Day 17

Mörsil to Hålland
Distance: 14.0 miles / 22.5 km
Cumulative: 202.6 miles / 326.0 km

“Here comes the rain again 

Falling on my head like a memory 

Falling on my head like a new emotion

I want to walk in the open wind” 

Eurythmics, Here Comes the Rain Again, 1983

I guess we knew we would have days like this. It started raining about five minutes into our walk, let up for about an hour and a half after lunch, then opened up on us again for the last few miles. And in the morning Annie Lenox would have gotten her wish to walk in the open wind because it was howling. 

The place we stayed last night was great. It was an old barn/house combo with a couple of rooms upstairs, a kitchen and living area on the first floor, and a bathroom… in the newer main house about 25 yards away. The last bit wasn’t ideal, but the beef stew was terrific. 

The entire house was full of all kinds of antiques, vintage tools, old books, etc. This morning Kristine discovered a stocked liquor cabinet. It’s a shame we didn’t know about it last night. They also had a dart board outside so I got in a little practice. 

Look out Ralph. 

Another pilgrim, Yvonne from the Netherlands, had the room across from us. We met her two days ago at the riding school. She also is staying at the hotel/hostel where we are tonight. She has hiked the Camino, and she hiked from her home in the Netherlands to Rome. The woman likes to walk. 

Much of the first part of today was on easy trails through the forest. Since it was raining, windy, and we were covered head to toe in GoreTex, we didn’t have to worry about bugs. 

Sketchy bridge. 

The problem with the forest trails is they go through meadows with deep thick grasses. On sunny days that can be slightly annoying, on rainy days it means your shoes fill up with water. 

The second half of the day was mostly along paved roads. We deliberately took the bike route at one point to avoid more wet fields and two different people stopped to direct us back to the trail. 

We passed this cool old bridge. 

Later in the day we met Jane the pilgrim from Australia (that’s her full name). She is mostly camping. She was wet and cold and hoping to find a room tonight. 

Tonight’s accommodation was billed as a hotel. I suppose it might qualify. We have a separate room, but it is not en suite. So I will be making trips down the hall in the middle of the night. 

As a bonus though, they had a do-it-yourself burrito bar for dinner. Tomorrow we go to Åre, pronounced ore, a real town with what I hope is real hotel.