Lying naked on a Marble Slab

Today we continued our trek towards the Matterhorn by tackling the Gemmi Pass, an historic trade route in the Swiss Alps. The Gemmi Pass is a dramatic high-mountain crossing in Switzerland, rising to about 7,450 feet and linking Leukerbad in Valais, with Kandersteg in the Bernese, Oberland. For centuries, it served as an important route for traders, shepherds, travelers, and even early tourists. Famous visitors such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Mark Twain wrote about the spectacular journey across it.

Geologically, the pass cuts through the limestone formations of the Bernese Alps, with towering cliffs, exposed rock layers, scree slopes (YUCK!) , and glacially-shaped valleys revealing millions of years of Alpine uplift and erosion.

The historic trail from Leukerbad is especially intimidating because it climbs steeply beneath immense limestone cliffs along a narrow, exposed path that was carved and improved into the mountainside during the 18th century. Although we did not need technical climbing skills, the steep ascent, significant elevation gain, loose rock, changing mountain weather, and dramatic exposure made the Gemmi Pass a physically and psychologically challenging hike. Add to that the fact that it rained HARD that day and the wind was hollowing at us at every turn.

We set our GPS, coordinated the Garmins and Apple devices and headed out to get across the Gemmi Pass into the Leukerbad Thermal Springs village for a quick, one-night stay before moving forward.

Switzerland welcomed our early a.m. hike with a spectacular sunrise and a dash of wind and rain.

And of course! Another face-off with a damned massive cow!! EVERYWHERE! I just reflected back on my first posts when I thought these animals were cute and the sound of their bells was like music. Nope, no more, my friends. I’m kinda anti-cow at this moment. They are such fierce defenders of their space and the mountains are packed with bovine!

Today was a 16km trek against the elements. Nothing to do but suit up and face the storm. Per usual, my experienced hiker/friends had all the right gear. Yours truly packed a $1.50 Walmart poncho for the event and called it good.

Rebecca, Lynn and I split into our respective order of the “little engine that could” running forward (Rebecca), the dining car (Lynn) and the caboose (me).

My plastic poncho made an awful racket all the way up that hill and over that pass but we did it! We are now fully familiar with hard passes and simply leaned into the wind and pushed forward.

Cute little gnomes and characters stood post along the route offering education about the pass and giving us a chance to smile through the wind and rain.

After hours and hours of trekking we reached the top of the pass to see two of my favorite Swiss attributes – a gondola and a swing. I partook in both with joy.

We made a game-time call to take the gondola down to Leukerbad to save our knees for tomorrow’s trek. Plus – Rebecca and Lynn had a previous reservation for a Russian-Irish bath ritual at 4pm in the hotel we were trekking towards. So we narrowly avoided having to do this descent. This is a quick snap I took from the gondolar as we floated above what we were supposed to walk down. No harm, no foul. Choices are sometimes available to escape descents. Rarely is there an option to escape the 30,000 feet worth of ascensions we signed on for, but one look at that winding road and the gondola ride became all that much sweeter. And yes, the descents we have conquered look a lot like that! As you can see, that is just one portion of the downward. The trail goes on and on into the valley below.

We entered the town of Leukerbad and wound our way through the enchanting streets of this spa town towards Hotel Quellhoff. Leukerbad’s thermal springs have been prized for centuries, with evidence that the Romans bathed in the naturally hot waters and there are written references to the baths appearing around the early 1200s.

In 1501, Cardinal Matthäus Schiner purchased rights to the springs, invested in bathing facilities, and helped transform Leukerbad into a destination for travelers seeking the restorative effects of its waters. Geologically, rain and snowmelt seep into fractures high in the mountains, travel deep underground for roughly 40 years, become heated geothermally and enriched with minerals—especially calcium sulfate—before rising back to the surface at temperatures reaching about 51°C.

Over the centuries, simple bathing pools evolved into sophisticated spa and rehabilitation facilities, and today Leukerbad has 65 thermal springs producing millions of liters of thermal water each day. The warm, mineral-rich water relaxed our muscles and reduced the stress on our joints. Bring it on! This is very similar to Karlovy Vary in Prague where John and Lily and I escaped to in December of last year. I recommend both towns to soothe your aching muscles and fortify you for further Euro-exploration.

We had haste in our step as the girls had a 4pm spa reservation and it was 3pm by the time we arrived in town. We had been hiking for 7 hours straight and simply dropped our packs and grabbed our suits to jump into the thermal waters that tempted us with relaxation and relief from our over-worked and sore muscles.

We floated separately but together in the pool with only 1 or 2 other couples present. Then, Lynn and Rebecca were summoned by their Croatian-born, Leukerbad spa guide who explained to them they were about to enjoy a 2 hour Russian-Irish bath and he emphasized in his broken english that this experience they paid for would be enjoyed fully naked. Yup, no thanks. I hadn’t even signed up for this to begin with but was fully happy I did not pay to walk around naked in front of spa men.

The ritual alternates dry heat, steam, massage, warm thermal water and cooling, gradually heating the body and then bringing its temperature back down. The experience takes roughly two hours and is traditionally performed nude, with the soap-brush massage serving as one of its signature treatments. Today, the Leukerbad spa officially describes its Roman-Irish experience as 11 hot-air, steam and thermal-bath stations; some Swiss Roman-Irish bathing circuits count the final relaxation or body-care step separately and describe the ritual as 12 stations.

A typical 12-stage Roman-Irish ritual progresses like this:

• 1. Warm-air room — gently begins heating the body.
• 2. Hot-air room — deeper dry heat encourages sweating.
• 3. Soap-brush massage — the skin is scrubbed and massaged to cleanse and exfoliate.
• 4. First steam bath — warm, humid air continues the heating process.
• 5. Second steam bath — hotter steam produces more intense perspiration.
• 6. Experience shower — water rinses and begins cooling the body.
• 7. Warm thermal bath — immersion in comfortably hot mineral-rich water.
• 8. Whirlpool bath — warm bubbling water relaxes the muscles.
• 9. Movement/temperate bath — slightly cooler water begins the gradual cooling phase.
• 10. Cold plunge — cool water rapidly refreshes and cools the skin.
• 11. Body cream/moisturizing ritual — the skin is treated after bathing.
• 12. Heated relaxation — you rest quietly, traditionally wrapped warmly, allowing the body to settle after the hot-and-cold sequence.

The experience was more than the ladies expected. They were paired with a german speaking couple, ushered into a locker room and told to strip naked. Then, the 4 of them entered a mildly hot sauna where they sweat a bit before being ushered to their next stop of 12 stations in this bath ritual. Stop 2 was also a sauna but this room was super hot! The girls enjoyed the sauna until they were called to their next station – the salt rub-down. Lynn and Rebecca were directed to a room with 2 solid marble slab/tables in the room and were directed to lie naked on the marble slab while 2 men rubbed their fronts and backs with salt. And this was only step 3 of the process.

Well, this was one for the record books! Lynn came back from the experience empowered and rejuvenated, laughing her infectious laugh at the hilarity of their 2 hours of “stations” and nakedness. Rebecca came back more reserved than when she entered the experience and managed a half-chuckle at the memory of the two of them naked on marble slabs in the middle of a spa in the heart of the Swiss Alps. I laughed non-stop, so grateful I chose to simply float in the mineral waters at the main pool and write this blog to you while they were getting rubbed!

We had a very early evening as we had a HUGE trek the following day down into the Lauterbrunnen and Rhone Valley where we would walk through the wine-making region of Switzerland. Cross your fingers we get some sunshine and no wind tomorrow. My Walmart poncho doesn’t have much life left in it.