Switzerland Aluhike 2011

In November 2011, I joined a group of aluminium industry friends for a walk through the north western side of Switzerland. This walk was one sector of a long distance trek from Geneva to Krakow being conducted by the group over several 8 day hiking sessions from 2010 to 2014. I could only join for some sectors and this was one of them. The route was from Delemont in French speaking Switzerland to Diessenhofen in German speaking Switzerland which is near Lake Constance. The photo above is the view of Diessenhofen from the German side of the Rhine (we crisscrossed the Rhine in the last two days).

The walk was most interesting passing through lots of pretty Swiss villages, beautiful valleys, over mountains and through woods as well as many relics of WW2. Since it was early November, Autumn colours predominated. On some days it was quite cold even when walking at a good pace and every available layer was applied to keep warm. Many lunch stops in warm village pubs and coffee houses were most welcome. Most notably we passed though Schaffhausen where the first aluminium was produced in Europe in 1888. This was especially significant as everyone in the group was associated with the aluminium industry in some way.

Below is a selection of photos from the walk to show the fine people, the environment and the weather conditions.