Ausserferrera to Splügen, and the stage nobody wanted

After three big days on the Alpine Passes Trail, the walk from Ausserferrera to Splügen felt almost gentle: the shortest stage of our traverse, one green shoulder between two Graubünden valleys.

We crossed the bridge below the village and climbed through forest, streams for company, the valley opening a little more behind us with every switchback. Then a long, easy descent with Splügen growing slowly at the bottom, an old pass village of dark timber houses gathered around its church.

We were down by lunchtime, and the first decision was unanimous: straight into the river, to wash four days of trail off in water that was snowmelt-cold and completely non-negotiable. Everybody hurried out. Nobody regretted going in.

I had a sixth stage planned for the afternoon, over the Safier Berg, carefully marked optional. I asked around. Silence. And when I checked with myself, I found silence there too. Even the person who plans these trips had had enough. So we sat in the sun instead, then took the train home, and the Safier Berg stayed on the list for another year.

Looking back at the whole traverse, this is the change I would make: not the route, the pace. The views on this stage deserved slower legs than we brought to them, and there is no medal for hurrying through country this good. Walked as its own relaxed weekend, this quiet corner, the forest, the river, the village at the end, is a small reward of a hike, and it should be treated like one.