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“Easy is a relative term,” he shrugged when I asked mountainside cheesemakers, drop-dead gorgeous
about the steep elevation gains and drops. So, final- scenery – and still easily make it to my destination
ly I understood: Hiking 4,000 feet up, then 4,000 before dark, or in time to shower on the afternoon
feet down meant my route was “relatively” flat. I’d booked a massage.
Before our day was over, Welti had me lead the way
As Jaisli reminded me to place my luggage in the on the trail – and after steering us wrong twice, I
hotel lobby by 9 each morning and to carry that began to get things right. Could I have managed
night’s hotel voucher in my daypack each day, I the week without his expertise? Probably. But it
scanned the trail maps he provided. The print was wouldn’t have been so easy – or half the fun.
microscopic.
Lingering images
When I got lost, as I knew I would,
could I surmount the Swiss/Ger- When I reflect on my week on
man language barrier to ask for the Circle Trail, a whirlwind of
help getting back on track? Would sensory images fills my mind.
somebody send out a search party
if I failed to show up at the night’s I see a narrow, worn track that
hotel? undulates across lush rolling
farmlands, meanders across
“From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., you can call trickling mountain streams
the help line,” Jaisli said. “We’re and beside the crystal waters
here seven days a week. of Lake Lucerne. I inhale the
scent of cut grass, rotting wood,
“And don’t worry about the weath- sodden peat, the perfume of
er,” he continued. “They’re pre- towering pines that appeared
dicting rain, but in Switzerland like ghosts on fog-shrouded
it’s always better than it’s forecast. Mount Rigi. I hear the clang of
Besides, bad weather also has its cowbells – a sound that came
charm. Just go, go, go.” to mean security for me; it meant civilization was
nearby. But mostly I hear the silence, interrupted
I decided to hire a guide – just for the first day. only by the crunch of my own boots on the trail.

A guiding light My hours of solitude were a unique gift. Being
alone allowed my mind’s eye to see in ways I oth-
Jaisli recommended Rene Welti, a Swiss-born hik- erwise wouldn’t have. In open meadows, I saw
ing maestro who was raised in the San Francisco myself as a child on a wide porch swing, snuggled
Bay Area and lived most of his life in the U.S. In beside my beloved aunt; I heard the birds that once
2010 he moved to Lucerne and two years later twittered in her garden. Along sunny ridges, I felt
started ECHO Trails, leading guided hikes in the the warm embrace and unconditional love of my
area. Lonely Planet named him their local outdoor long-gone grandmother. I could see both shaking
expert. their heads, warning of the dangers of hiking alone.
Then I saw their smiles. They shared my joy as I nes-
Welti agreed to meet me early the next morning tled into now as if I were climbing into their soft
near the Lucerne dock where we hopped a ferry to inviting laps.
my kick-off point. Our day together encompassed
so much more than hiking. It’s true that Swiss Step by step
trails are well marked – but Welti taught me how to
read the marks. I learned that squat yellow rhom- My days started with breakfast, which was includ-
buses were my friend: They lead to generally easy, ed at each hotel along my route. I gathered my
flat trails. When a red-on-white stripe is added to lunches on the trail.
the mix, I’m headed for a “mountain trail,” a great-
er challenge – steeper, narrower, often uneven. I In Seelisburg, I stopped at Aschwanden Kaserie,
learned to avoid blue-on-white signposts that lead where I watched the cheese-making process begin
to what the Swiss call “Alpine routes” – trails that a few hours after cows had been milked. The way
might have been mapped for mountain goats. Californians taste wine, I learned to taste cheeses –
sampling a half-dozen varieties to pick my favorite:
When we stopped for a mid-morning snack at a Klewa, from the mountain where I’d hiked the day
mountain chalet, Welti taught me how to game before. “It’s a distinct taste because the cows there
my itinerary – how to customize my hikes with graze on flowers that are different,” explained
alternate routes using public transport (including cheesemaker Urs Aschwanden.
boats, aerial trams and even a cogwheel railway).
It gave me confidence knowing I could take my To simplify matters, I booked dinner reservations
time on the trail – be distracted by village bakers, at each of the hotels where I stayed. At Hotel Stern-

Wine Dine & Travel Winter 2015 35