Hut life
The Swiss Alpine Club boasts 150 huts 🛖 scattered across the alps 🏔️ The huts provide accomodations at high elevations, which is important for mountaineers planning to summit any of the dozens of peaks, and for touring hikers who don't want to go all the way down into the valleys to sleep every night. The huts are also very popular destinations for day trippers who hike up (or ride a lift), have lunch in the high territory, and walk or ride back down again. 🚠
Usually very remote, huts traditionally have all of their supplies delivered by helicopter. 🚁 They vary tremendously in the amenities they offer: free hot showers, three minute showers for 5CHF, cold outdoor shower, 🚿 no shower; wifi, no wifi, or wifi for one hour in the evening 😂; 20 people slotted in like sardines on two levels for sleeping, vs small rooms with only 4-6; ample electric plugs or one tortured outlet bristling with multi plug extensions that will only charge 5 phones at a time, etc. 🔌
Bigger than these differences are the variations in vibes and cultures. Every hut is faced with the challenge of providing for large numbers (50-100) of hungry, dirty, thirsty, tired people. Some manage this with humor and good will, others begrudgingly.
Some treat the hoards with military efficiency, others with friendly chaos. Some huts provide only pasta 🍝for every meal, others make a real culinary effort, gladly accommodating vegetarian🥗 gluten free or whatever. Some try to speak all the languages, others speak only the language of the region, and will rattle off whole pages of information with no concern about whether it's understood.
At some point, usually 6:30, everyone is seated, 🍜bowls are passed around, and food arrives. One is then faced with the social demands of dining with dozens of strangers. Over a long trip like mine, you collect a cohort of familiar faces – maybe 6-8 – who are on the same route, and others who are in for shorter stretches. The characters are vivid.
The couple from Seattle; he is a burly guy, she is a delicate Chinese woman. Somehow they spontaneously decided to hike for two days in some of the most challenging terrain. She confided in me that she had bought a backpack for the trip, but at the last minute, didn't like the way it looked on her, so she just brought a tiny day bag 🎒while he carried a full on 70 liter back pack stuffed with who knows what for them both. He had never hiked in the mountains before, but as an ultra marathon runner, had no doubts about his abilities until he found himself crawling on all fours up to the pass I showed you the other day. At dinner that night he won me over by stating to the entire table that he had had to have a little cry at the top because he was terrified. 😰
The two from Austin; she in two braids looked about 17, but is a professor of Astro physics, while his eyes were so bright there could only have been room for a very large lightbulb behind them, but no. One of the original hardware developers for Apple. 🍎
My Portageuse couple; she speaks only Portuguese, so he and I have little conversations in English. I see them every day.
The quartet of Swiss couples quietly running commentary in Swissgerman (French speaking hut) on all the people around them. Fortunately they did not get to me!
Shane the Irishman who always comes in late, limping from his bad knee, totally disheveled, but reliably happy.
The couple from Florida – cannot imagine how they found their way there – completely unprepared and ill equipped, except for the quart sized baggie of meds. Ambien for her, oxy for him, several other multi colored capsules for each . . . totally blind to the expected courtesies of hut life: be super quiet in the dorm room, take your shoes off at the door, don't turn the lights on.
While I appreciate them, hut life is not for me. Fortunately, only 5 of my 13 nights, which I can juuuuust tolerate.
