The good, the bad, the snuggly. One couple reflects on a hike at high altitude through the Swiss Alps. by Patti Shales Lefkos
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3rd Act magazine | spring 2020
Tough First Day There is a time in each multi-day hike when enough is enough. But, it’s not usually on the first day. I gaze down at my feet. Blisters extend horizontally like pale yellow water balloons from the sides of my big toes. I step gingerly into the narrow shower. Hot water streams over my exhausted body, dribbles over the red indentations where my backpack belt rubbed my hips. I pull the curtain aside. A stranger with bruised collarbones and the grey eyes of a dehydrated long-distance runner, stares back at me from the steamy mirror. Dried and dressed in leggings and a T-shirt, I attempt a few basic stretches. My quadriceps scream in protest, rigid as uncooked spaghetti. I turn to my husband. “I’m not sure I can do this kind of hike anymore,” I say. By this kind of hike, I mean lugging a full backpack for six to eight hours a day for nine days over 105 miles. Considered one of the world’s classic hiking trails, the Tour du Mont
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