Call it whatever you want to, I call today a comeback! Walked out "Auberge des Charmettes" after a small breakfast with tea to get 2 sports drinks and snacks at the gas station. Bumped into a herd of cows and felt better as I approached Grand st. Bernard.

Sat down 2 hours later for an extra salty soup with some sweet fizzydrink. And then the magic happened: I was back. 100% full on myself again.

Spent the day crossing four passes while reeling in 59k and over 3'000 meters in altitude, only to end up in the last free Hotelroom in Trient.

But have a look at the picture below: reached the Supermarket of Champex-Lac 5 minutes before closure. I front of the store stood 2 asian hikergirls eating ticinobread - and - their faces and clothes seemed familiar. Of course it was them, the www.twinslilivivi.com . What a coincidence. They appeared in my feed from time to time since they started the Pacific Crest Trail in Spring 2022. And here they where. We refueled on calories and talked the talk. Has been nice meeting them. Cu another time twins and take care.

Today was a good day :)

Six. That's how many passes I'd crossed today. Six. Most of them where just a couple meters shy of 3'000. The hight and the cold brought snow and ice which turned the trail at times into a slippery slope, especially since my trailrunners tread is almost gone.

The day ended with a long and steep 1'100 meter downhill - into the night :)

It was -5`Celsius on the 3'000 meter pass, at least. That's when my gloves not only came in handy - but the center piece of my dress up.

It has been a frosty day alltogether. From passing Corne de sorbois, down to a crazy green colored lake with one more glacier behind, over the windy Col de torrent down and back up to the Pension du Lac Bleu. This is where I'm at right now. Waiting for a delicious bowl of ramen noodles.

My gear is built for a 3 season trip - while now season 4 just tickled Switzerland.

But I sketched out the plan for the final days to come... and i'm curious about the outcome!

t has been a long day. 45k and more than 3'300m i n altitude. Woke up in a quiet corner of the sports arena of Grächen. Had a small talk with another friendly local whom cheered me up for sleeping in front of her gym.

Jogged down to st. Niklaus amd got some food from Denner. Then hiked up Augstbord Pass and experienced two things: a suoer fast couple of trailrunners and a mellow Ibex with huge horns. Came down to the valley and ... stepped into the fourth place i'd allready hiked when going to the Bishorn. Saw Turtmann hut from afar and walked over the mighty Meidpass. Has been pretty cold up there so I'd pass by Weisshorn Hotel and also cleared the third section of the day into Grimentz.

That's where I'd found a super cheap (54.-) Hotelroom with free breakfast. Why? Because there is no sports centre plus temperatures drop tonight and there will be rain from 4 a.m. on. I am in heaven right now!

P.s. I lose the trail every day at least once. Those meters add up pretty quickly!

SRS - Strengthen, (Black)Roll & Stretch. That's my morning routine. I had learned about it on my Gr11 FKT attempt from a guy called chase, while my knee hurt so bad no amount of ibuprofen could cure it. Anyway, thos giy a scientific expert when it comes to building up 1A trail legs. 3 days and some exercise later I was back into shape again and ran up and down mountains like I ised to. Go check out @chase_mountains if you are looking for a pair of indestructible hiker legs like mine now :)
But wait, actually my morning routine starts with following natures call - then drying the sleeping bag/tarp, brushing teeth, checking the devices, rolling up the inflatable sleeping mat and packing all my stuff in the pack. Only then SRS kicks in.

Also I'd just passed the halfway mark - yeeha!

Time fornthe halftime break: What happened so far?

-Jumped into this hike because "Alpine Passes Trail" just sounded very convincing. -Started with doing almost zero research. -Found out the Alps are high in altitude - amd steep. -Escaped the ever changing engadin weather. -My legs eventually stopped beeing sore around day 5. -Had my fair share of ups and downs. -Grew comfortable with being by myself. -Ran into Italy. -Got confident about the hike. -Valais has it all: It's wild, it's beautiful and the natives are the most kind ones in this country. I love it!

I'm feeling all cozy in my sleeping bag in the town of Gspon, on the Omar Hitzfeld Soccerfield, in his wedding tent - co-sponsored by Sepp Blatter. What could possibly go wrong? All quiet here as I am in the eye ot hurricane.

But let's cut to the chase. It was a long day. It was a windy day. It rainy day. It was a foggy day. Let's just call it that. A foggy day.

Past simplon pass around noon. It's a very weird place and hasn't any of that glory anymore from when napoleon had it built - rather than the age of the bustourists in the restaurant. Had lunch in a public toilett and am now officially out of food.

Had warm dinner after 30 hours of junkfood in the only Restaurant of Gspon and the Cordon Bleu was de-li-ci-ous! But too little. Second round please!

Cowboy camping above the treeline is still a thing for late september in bella Italia. Good for me.

The mountain hut people from Rif. Margaroli served a rich breakfast. Soon after I drank water out of a rich river and headed back to Switzerland - only to find out that I'd walked yet another trail (the third) that I already experienced in the past together with my friends.

Hiked over the scree of Scata Morra followed by Albrun pass and ran all the way to a lunch in Binn. Had the pasta. They weren't al dente. Underwhelmed.

Thought It'll be a walk in the park to Rosswald. It was quiet the opposite: Had to get up from 1300 meters and cross the  Saflisch pass with over 2500 meters first - with a big reward.

The valais showed itself with all it's beautiful 4'000ers - and the DOM with it's impressove 4545 Meters hight stands right there in the middle.

I'm curious about what you got up your sleves next Valais!

I wake up - shivering. It's 5 a.m. and my down sleeping bag is soaked. I zip uo the wet bag as much as possible and move my body until the sun rises around 6.30. How did that happen? Artificial floors (like those from airolos cable cars roofs) seem to attract humidity when they cool down. I look tired and feel humiliated.

That's why I shift down a gear and just enjoy the day with a little swim in the river plus some beauty time in the sun.

Got a fine dinner at Cap. Corno Gries after the walk up Nufenen Pass and experienced a dying Gries Glacier while exploring Swiss Bunkers facing Italy. That's some hardcore History right there folks!

Ciao Ticino - Bona sera Italia. Ran the trail down into Italy - the general direction of Domodossola, then took a right over another Pass and set up camp for the night right there, just above Lago Vannino.

Ticino: Welcome to the sunny livingroom of Switzerland - and Houston, we have a problem. Came by Lago di Luzzone and oh boy, the waterline hung pretty low. Same thing later on at Lago Ritom. Where have all those melted glaciers gone?

Ran through a couple of rough mountain tunnels and one avalange gallery by accident but fortunatly didn't got hit by a car. That was so far the scariest experience i guess.

The little villages in the valley are beautiful. I still prefer hiking above the treeline. Crossed 2 Passes and to my amazement came by a spot my friend Luki and me camped at a couple of weeks prior.

Frome Paso Sole on it was mostly just going downhill until I'd reached Airolo for a big vegan Burger with fries.

Just another rainy morning. Had a late start. Encountert a hiker going in my same direction on the first pass but lost his sight in the fog. Ran down to vrin for a delicious flammkuchen.

Of course my mysterious follower entered the same restaurant after a while wearin' all ultra light gear. We talked and walked for a while and he stopped at his hotel while I finally found my way up to the greina plateau! Another spot like out of the movie Lord of the Rings. Ran a tibetian hang bridge stretching over a river and loved it.

Took the alternate route to Cap Mott. soon after beeing reassured at Hut Terry not to go Scalettas because of an 'incident'. I hope they are okay.

Ran Into the night with snowflakes dancing in front of my headlamp...

It rained last night. A lot. Contrary to the weather reports prediction. Had a cold start in the morning and crossed the pass into Safien Valley for lunch. Indulged kn a big plate of pasta carbonara. Al dente of course!

Hiked a second leg in the afternoon and got into Val Lumnezia around 5 p.m.. This is where I met Gian, a shepperd and caretaker of 170 cows - and his big bernaise sennendog Maxi. The puppy made a lot of noise when he saw me, but turned into the sweetest puppy as soon as he got his daily cuddle dose. What a sweet boy.

Made a lot of downhill meters running into the valley - and back up on the other side for a late dinner. Pizza. Again. Delicious.

Had one of the more altitude intense days today, and now it hurts - a little :)

Had a late start due to heavy rain in the morning. The weather also turned rivers into raging waters and the trail into a stream. Had wet feet all day and no time to waste.

That's why I kept my delicous protein-chips-nuts-cheese-tortilla-lunch short.

Crossed two passes. The first one after a what seemed never ending uphill walk from Savognin. Got rewarded with a great mountain arrangement on the backside and sunshine as the icing on the cake. Came by a weird cult farm on the way down. The rastawearing white horseriding people eyeballed me in an uneasy way.

The second part of the day got me in a surprise: first a fair steep incline through a forest, followed by a hardly ever used trail that took a while to tackle.

After a währschafts dinner everything is fine though :)

That's the amount of passes I'd crossed today for getting from St.Moritz Corviglia station to Savognin. What a hike. But from the beginning. I didn't sleep (much) at all and jumped out of my sleeping bag all happy when that alarm went of at 5.15. It had been a cold night and I was hot to take off. Started tracking with my inreach mini at 6 a.m. sharp (as you can see) and hiked thru the most marvelous Swiss scenery ever. Big up to Engadin for having such a moon like backcountry.

Not to forget all those passes above 2500m sea level. Impressive.

Then I'd met a young woman whom camped high up there last night. Then a thunderstorm hit the mountains she had been sleeping on. Guess she had her fair share of adventure because she headed straight home.

We have been lucky with the weather but dark clouds rolled in as i made my way out of Savognin - only to the picked up by a trail angel which means a roof over my head and starting all dry tomorrow morning. Guess I got lucky twice today!

This is everything needed for running the "Swiss Alpine Passes Trail" from St.Moritz to Lake Geneva. It's going to be a 695km rollercoaster over some 32 passes and 47'000m in altitude.

I'm currently making my way to the startpoint and look forward to the adventurous days ahead.