Day 2,
Woke up at around 0800 slightly hungover, but feeling great. My knee hurt slightly when bent, but not when I put pressure on it. I was stubborn and wasnt going to quit so soon. I just took some pain killers put the knee brace on, had some bread for breakfast, and started on the trail. After about 2 hours of walking the pain was no longer an issue, it was awesome, I was able to fully enjoy the sites again.
There were surprising a lot of people on this trail, and everyone actually says "bonne journée." I actually started learning French from the trail lol.
The water here taste sooo gooood and its cold. They say you dont need to filter it, but theres livestock everywhere. I used the Sawyer Squeeze Filter and I had no issues with it, it was quick and easy to get water and continue on the trail.
Just some random pick of the trail.
This was near the highest point of the trail.
Well sorta, I kinda hate bugs and this was the only part of the trail where flies constantly fly up to past my ears and up to my face it was kinda annoying. I guess it was the combination of cattle everywhere and the relatively low altitude that flies love.
The cow bells could be heard for kilometers
Champex-Lac,
So I didnt really eat anything till I got to here, time is around 1300, and I found a restaurant that made the best near meat lovers pizza and beer in Switzerland for 10 CHF. I may be exaggerating since it was the first time I had pizza there and I may have been starving, the night before I only had a sandwich for dinner. Doesnt matter, at that moment its was sooo delicious lol.
It was still pretty early so I continued on the trail.
Not sure what this was, everything was in French, but it was cool.
Orsieres,
I looked to camp out here but I couldnt find anything close, after looking at the map the next town is Le Chable. The trail looked to be flat and an easy cool down day hike, meaning I wanted to skip it. I ended up taking the train to Le Chable for 7 CHF. I think it was worth it, the people I talked to later on the hike said they didnt like it and would have skipped it if they did it again.
I couldnt find any campsites in Le Chable, so I ended up staying in a hostel for 39 CHF. It came with a free day unlimited cable rides. It was located under a bar, which was also a plus.
The problem was that the Hostel was in a Bomb Shelter, and that giant concrete door is held open by a pad lock. This was the off season and I just happen to be the only one in there for the night, probably theres a reason for that. Those 3 holes on the left side are for air circulation, so one way in one way out. Now all of the scary movies I watched were in the back of my mind and I was kinda freaking out but I ended up staying. Of course I paid with a card to leave a paper trail and sent family and friends the info and an Im safe timeline.
Back to my knee, on the train ride to Le Chable, I guess relaxing my knee allows it to swell and the pain slowly started to come back. So the pain killers work for the hike but I ended up paying for it at the end of the day. I was limping my way around town. The pain seems to go away when I keep it active, and it comes back when I relax it.
Here is the room, it was nice and there was a shower with warm water.
At around 0200, I woke up with my heart racing, I may have been a little bit paranoid, but as soon as I woke up, I was like "Im alive, Im going for a walk" lol. I took my day pack, which had all my important stuff, and just went walking around the town for about 1 hour and came back. Again, I may have just been paranoid, but when I got back I smelled a hint of cigarette smoke in the common area. I walked around to check if I was still alone, and sorta slept with one eye open.
