Day 7 - Sunday 6th July
Probably my favourite day of the tour.
During beer and food the previous evening a few people said they were starting to feel the pace so wanted a later departure in the morning. As such the group broke in to two for Sunday's driving. Not that any group is fixed and all tour people had switched between groups depending on pace, route and other factors.
One group would leave at 8am and the other at 10am.
Morning view.
Cool machines for slicing the meat at breakfast time.
First stop was the local shop for supplies.
Dom, Marek, Richard, Jennifer and myself in the early group.
Doesn't take long before we hit the first pass, the Nufenenpass. Leaving at 8am meant the roads were quiet.
Lovely day.
Free run to the top!
Wild animals.
Don't like the look of those dark clouds.
But on to the next pass.
Another old timer.
Next up? Gotthard / Tremola Pass. I've driven the Gotthard pass many times before, so decided to take the older Tremola Pass. The Gotthard was built to replace the Tremola and as such is a more modern, wider, nicer road, but always good to remember how it used to be.
The base of the Gotthard.
The others split for the Gotthard.
I start the Tremola Pass. Traditional paving at the bottom.
Soon got foggy.
Wasn't long before i was on the cobbles. 20MPH maximum.
Meanwhile the others stopped on the Gotthard Pass.
Plenty of wild animals and cyclists on this pass.
Serious hairpins.
Behind that fog, there is a view......honest.
Back on the Gotthard Pass.
Made it.
The summit.
Reward.
On we go, next pass.
But first, a quick stop at the petrol station from Goldfinger. A shame that it was being dug up for roadworks.
On towards the Susten Pass.
Another old timer.
Another day, another M-Train.
Susten Pass summit.
But drive a little further.....
And you reach this awesome photo spot!!
Looking back towards the summit.
On to the Grimsel Pass.
En route to the Grimsel Pass there is a dam you can use for some fantastic photos! Thanks to Marek for pointing this out.
View down from the dam.
More climbing.
At the top. Time was ticking away and we wanted to be at the Furka Pass for lunchtime, so just a quick stop here.
Now, time for the Furka, probably the most famous pass in Switzerland.......
You can see the Furka Pass here, in the distance, snaking up the mountain. Look on the far left, halfway up and you can just make out the Hotel Belvedere.
Let's get there, i'm hungry!
Where we were.
Where we're going.
Nice and quiet so far......
What a view!!
Hotel Belvedere.
Saw the coolest dog ever! In a sidecar, goggles on, cool AF.
Each year, the glacier shrinks some more.
View from the shop.
After a break for lunch, we head to the summit.
And this is where we say goodbye to Marek and Dom. They have work on the Tuesday, so have a long drive home.
Down the Furka Pass towards the San Bernadino Pass.
Just 3 cars in this group now.
More rain in the distance.
No visit to the Furka Pass would be complete without a stop at the Sir Sean Connery corner.
And here is the rain.
Another change to the cars behind me.
The weather got worse!
So when we reach the San Bernardino summit, it is just a quick photo and on to the hotel.
Going down was pretty ropey.
But we made it!
View from the room.
Time for beer.
Stats for the day.
