A Change of Plans

So, some of you are aware of the latest news from here in Boise and some are not.  So, I just wanted to bring everyone up to date on things.

Two weeks ago, Shelley tore her ACL playing soccer.

It was a huge bummer for her.  We both were hoping it wasn’t as bad as we suspected, but being a doctor she knew how bad it was.  And she knew that it was going to cost her Mt Blanc.  That was the most disappointing part of the whole episode.

So, over the last two weeks she has seen a surgeon, started her pre-hab, had an MRI, we’ve spoken with Adventure Consultants (who we were going to Mt Blanc with) and talked with the hotels in Switzerland.  Everyone has been really good about our new situation.  The surgeon is pretty confident that Shelley will be in good enough shape by August to be able to hike with a light pack.  But training for Mt Blanc and climbing are out for some time.

Adventure Consultants was real good to us as well.  We could get Shelley’s deposit back via trip insurance, but I wouldn’t be able to get mine back via insurance.  So we emailed back and forth and they agreed to hold both our deposits for a future climb.  We’ll be climbing with them again, probably next year, so we’ll still use the deposit and go with them so it’s a win/win situation for both of us.  That was real good of them to do that.

Then we had to call all our hotels we had reservations with and work on a new plan for Switzerland.  Again, everyone was real nice and accommodating.  They also had reservations available for us for all the dates we needed.  We were lucky we didn’t  have to worry about changing our flight plans.  So here’s the new plan for Europe this summer.

I’m still going to Russia for Mt Elbrus with Alpine Ascents and then meeting Shelley in Geneva like originally planned.  From there we are going to travel by train to Montreux and stay in the same hotel my mom and dad stayed in when they went to Switzerland, the Fairmont.  Although, in 1969 (I think it was) it wasn’t called the Fairmont.

We were going to just do a one day stay there but now we’re going to do a two day stay.  From there we are going to take the train south to Zermatt for five days and four nights at Hotel Welschen.

We’ll do hikes in and around the mountains there before heading over to Murren for five more days and four nights and stay at Chalet Fontana.

More hiking and seeing the area around Murren will be in store for us.  Then off to Grindelwald, again by train, for four days and three nights and stay at Tschuggen Hotel.

Yes, more hiking around the mountains there too.  We’ll then travel back to Geneva and stay overnight in the same hotel we stayed in at the start of this trip before flying back to the US the next day.

The hotel in Geneva said it’s common for hikers and climbers to come through and they have no problem holding a bag or two for us while we are traveling through Switzerland.  At no charge too.  So I’ll dump my climbing gear bag from Mt Elbrus there to lighten our load while we see Switzerland.

The hardest part of the trip will be hiking in and around such a beautiful area and not be able to go to the top of any of the peaks.  We’ll get to see The Matterhorn as well as The Eiger, The Monch, and The Jungfrau.  I wonder what kind of mountain bugs we’ll come back with after all that?  It will be a great trip.  It’ll be a great trip for Shelley to really get back outside after what is going to be a long re-hab.  It will be a great reward for all her hard work she will be going through.  Seeing an area of the world so many people talk about will be great as well.

If anyone out there has visited these areas and has some favorite spots, please share them with us.  We generally like remote areas where not many people get to, so the more remote the better.  We won’t know how good Shelley’s knee will be till we get there, but right now distance isn’t an issue.  So if you have a spot that’s a couple hours away by foot, that’s fine.  We’ll make the call to try it once we get there.  Also, if you have experienced any particular tourist sights, small villages or restaurants we’re interested in those things as well.

So we lose Mt Blanc, but gain a full week to see more of Switzerland than we would have originally.  That’s not a bad trade.  Mt Blanc will be there next year.  And we just might be as well.