June 10, 2023 - Andermatt - Zurich, Furka Pass

 Happy Birthday to our son Sam who turned 31 today.  He and his girlfriend Miranda are going to visit us here in Andermatt next week for a couple of days, that will be fun.

Yesterday, Sooz and I decided to ride to Zurich and check it out.  It's a beautiful city and took us about 2 hours to get there.  We walked around for a couple of hours, had lunch and were home by 5pm.  It's a fairly large city so the traffic was busy.  It's about 3,000 feet lower than Andermatt so it was also very warm, in the low 80s.  

This morning Sooz and I were sitting on the front balcony drinking coffee and enjoying the scenery when we starting hearing loud sounds coming from the road near Andermatt.  Then a lady began stopping traffic right in front of our apartment.  It turns out Andermatt has a cattle drive, at least they did today.  They were moving a noisy herd of bell-ringing cows up the road and into another pasture.  And, we had front row seats.  You can see, and hear, the video below - it was LOUD.

Later on this afternoon, Sooz and I said, "Let's go for a nice, relaxing ride - not too long."  So, we got on the bike and rode slowly around Andermatt, checked out their fairly new golf course and then started down a road we had not been on before.  We stayed on the road as it keep going higher and higher into the mountains eventually leading us to Furka Pass at just under 8,000 feet.  It was wild.  Temperatures dropped to the mid 50s and there was snow all around us as we peaked the pass.  When we got back I checked Google Maps and the entire ride was only 18 miles roundtrip and took us less than 2 hours.

Andermatt Cattle Drive Video - HERE

Furka Pass Waterfall Video - HERE

Sooz striking a pose on a Furka Pass snow runway.

The GS at Furka Pass

Sooz checking to see if the snow runoff is cold.

Sooz checking her phone at nearly 8,000 feet

This is a shot on the way to Furka Pass, including part of a "protective barrier" that is intended to slow you down a little as you go over the road's edge.

Occasionally, we see these small settlements at high elevations in the middle of nowhere. I guess they must do enough business to stay alive, but it seems really remote.