View from Jakobshorn

Today was a bonanza day for photos - but not without its misadventures!

When we woke up it was misty with low cloud covering the mountains, and quite cool, but we knew it would soon lift, so after breakfast we decided to go on another hike. 

These days Murdoch finds it tricky to jump into the back of the car, it being a high 4x4, so we always try to help him in and out the car. As I bent down to help him in, he jumped up to get into the car and his head connected with my nose and it was pushed back and up into my face. It sounds funny but it was extremely painful, I felt dizzy and Gavin said I went white. I was convinced it was broken as the pain was so intense, and even now, several hours later I can not touch it as it is so sore. Not much to be done for a very sore nose other than to put a bit of ice on it. Gavin had a chuckle saying he had never heard of anyone breaking their nose when putting their dog in the car! (I am sure it’s not broken, but it is very bruised and tender) 

We then drove around the mountain to Davos and got the lift up Jakobshorn mountain to start our walk into the Dischma Valley.  From there we walked along a very narrow path that was so slippery with loose stones, and with sheer drops on both sides that I lost my nerve a bit. When the man walking in front of me slipped on the loose stones and fell face first down the path, sliding quite a way down and narrowly missing falling off the path down the steep side, I really lost my nerve. He was okay but after a rest he sensibly turned to go back. We have done this walk a couple of times before but I don’t recall the path being so treacherous, we think the rise in the number of downhill cyclists coming down that path has made it deteriorate. Some of the cyclists came down the same path as we were walking along, I don’t know how they manage it, as walking it is bad enough. It was very cold up there, and even though the mist had lifted and the sky was blue it was about 5C.

The hike was mainly downhill and very steep in parts, and as we approached the valley below my legs were starting to feel quite wobbly, from the constant tension of trying not to slip. We came across a huge herd of cows, and they were blocking our path. The moment they see Murdoch they go for him, so we had to scramble up the mountain side amongst the scratchy wild azalea bushes to make a detour. Cows can be very scary, and some were being aggressive towards Gavin who had Murdoch sticking close to his legs. It was not easy trying to negotiate our way through that herd and not slip and fall from having to pick a less easy route.

We finally descended into the valley about 2.5 hours later at Teufi, after dropping 913m, and we were quite relieved to find a chalet restaurant and to finally sit down and rest our legs. We had a salad lunch out on the terrace and then caught the bus back to Davos. 

In our view was a field full of persicaria, which reminded me of the photo I took of them at Wisley in spring. I was thrilled to learn yesterday that this photo has been selected by Surrey Life magazine to be published in its next edition.

I have added some extras as I did not know which one to choose - I liked the one of Gavin and Murdoch but he did not want to be my blip!