Camping in the Alps – August 1961
As we left Italy heading for St Moritz in Switzerland, the country got much steeper. The houses were built up high in Chalet style but we could see little evidence of wood in the construction. At the frontier we had to wait in a queue. I took the opportunity to get a refund on some Italian petrol coupons and go to the bank to cash a Travellers Cheque. It was one o’clock by this time so once through Customs formalities, we headed for the first shady spot and had lunch. The scenery was lovely; great mountains on all sides with very steep jagged peaks. Everything was so green and fresh and the sound of running water was perpetual. We watched some people turning hay by hand. Every piece of flat ground seemed to be used for hay. We saw a few very small tractors with trailers. One was loading logs, one was carrying a family to a hayfield, loaded up with baskets of food and a can of water.
After lunch the road began to go further up into the mountains. I was a concerned over a knock in the engine so we stopped at a village called Vicosoprano and with some difficulty the garage mechanic explained that there was an oil leak in the gear box; possibly in the overdrive. He fixed the trouble temporarily and then advised us to go to the garage in St Moritz when we got there.
From here the road began to rise steeply with many tight corners we began to climb up the 5,954 ft high Maloja Pass. This was not one of the highest passes in Switzerland but this 18 foot wide road made me keep my eyes on the road and I did not see much of the scenery. Avril said the scenery was breath taking and unlike anything we had seen before. Once we were at the top we stopped to take it all in and it gave me a chance to look back down the valley and see the serpentine road winding its way upwards towards us, with huge mountains on all sides and with waterfalls trees and rocks everywhere. The road had been constructed between 1820 and 1828 and the maximum gradient was 1 in 8.
Driving on we came to Lake Silvaplana and it looked so appealing with trees, grass, fresh water, clean toilets and a good shop. It was to be our base for the next few days. We thought the lake may be a bit cool for swimming but the campsite looked a very pleasant environment.
We had arrived early enough to pick a good site and unpacked onto clean green grass. After a good meal, Geoff stayed with Avril while David came with me for a drive down to the village. Later the boys went to sleep quickly and Anne, Avril and I went for a walk down to the lake before having coffee and going to bed.
Thursday 10th August dawned very damp and misty but it began to clear about 7.30 am so we all got up and in no time we were in bright sunshine and the snow covered mountains around us were magnificent. The green grassy slopes of our campsite led down to the lake and beyond were the dark conifer forests and then the mountains towering to great heights.
We certainly enjoyed the scenery as we ate our breakfast. We did some washing and then set off to St Moritz.
I was still not happy with the car so we went straight to the Central-Garage, St Moritz to find that the Manager spoke good English. We then all went for a walk and found some lovely souvenir shops. The souvenirs all looked expensive but Avril bought some jewellery knick-knacks and a teaspoon and then some things for lunch before returning to the garage. The verdict on the car was that an oil seal on the overdrive and they would have another one to replace it by the morning. Nobody minded staying another day!
After lunch we watched the yachts on the lake and lazed on the grass while the boys played in a little creek. We went back to the garage to get the car lubricated and then went on into St Moritz to make some enquiries about the funicular railways.
We found it was not too expensive so we went in a little black train from Dori to the first station at Chantarella and then changed to a blue train, rather like the Wellington Cable Car which was to take us to Corviglia. It had several compartments with some seats and plenty of windows so we could see the marvellous views .
Towards Corviglia the rail climbed steeply to about 8,000ft. We walked around admiring the view, having a look at the ski tows, collecting wild flowers and noticing the snow down in the hollows but beyond our reach.
Meanwhile Anne took the cable car from Corviglia to Piz Nair, a further 2,000 feet above us. Unfortunately Anne, who had been writing a post card, heard the warning bell just as she was finishing it. She dashed out only to see the cable car swinging out into space and she was left to wait for the next one.
We had to return to Chantarella and wait for her there. It was cool up there and we noticed the wind getting up so it was a good time to go home to cook tea. During the night it began to rain and so we shifted David into Anne’s tent and Geoff into the car.
The following day was clear with no sign of rain. We did not rush with breakfast. I went off to the garage at 9.30 but as it was getting pretty hot, Avril and Anne decided to wash each other’s hair.
They heated up masses of hot water and washed each others hair using a bucket and ladling the water out with a cup. There were lots of laughs.
About midday Avril, Anne and the boys set off with their lunch to walk to the other side of the lake where there was a big waterfall. They found a lovely spot under the pines beside a little river that was rushing down to the lake. The boys played for a couple of hours building the inevitable dams and waterfalls. The water was icy cold but they did not seem to mind. Avril and Anne clambered up to the edge of the waterfall so that Anne could take some photos. They took the opportunity to pick more flowers for their collection and after stopping by the lakeside for a snack, finally returned to camp about three. Much to Geoff’s joy, the boat that had been washed out of his reach when they were playing, had finished up on the shore.
In the meantime, while the car was being repaired, I had taken the opportunity to wander around St Moritz to photograph some of the distinctive architecture. One four storied hostel particularly appealed with the two bottom stories of concrete and the two top stories made of wood with its traditional Swiss styled windows, red window shutters and balconies.
I had a good look through the four storied Engadine Museum built in 1905 to record the traditions of the local Engadine district.
In keeping with local traditions, the entrance door was wide enough to enable a horse drawn cart to enter the main hall of the house. Another local tradition was the Oriel or “Nosey parker” windows jutting out from the house so that the occupants could see approaching traffic from either direction along the narrow village streets. All windows were covered with hand forged wrought iron gratings. The exterior decorations called Sgraffito is done by washing the exterior of the house with white mortar and then scraping away the decorations before it becomes hard so that then the darker under surface is then exposed.
The car was ready on time. The oil seal had been replaced and we had no further trouble with it while we were away. The total cost for the seal, labour and lubrication came to 33 Francs.
It began to rain during tea so we did some reorganising and put both boys beds in the big tent to save them getting wet during the night.
It was raining steadily when we woke up on the 12th August, We got up and began packing. Fortunately I was able to back the car under the canopy of the big tent. The rain did ease a little as we took down the tents but even so the wind made things difficult. We left at 9.30 under difficult conditions and this marred our last look at Switzerland.
We stopped at a tiny village with very narrow streets to buy our last Swiss chocolate. We noted the names; Tobler Café Glace, Klaus, Cognac and Tobler-o-Rum; delicious but we read the warning; “For Adults Only.” No wonder it was so tasty and more-ish. Anne bought a little brass cowbell. We followed the Inn river up a narrow gorge but we noticed that the grass high up the mountains had been cut for hay and the houses were still typically Swiss with lots of wood. We came first to the Swiss Italian border and shortly afterwards the Swiss, Austrian frontier.
As we were packing up at Sivaplana the boys were moaning that there were only five more countries to go to. They are enjoying the trip.
John Vernon Head 