadwork but why would they need an ambulance for roadwork? ‘Tis a puzzlement.
At long last, traffic began to move and the two of us were the only ones who got off the bus in the small town of Schrocken. Adjusted backpacks, hiking sticks, double-checked the trail markers, took a fast pee in the bushes, and headed up the mountain with a backward look at the church.
Not a steep trail (this is considered a family hike), but I sincerely doubted that we’d see anyone on the primarily plateau crossing over to Lech. This seemed to be the case for the first few hours. Only herds of cows in the high pastures…
..a few smooshed frogs on the trail…
…and incredible views of mountain tops with snow still nestled in hollows and glaciers. Remarkable that there was still snow at the end of August.
The further we got into the hike and the closer to Lech, the more people we saw coming towards us. A family carrying one baby on Dad’s back, another toddling along and two dogs in tow. Older people schlepping along…us….young people…all out enjoying the sights. There were other towns and chairlifts running parallel to this plateau that one could ride up (or down) and rejoin this classic hike.
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