and I could do with it today. Low cloud, cold wind, wet road, occasional drops blown on the wind. Not the best day for the three passes, as it's sure to be worse higher up, . . . . . But it's not actually raining here, so things could be worse. Spoke to Bev using voip for 10 minutes. It's colder there than here, despite appearances.
11 AM
Low cloud but no rain down here. The Aare River is flowing swiftly outside my window, so loud that I confuse the sound with rain. Set off up Grimsel just after 10. Only occasional rain and that light. Did about 20 minutes and got near the top, but the fog was so bad that there was no point in going on.
See The turning point
I was warm (5 degrees outside), dry and the road wasn't slippery, so would have kept going if I had to. I'll try again after an hour at the hotel; maybe I can find a webcam that shows me the conditions at the top of one of the passes.
12 PM
I turned at Raterichsbodensee, at 1800 m, 4 km from the top of the pass at 2150 m ; here's the webcam at the Grimsel Hospiz Hotel, just up the road (steep climb up a dam wall) at 2000 m at 11.05 AM;
And 11.25
And here's what it should look like.
I'll keep a check on this one.
And here's the cam at Oberwald, just over the top and down at 1350 m.
1 PM
Things don't look much better, even on the alternative route over Susten Pass which goes to 2260 m.
And at Steingletscher 2 km before, at 1850 m.
May as well have lunch.
At 2.30 conditions at the Grimsel Hotel have improved only a little
But the forecast for tomorrow is no rain, cloud/sun, temperature 2 to 8. Bliss! It rained steadily at Innertkirchen from about 11 onwards.
I'll keep watching the web.
And I did.
At 3.30 the fog situation was much the same, but I was able to advise a mixed-gender group of motorcyclists sheltering on the hotel verandah that No, there was no snow on Grimsel, just fog, whipped out the iPad and showed them the photo taken 5 minutes earlier. But when I look at it now, I reckon that looks a lot like snow falling! Hope they're OK.
Strangely, other than a butcher's and a bike shop, Innertkirchen has only 2 small general shops, in the space of 100 m, and they each sell exactly the same things?
Q: What is there to do in Innertkirchen?
A: Catch the train to somewhere else.
So after indexing my socks and disposing of surplus receipts, I caught the little electric train that shuttles back and forth 15 km between Innertkirchen and Meiringen. From Meiringen you connect to the rest of Swiss rail.
Meiringen proved to be much more organised,
even having a shop that sold mainly wool, as well as being the site of the Sherlock Holmes Museum (think Reichenbach Falls).
At 6 PM it's still raining, and the cameras show fog a little worse than 2.30
Location:Innertkirchen, Switzerland
What did you expect in the Alps??????? At least you're on holidays!
ReplyDeleteHi Russ,
ReplyDeleteWhat were the wool goods like? you know how I like woollen goods!!
Bev