Dear all
Yesterday Sunday was a lazy day. Our weather was finally simply great. Comfortable temperatures in the lowlands. Blue skies and bright sunshine above. A good opportunity to visit an easy summit nearby and to fill up the personal batteries for the next week.
Musenalper Grat, HB/NW-017, 1,785 m.a.s.l., is such a summit, since there is a small cable car to the top. The box is really small, for 4 to 5 people. So it took some time to lift all visitors up. See their website to enjoy more of this peaceful alp, best seen on a large screen:
We’d been there all day long. Some patience was needed in the afternoon in the queue in front of the cable car. My partner hiked down, 1.5 hours down according to the sign post. We met more or less at the same time at the valley station.
I operated two time slices for SOTA around noon and in the afternoon. Simple but good food is served in front of the alphuts as far as the federal regulations allow.
The cows have not yet arrived. Actually, the receding of snow is delayed this year by about a full month. Yesterday’s sunshine has helped to reduce this, but there was a fresh breeze allover the summit. Best place to escape was . . . yes, nearby the alphuts. A good soup and some cake, both with thick layers of alp cream. Mmmh! Not for every day.
There are still some big snow patches on the summit quickly receding. It is a dream land at present since thousands of white and purple crocuses have taken over from the snow and announce spring even on the Musenalp.
Many SOTA friends had felt similarly and had conquered the summits wherever the high pressure area had expanded. I finally managed to have my first S2S contact with Joe, OE5JFE. SOTA had been for us meeting on the SOTA reflector so far. Joe noted “finally in my log hi” and so did I. And no: “Grat” (= ridge) in name of my summit is misleading here – see below. 70 contacts came to my log finally, and the day provided what needed: filling the batteries. Thanks to you all contributing!
Vy 73 de Markus, HB9DIZ
And some pictures to participate (click on them to enlarge):
Summit station of the cable car and alphuts to the left. View to the core zone of the Alps.
Alp facilities nearby the summit station. Brisen and SOTA summit Hoh Brisen in the middle.
Snow disappears, crocuses follow.
Summit cross and seas of crocuses.
. . . a real paradise from a close look-up.
And even those were part of the day!
Looking to the southwest at the summit station: still much snow on the shadow flanks.
Looking back from the activating position to the south.
Doing a first round around noon from a nice spot overlooking Lake of Lucerne. SOTA HB/SZ-021 in the background.
Reliable tools: the 20/40 EFHW with coupler 1:64. View to the neighbour summit Buochserhorn, HB/NW-016, in the background, connected to my summit via Bleikgrat, a beautiful T4 hike in dry and snowfree conditions.
Preparing for round 2 in the afternoon. People nearby the hut sent out a delegate to ask me what I was fishing here with my pole.
View to the eastern part of Lake of Lucerne with villages Beckenried (below) and Gersau (above) and the basin of Schwyz (half-right). Jean-Pierre, HB9HBV, and Anita, HB9HBU, enjoyed the same sun on Mt. Niederbauen, HB/NW-014, last summit on the right.
Cu on a next one!