Day 15 – Mariastein to Delémont (28,4km) – Saturday 15.07.2023
After a restful night, I left the monastery at 7:15. I set off without eating breakfast and after just a few minutes I passed an old castle.
The path then quickly turned into a long and steep climb. After walking steadily uphill for almost an hour, I sat down at a barbecue area and made my morning coffee and ate the rest of my things. The path led briefly uphill again before it made a curve and the forest opened safely. It was a beautiful view so early in the morning and if I hadn’t just taken a break I would have happily sat here to enjoy the view.
But since I had to keep going, I could only enjoy the beautiful landscape while running. Since the path went slightly downhill from here, I was able to quickly leave the first 10km of the day behind me. I continued on the pleasant path through the forest to Kleinlützel. I bought a few things there and took a short break. Here I treated myself to a slightly more extensive breakfast.
Strengthened, we then went back uphill, long and steep. Even though the weather was very pleasant, I quickly found myself sweating. The climb was followed on the other side by the descent to Soyhières. Here I moved to French-speaking Switzerland for the first time, which quickly became apparent from the signs. After leaving the village I headed towards the next climb. Before I completed this, I lay down on the grass for a moment and took a break.
However, this mountain was not so steep and high and so I quickly arrived on the other side in Delémont. There I made my way to a youth hostel because thunderstorms were reported for tonight. Since I would have had to make a reservation for dinner in advance and I didn’t want to go to bed hungry, I went to a nearby McDonald’s and bought a few burgers there. Even though I’m not a big McDonald’s fan, I devoured my burgers in a short amount of time. Afterwards I walked back to the youth hostel and got ready for the night.
Day 16 – Delémont to Mont Raimeux (21,4km) – Sunday 16.07.2023
After I had a hearty breakfast with my roommate, who works in research and develops jet engines, I took off my bed and said goodbye. Since my money reserves were slowly running out, I had to go back a bit to withdraw money from a bank. Unfortunately, since it was Sunday, there wasn’t a supermarket open nearby where I could get money. Then we went back past the youth hostel onto the hiking trail. We went past fields to Vicques, where I picked up a stamp in a triangular church.
Then a steep and very long climb began again. After a while I was so exhausted that I took a break at a fallen water tank and ate an apple. After that it wasn’t over yet, I had to keep going uphill. While I had set a fast pace at the beginning of the day, I became increasingly slower and my average fell with each kilometer. After what felt like an eternity, I finally reached the summit of the mountain, which was at least 1302 meters high. In total, I had already climbed more than 1000 meters up to this point today. So I was happy when I finally reached the top.
From the top I had a really great view. There was also an old observation tower, which looked really adventurous. A very narrow ladder led up and I had to make sure I got to the platform through the small hole at the top. The tower is certainly not suitable for everyone.
After I climbed the ladder, I enjoyed the great view. I could see Basel and the foothills of the Black Forest. It was a nice feeling to stand up there and see where you’ve been. After enjoying the panorama for a few minutes, I took some more pictures and briefly waved to everyone who stayed at home. Then I got off again because there was only room for one or at most two people on the tower.
Since it was already evening, I started looking for a suitable place to sleep on the mountain. First I ran through wide cow pastures. Then I passed a nature lovers’ hut. I wanted to have a coffee there and then think about where I could best sleep. Since I was apparently the only guest there at this late hour and there were only other members sitting together, I quickly got into conversation with two of them. While I drank my coffee I explained to them what I was doing and that I was just looking for a place to sleep tonight. They then offered me directly that I could pitch my tent on the grounds of the Nature Friends House. You yourself will soon finish work and put everything together and then go home. I gratefully accepted her offer and sat down at a bench and read a little. When most of the people had already left, I warmed up my dinner, which today consisted of a ready meal.
The last ones then tidied up the things and locked the building. One of the women needed me some chocolate cake, which was probably left over. I thanked her and ate the delicious piece of cake. In contrast to the ready-made food I had previously eaten, the cake was a real culinary delight.
After that, the last of the group left me and so I was more or less alone on the mountain. After setting up my tent, I was sad to discover that there was a small celebration going on a few houses away. After I crossed into French-speaking Switzerland at midday and since then talked to most people in English, I now had to listen to German hits and some yodeling songs until half past 12 p.m. That’s not exactly how I imagined the night on the mountain to be. But when the music eventually stopped, I quickly fell asleep in the quiet night.
Day 17 – Mont Raimeux to Bellelay (28,3km) – Monday 17.07.2023
The next morning I was woken up by the sound of cows ringing at 6am. At least it was much more pleasant than the yodeling music from the evening before, so I relaxed and put my tent together and made myself a coffee at a table at the Nature Friends House.
The low sun made the fields on the mountain plateau shine in a beautiful light. Then it was a long descent through the forest. Again and again I was able to catch beautiful views of the surrounding area in open places in the forest. During the long descent I was very happy that I had used the last of my water to make coffee and that I had at least 2kg less on my back. My knees thanked me for that.
After the quick descent I arrived in Grandval, from where the path led through fields and pastures to Moutier. There I filled up my water reserves again and bought something to eat, which I ate in a small park.
After breakfast I looked at the local church, which seemed somehow strange but still interesting to me. A concrete building with few windows, which at first seemed depressing from the inside and then very open.
The cemetery chapel, which I reached later, made a more peaceful impression on me. There I first marveled at the very old wall paintings and then I briefly stamped in my notebook.
Afterwards I continued along narrow paths through the forest. First we went along a stream. Then again and again there were larger stairs in the middle of the forest that I just had to climb up. In this area I met hikers my age for the first time, but they were on a long-distance hiking trail, I assume the Via Jura.
At first I followed the path further and further up until it eventually led down again to Souboz. There I filled up my water reserves for the night and then continued on to Sornetan. There I started looking for a suitable place to sleep in my tent. Hoping to get a stamp, I took a quick look at the village church, which was almost entirely made of wood. Unfortunately there was no stamp for me.
Even after that, I couldn’t find a place to sleep at first. At some point I was close to Bellelay. Since the local hotel was too expensive for me at 250 francs a night, I had to find somewhere to sleep. After the 28 kilometers and almost 1000 meters of elevation gain and descent, I didn’t necessarily want to walk much further. Shortly before I reached the town, I passed a barbecue area. There was a small hut there that was not locked. I decided to eat my dinner at the barbecue area and wait until evening. If no one came by by then, I would spend the night in the hut.
Later, only a local man came by with his dog. He asked me what I did and where I came from. When I then asked him whether it was possible to spend the night in this hut, he simply said that I’m sure no one would object. Then he wished me a nice trip and disappeared again with his dog.
I sit on a bench for a while and read a book while the sun slowly sets in front of me. When it was just before sunset, I packed my things and made myself comfortable in the hut. Since I didn’t have to put up a tent, I finished it quickly and then went to sleep.
Day 18 – Bellelay to Biel (34,4km) – Thuesday 18.07.2023
I woke up in my hut at half past six, but stayed there until six o’clock. Since the hut wasn’t completely sealed and it was only 13 degrees outside and therefore inside, the night was cool, but overall very comfortable. So, well rested, I packed up my stuff, sat at a table outside and made myself my morning coffee.
Then I set off for the village early in the morning. When the weather was beautiful, I passed interesting bull sculptures made of straw at the entrance to the village, which were illuminated by the sun. After the first house I turned immediately left again and left the place again. At the beginning of the day the path mostly took me past pastures with many horses.
After a while we descended to Tavannes. While I was filling up my water bottles at a fountain, an old man came up to me and asked me if I still needed shoes. Surprised, I asked why and he explained to me that he was collecting shoes for the mission and that he had received fresh Lowa shoes yesterday that looked like mine. He quickly went into his house and got her out. In fact, these shoes almost look like mine and when we discovered that they were even my size, he said that he could send them to me in between on the trip. Then we laughed together for a moment and I set off again.
As I often do, I bought breakfast in a supermarket and then ate it on a bench. Afterwards we continued on an old Roman road to Sonneboz. Since I had significantly less altitude to climb today, I did a lot of walking in the morning. By lunchtime I had already covered 18km and when I passed a site where dinosaur footprints were found, I took a short break there. The footprints on the wall were really interesting and it felt strange to put your own hands on these old tracks. As I then learned, the dinosaur didn’t walk on the wall, but when it crossed the land there were only flat plains here. These were then flushed with water, which is why the traces were preserved. It was only in the last 100 million years that the plains were pushed further and further together into mountains and thus the footprints were also pushed upwards.
After this exciting break, I continued through the forest. At some point I noticed that it was getting quieter and darker. Expecting a thunderstorm, I accelerated my descent and when I finally left the forest, the sky was already dark. Further back I could already see the rain falling. So I walked quickly along the street towards the next town. Shortly before I arrived in town, a car pulled up next to me and asked if I needed a taxi to escape the approaching storm. When I said that I could walk to the next town myself, the woman in the passenger seat shouted “Bien Camino!” and then they drove on.
A few minutes later I arrived at the place. By now there was already a strong wind blowing. I went to the first restaurant I could find. As soon as I sat down at my seat, a thunderstorm started outside and the heavy rain pelted against the window. As I then leisurely ate a pizza, I was very happy that I didn’t have to be outside in this weather.
After dinner I drank a relaxing espresso and then continued my hike. The storm had now largely moved on. In light rain, I followed the path through the forest, where you could constantly hear the drops of water on the leaves, which was a very calming sound. Since the rain was only very light and it was generally not cold, I didn’t wear a rain jacket and just continued hiking in my shirt.
After the forest I got another stamp in a church and then I first went through an industrial area or a company. The path simply led across the factory premises and I could see people working in the various buildings.
But when I was able to leave the industrial area behind me again, I was very happy about it. The path first went through the forest again. A few minutes later the Taubelochschlucht followed, which is the only gorge in Europe in the immediate vicinity of a city. I followed the really beautiful gorge for several kilometers. As I ran, the water rushed through the gorge next to me. I really enjoyed walking along the water for so long.
After a few kilometers the gorge ended and when I left it, to my surprise, I was actually already in Biel. From there I still had to walk over 4km to the city center. I wanted to stay in a hostel by the lake there. As it turned out, it was fully booked for the day, so I set off again to another hotel nearby. There I washed my clothes again and took a long shower. Late in the evening I fell exhausted into my soft bed and fell asleep.
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