Our Host took me (MM) on a day trek by car over the Klausenpass to Braunwald, a town perched above the highest alpine meadow in the Alps (check it out here). The lakeside road along the torturous waterway of eastern Lake Lucerne–a fiord-like experience–quickly gave way to slow, winding switch-backs. It was a white-knuckle road, with sheer drops of 1000 feet protected by a steel fence, creating an illusion of safety as convincing as a rubber band stretched across an inflated flat tire. The two-lane road progressively narrowed until two small opposing cars could barely get by each other, with intermittent pullouts offering a tempting solution, unless the oncoming vehicle was a Swiss postal truck with hierarchical authority-If no room exists for both vehicles, the private car backs down the pass until there is a pullout!
However, OH demonstrated extraordinary driving prowess and complete command of his high gears–although his usual loquacious persona transformed into an eerie silence on the tight curves. Passing motorcyclists had speed and agility, and the occasional brave bicyclist was saddled with inertia and fatigue. Although we were above the tree line, the small villages far below, there was still grass and grazing cows everywhere, their bells serenading us along our passage. Although “fahrt” means autoway in Swiss, on this particular route it signified the more usual meaning. Remarkably, there were old farm houses far above us, a clear reminder that the Swiss utilize every parcel of land even though some of their tractors face an incline that seemed to be at least 45 degrees.
Once over the pass, the road widened and straightened and we headed for Braunwald, a resort town high above the meadow that required a funicular to reach the summit. Because the town is unreachable by car, we were able to enjoy a leisurely stroll to an old family hotel and dine on the veranda with its magnificent view of the meadow below and the surrounding mountains: no postcard is able to breach the gap between the pretty picture and the sublime pastoral elegance of Switzerland’s landscape.
I suggested to OH we take the flat route home, around the mountains, and he gladly agreed. On the way back we could talk about our experience without my furtive glances below.
Har. Har. 